Hey basketball fans! 🏀 Guess what? The Oklahoma City Thunder just made a big splash! They beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at their home court, the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. This means the series is now tied 1-1! Exciting, right?
In Game 1, the Thunder lost because they let the Pacers make too many three-point shots. But in Game 2, they learned their lesson! With super defender Chet Holmgren leading the way, they stopped the Pacers from making so many shots from far away. The Pacers only made 14 out of 40 three-point shots this time.
The Thunder also got smart with their game plan. They gave Isaiah Hartenstein more time to play, which helped them protect the area near the basket (that’s called the paint). This really worked because the Pacers didn’t get as many rebounds (that’s when you grab the ball after a missed shot). They only got seven offensive rebounds, much fewer than in Game 1.
On the offense side, instead of just letting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (we can call him SGA) do all the work, other players like Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams stepped up! Holmgren scored nine of his 15 points in the first quarter, and Williams scored nine points in the second quarter. Teamwork makes the dream work! ✨
SGA was still amazing, scoring 34 points, grabbing five rebounds, and making eight assists. He also stole the ball four times! Talk about a superstar! 🌟
And here’s a fun fact: Alex Caruso came off the bench (that means he wasn’t a starting player) and scored 20 points! He made four out of eight three-point shots. With his great defense, he helped stop the Pacers when they tried to catch up.
For the Pacers, seven players scored more than 10 points, but none of them got up to 20. Tyrese Haliburton led the team with 17 points, but most of those were in the last quarter. By then, the Thunder were already ahead 93-74.
The next games (Game 3 and Game 4) will be at the Pacers’ home court in Indianapolis. Can’t wait to see what happens next! Who are you cheering for? 🎉
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
