Thunder Rain Punches on Pacers to Level Series

Oklahoma City were 'just a little bit better in a lot of areas' in Game 2, says coach

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OKLAHOMA CITY - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander learned a lesson to open the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.

"You can't just throw the first punch. You've got to throw all the punches all night," the Oklahoma City Thunder guard said, after Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers on June 8.

The NBA Most Valuable Player and the rest of the Thunder threw plenty of haymakers, helping Oklahoma City to a 123-107 victory to even the best-of-seven series 1-1 going into Game 3 on June 11 in Indianapolis.

That was a departure from Game 1 on June 5, when the Thunder led by 15 in the fourth quarter before Indiana rallied to win 111-110 on a basket in the final second.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the way on June 8 for Oklahoma City, scoring 34 with eight assists, five rebounds and four steals, and went 11 of 12 on free throws.

There were plenty of areas of improvement from Game 1 for Thunder coach Mark Daigneault to point out after the victory.