The Thunder's five-step plan to avoid a 2-0 NBA Finals hole

The Oklahoma City Thunder forced 25 turnovers successful Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the astir successful immoderate Finals crippled this century. Their prima constituent defender scored 38 points, 24 much than their opponent's prima guard. They trailed for each of 0.3 seconds of crippled time.

And yet, the Indiana Pacers went into Oklahoma City, weathered a unspeakable commencement and stole Game 1 by a 111-110 score. As the Pacers proceed a postseason afloat of miraculous comebacks, the Thunder are near to wonderment what went incorrect -- and however they tin forestall it from happening again successful Sunday's Game 2 (8 p.m. ET, ABC).

Oklahoma City is inactive the amended squad successful this bid and truthful remains heavy favored contempt the 1-0 deficit. But the Thunder utilized up a batch of their borderline for mistake successful Game 1. Here are their 5 steps to bouncing back, to some adjacent the Finals and reclaim the vantage beyond.

1. A speedy intelligence recovery

The Thunder's astir important request has thing to bash with hoops strategy and everything to bash with mentality. They indispensable enactment Game 1 down them, contempt however it ended; they can't spend to suffer Game 2 astatine home, too, similar the New York Knicks did successful the Eastern Conference finals aft their ain Game 1 calamity.

Fortunately, with the calm, collected Shai Gilgeous-Alexander starring the way, the Thunder person acquisition of this sort. After a stunning Game 1 illness against the Denver Nuggets successful the 2nd round, Oklahoma City entered Game 2 connected a mission, scoring 87 first-half points en way to a 149-106 victory. And aft losing Game 3 against Denver successful overtime, the Thunder showed capable mettle and fortitude to travel backmost connected the roadworthy successful Game 4.

That effort should beryllium captious successful the Finals, due to the fact that Indiana volition beryllium amended prepared going forward, arsenic well. In the archetypal fractional of Game 1, the infinitesimal seemed excessively large for the upstart Pacers, who committed 19 turnovers. But they settled down successful the 2nd half, to the tune of lone six giveaways, which paved the mode for their comeback.

2. Sharper contributions from Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points successful Game 1, but his sidekicks didn't travel suit. Holmgren and Williams are a bellwether for their team: When they're on, OKC is astir unbeatable, but erstwhile they can't transportation the emblematic load of Nos. 2 and 3 scorers, the Thunder are susceptible to an upset.

The second mentation of some players showed up successful Game 1. Williams changeable 6-for-19, including 1-for-10 connected shots distant from the rim. Holmgren scored conscionable six points connected 2-for-9 shooting, and helium was benched for the last agelong arsenic manager Mark Daigneault closed with a small-ball lineup.

That letdown was particularly problematic due to the fact that the Thunder switched their starting lineup for the archetypal clip this postseason, inserting Cason Wallace for Isaiah Hartenstein to region their double-big look. That tweak placed much unit connected Holmgren, who didn't unrecorded up to it successful his archetypal Finals game.

(Hartenstein, conversely, was effectual successful 17 minutes disconnected the bench, with 9 points and 9 rebounds. Indiana's deficiency of a bruising halfway means this isn't the champion matchup for him, successful theory, but helium precise good mightiness merit much playing clip going forward.)

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Marcus Morris Sr.: Pacers are 'in the driver's seat' aft Game 1

Marcus Morris Sr. breaks down wherefore helium believes the Pacers tin prolong occurrence against Oklahoma City successful Game 2.

It wasn't conscionable that Holmgren was invisible connected offense. He besides suffered a uncommon disconnected nighttime defensively, losing his antheral connected aggregate 3-pointers that helped Indiana adjacent the spread successful the 4th quarter. While Holmgren finished with six points and six rebounds, Indiana's large men thrived: 15 points and 9 boards for Myles Turner, positive 17 points (and 5 immense 3-pointers) for reserve Obi Toppin.

Add successful Pascal Siakam outplaying Williams successful the conflict of No. 2 options, and Indiana's supporting formed did conscionable capable to marque up the spread betwixt Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton, who struggled each nighttime until his last-second winner.

3. Snappier shot movement

Indiana entered the Finals with a wide antiaircraft strategy: Let Gilgeous-Alexander instrumentality pugnacious shots, but don't compromise the remainder of the defence to assistance against the MVP.

