Tim Bontemps

Final: Thunder 123, Pacers 107 A command performance from Oklahoma City, led by 34 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, evens this series up at a game apiece. Next up: Game 3 in Indianapolis Wednesday, the first Finals game there in 25 years. Should be a fun one.

Well, that was quite a sequence.

Indiana is already into the bonus just over two minutes into the third quarter – exactly how a team down nearly 20 can begin to claw its way back into a game.

Halftime: Thunder 59, Pacers 41 OKC led by as much as 23 but goes into halftime up 18, led by 15 points from SGA and 11 from Chet Holmgren. Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard each had 9 for Indiana, which shot 34.9% overall and 7-22 from 3.

Just when it looked like OKC could run Indiana out of the building when it took a 23-point lead, the Pacers – like they have seemingly countless times this postseason – immediately go on a 10-0 run to get back to within 52-39 and remain in contact.

The Thunder were 28-for-68 (41%) from 2-point range in Game 1. They're already 11-for-18 (61%) from 2-point range today. They've outscored the Pacers 16-7 so far in the second, and are out to a 42-27 lead five minutes in.

After 1: Thunder 26, Pacers 20 Tremendous start to the game for Chet Holmgren, who after a struggle in Game 1, has nine points for OKC to lead all scorers. Pacers took care of the ball but went just 2-for-7 on 2s in the first. Andrew Nembhard had 6 to lead Indiana.

Nelson says his philosophy, straight from Red Auerbach, is that you “always honor the great players” and that you build around them and make them, and the team, the best you can be, rather than trade them away.

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps

Don Nelson says he’s wearing Luka Doncic’s shoes tonight, and that it was a “tremendous mistake” for the Mavericks to have traded him away from the franchise.

Don Nelson says he’s wearing Luka Doncic’s shoes tonight, and that it was a “tremendous mistake” for the Mavericks to have traded him away from the franchise.

Rick Carlisle, the head of the coaches’ association, shouts out Donnie Nelson, whom he worked for for 13 years with the Mavericks, including specifically for “drafting Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson in the same draft.”

Don Nelson, winner of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award — in part — on why he believed in playing small: “There are hundreds of small guards who can shoot the s—t out of the ball.”

RT @espn_macmahon: The Hoop Collective from the Tipsy Tiki @WindhorstESPN @TimBontemps: Game 2 preview, Kidd/Knicks, Ishbia’s vow to get in…

New ESPN story: For about the first 47:40 of Game 1, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was easily winning the star PG battle. But as Rick Carlisle said after Game 1 of Knicks-Pacers, it’s a 48-minute game. And, in those final 20 seconds, everything changed — again. https://t.co/JEi7Ozkz5y

RT @espn_macmahon: “It sucks, but we have been here before.” OKC overcame a Game 1 collapse in the West semifinals vs. the Nuggets. The Pa…

RT @JamalCollier: "Every time the ball is in his hands in those situations, I just think it's good." Tyrese Haliburton did it again and th…

RT @ramonashelburne: 10 before he was traded to the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton accepted a challenge. Trainer Drew Hanlen would only work wit…

Per the great @StatsWilliams: Indiana just tied the largest 4th quarter comeback win in the Finals in the last 50 years. I can't believe the Pacers did it again. What a remarkable run this has been. And what a start to these NBA Finals.