OKLAHOMA CITY — Perhaps Tyrese Haliburton’s limp is nothing. The way he gingerly exited Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center was far different from the confident stroll with which he came into the night.
It could be some WWE-style ploy to get the Oklahoma City Thunder to take him off their “most wanted” list, to get them to let their guard down just a bit as the scene for the 2025 NBA Finals shifts to Indianapolis after OKC tied the series 1-1 with a 123-107 win in Game 2 on Sunday.
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But by his own admission, Haliburton has had “two really poor first halves” in the first two games of the Finals. You make up for it by capping off a late comeback with a game-winning jumper that takes the air out of a home building. There was no such elixir Sunday night, though, as the swarming Thunder defense played to its reputation in stymieing Haliburton and, thus, grinding the Pacers’ offense to a halt.
The stat sheet says Haliburton finished with 17 points and six assists — which is actually a better scoring output than Game 1, but most of those buckets came in the fourth quarter when the Pacers couldn’t mount a cursory comeback. The Thunder never sweated in Game 2 because they kept Haliburton feeling the heat, holding him to three points in the first half, as they retook control and set the terms of engagement to tie the series.
It’s their physical style that kept Haliburton out of the paint and roaming the perimeter, probing and praying for a crack in an impenetrable defense. The paint was off limits in Game 2, and the Pacers were relegated to passing the ball around the perimeter — perhaps paying a bit too much respect to the Thunder’s historic defense.
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“This is who they are defensively,” Haliburton said. “A lot of guys who can guard the ball fly around.”
In the aftermath of a drama-less Thunder win where the most compelling moment of the evening was Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson protesting the Luka Dončić trade by wearing Dončić’s sneakers upon being honored with the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, all eyes are naturally looking to Haliburton.
Baked into the Thunder’s scheme is giving up a lot of 3s, and giving up a lot in the corner, which is technically the easiest shot. But when their big people are flying around to those spots, you’re not playing your game — it’s actually going right into the Thunder’s plans.
“I think you have to choose on getting 3s your way,” Haliburton said. “We gotta…
