NBA Finals Game 2 takeaways: Thunder show why they're still favorites

The 2025 NBA Finals continued on Sunday night with the Oklahoma City Thunder rolling to a 123-107 win to even the series at 1-1. There would be no second-half heroics or fourth quarter comeback for the Pacers on Sunday as they were unable to rebound from a slow start.

Here are some key takeaways from the Thunder's Game 2 win.

Both teams should be happy as the series shifts back to Indiana

That might seem like taking the easy way out, but the odds of a team sweeping the NBA Finals are generally low. 

If you are Indiana, you probably wanted to come into these first two games and steal at least one of them to wrestle home-court advantage away from the Thunder.

It did that with its Game 1, come from behind win.

Erasing huge fourth quarter deficits may not be a sustainable long-term way to win, but when you are talking about one best-of-seven series you don't really need to work about sustainability. You just need to worry about winning four games by any means necessary. Splitting these first two games was probably going to be a necessity. 

While the Pacers were unable to pull off another huge comeback in Game 2, and while their start in the first half may have left something to be desired, going back home with the series tied is a win. 

If you are Oklahoma City, you shook off an ugly loss to open the series. You avoided going back to Indiana down by two games and you flexed your muscles in Game 2 and showed why you're the heavy favorites in the series. 

Now it's a new best-of-five series starting Wednesday in Indiana.

Oklahoma City's depth was on display

The Thunder not only have the best player in the series in 2024-25 league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they also have an incredibly deep roster that goes well beyond just him.

It showed on Sunday.

The Thunder had four different players top 18 points, including two massive performances coming off their bench. 

Alex Caruso, one of the big offseason pickups, scored 20 points in his 27 minutes of action, shooting 6-of-11 from the field including 4-of-8 from three-point range.

Aaron Wiggins also had a huge night off the bench with 18 points, while also finishing as a team-best plus-24 in his 21 minutes. He also had a 6-of-11 night from the field, while shooting 5-of-8 from three-point range. 

The MVP also shined

Depth matters, but so does having superstars, and OKC has both.

Gilgeous-Alexander continued his storybook season with another 30-point game, leading the way with 34 points.

It his fourth consecutive 30-point game, and the ninth time in the past 10 games he has topped the mark. 

He is also off to an historic start to his NBA Finals career.