That attack forced Oklahoma City into unprecedented violative stagnation. The Thunder threw conscionable 208 passes successful Game 1, per GeniusIQ tracking -- the fewest for immoderate squad successful immoderate crippled each season, regular play oregon playoffs. Adjusted for pace, it's the second-fewest passes successful a playoff crippled successful the tracking epoch (since 2013-14).

The erstwhile playoff performances this play with the fewest pace-adjusted passes were the Cleveland Cavaliers successful Game 1 against Indiana, and the Cavaliers successful Game 5 against Indiana. That makes sense, arsenic the Pacers employed a akin strategy against Donovan Mitchell arsenic they did against SGA.

While Gilgeous-Alexander, similar Mitchell, mostly handled the dense work heaped onto his shoulders, determination was small playmaking for his teammates. The Thunder recorded conscionable 13 assists successful Game 1; their erstwhile debased successful the playoffs was 19. (Their erstwhile debased successful the regular play was 16, erstwhile the starters sat successful crippled No. 82.)

To beryllium fair, the Thunder would person tallied much assists if they'd changeable amended (more connected that contented successful a moment). But they should walk the disconnected days earlier Game 2 identifying ways to antagonistic this Pacers strategy by expanding their violative flow, which could assistance get SGA's teammates much progressive and support the squad successful bushed successful aboriginal clutch scenarios.

4. Better finishing astir the basket

In retrospect, Oklahoma City mislaid Game 1 successful the archetypal half, erstwhile the hosts failed to physique a larger pb contempt forcing 19 turnovers. The Thunder's defence looked arsenic impregnable arsenic ever, but the discourtesy was holding them back.

That's due to the fact that Oklahoma City's finishing was, to usage a method term, perfectly terrible. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Thunder changeable 20-for-36 astatine the rim successful Game 1 (which is successful the 14th percentile of each games this season) and a so-bad-it's-almost-unbelievable 3-for-18 from floater scope (2nd percentile).

An inability to decorativeness wrong is the main crushed they struggled to crook each those turnovers into points. The Thunder scored conscionable 0.4 points per bargain successful Game 1, per Cleaning the Glass. Throughout the remainder of the season, for context, they averaged 1.4 points per steal, oregon much than 3 times higher.

Much of the recognition present belongs to Turner, who finished with 3 blocks and altered galore much attempts. The Thunder changeable conscionable 1-for-9 against the Pacers halfway successful the paint, per GeniusIQ; aft Gilgeous-Alexander made an acrobatic layup for the game's archetypal points, the Thunder missed each close-range changeable the remainder of the nighttime erstwhile Turner was the nearest defender. Many of those misses, to ellipse back, were unsmooth Holmgren whiffs successful traffic.

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Still, the Thunder can, and should, decorativeness amended successful upcoming games. Based connected factors similar the shooters' identities and defender location, GeniusIQ estimates that the Thunder would person been expected to people 8 much points successful the overgarment than they really did. If they'd lone finished similar their way grounds suggests they should, the Thunder would person won Game 1.

5. More considered prevention of the Pacers' unfastened country 3s

The Thunder besides would person won Game 1 if they hadn't fto the Pacers tally chaotic from the corners. This is the astir acute vulnerability for the different ascendant Thunder defense: As a tradeoff for cutting disconnected the rim, they allowed the astir country 3s of immoderate squad this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

The Pacers took vantage successful Game 1, with their highest country 3 frequence of immoderate crippled this season. They made 10 of those 16 attempts (63%), shooting 7-for-9 (78%) successful the 2nd half, and they needed each 1 of those buckets to implicit their comeback.

When reviewing film, Oklahoma City volition astir apt judge immoderate of those high-value attempts, which were either contested oregon the effect of diverting assistance elsewhere. Indiana besides outperformed its 3-point changeable prime by a hefty margin, per GeniusIQ.

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But connected different occasions, a Thunder miscommunication near a Pacer wide unfastened from a corner, which is an untenable lapse astatine this stage.

Though the indefatigable Pacers don't marque it easy, the Thunder tin cleanable up those miscues.

They'll request to, astatine immoderate rate, arsenic they're connected the backmost ft present and indispensable hole their Game 1 issues if they program to triumph the archetypal NBA rubric successful Oklahoma City history.