5 Adjustments For OKC Thunder in Game 2 of NBA Finals

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. In the fourth quarter of the opening game of the NBA Finals, the Pacers landed a haymaker against the Oklahoma City Thunder to get a 1-0 series lead.

The Oklahoma City must win Game 2 to even this series and avoid a disastrous 0-2 hole, with both games coming at the Paycom Center.

Here are some key adjustments for the OKC Thunder to lean on in Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

Adjustments For Game 2

1) OKC Thunder Must capitalize in transition

The Thunder have been built on creating turnovers and dominating in transition to pull away in games and overwhelm opponents. Heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals, everyone questioned if the Thunder could turn over the Pacers who have elite ball security.

Well, Oklahoma City impressed with its ability to force and coax Indiana into 24 giveaways in the Thunder's 111-110 loss. A large reason for that loss is due to the Bricktown ballers only parlaying those 25 turnovers into 11 points going as far as to win the fastbreak battle by just one (1) point.

The Pacers were excellent in transition defensively but the Oklahoma City Thunder must be more aggressive streaking down the floor to keep Indiana off balance. An under the radar part of the Thunder's lack of transition success was its season-low 13 turnovers. The ball has to move to find the unbalanced part of the floor on the break and the best mismatch in the fastbreak.

Indiana did a much better job of protecting the ball in the final frame, so the odds suggest that the Pacers will get back to its typical careful ways with the basketball. That leaves a lesser margin in the turnover ball and forces the points created from them to be of even better importance.

2) Thunder have to keep a big man on the floor at all times

The Oklahoma City Thunder elected to close the game small on Thursday and it proved costly down the stretch. The Thunder's lane violation to gift the Pacers a point at the line was caused by over compensating for the lack of size on the floor.

The decision to go away from the double-big lineup –– and not let it log a single minute –– was a logical one. But the entire point of Isaiah Hartenstein coming off the bench and his summer addition was for in games such as this one to be able to blanket the contest in 48 minutes of high level play at the five spot.

While single game plus-minutes isn't everything, Hartenstein was a +2 in this contest, he hauled in nine rebounds and contested hard to the corners defensively not allowing his size to be a liability in this tilt. Sure, Holmgren had a more than forgettable Game 1 but Oklahoma City needs him to come around and be on the floor to win a title.

3) Oklahoma City needs co-stars to come to life

Admittedly, this scribe has spent the entire season trying to tamper expectations on the Thunder's young duo. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are just three seasons removed from being drafted, Holmgren has only played roughly a season and a half in the NBA due to injuries. This is not the stage of a players career where they are typically able to deliever on this stage.

However, the Thunder are here now. The narratives and talking points go out the window. To this point in the career's of the Oklahoma City co-stars they have been uncommon; bucking NBA trends. They have to do it again if the Thunder are going to win its first NBA Championship.

A lowly 17 points on 19 shot outing and a measly 6 points isn't going to cut it in an attempt to prop up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 38 point night that should've led to a win.

As the game went on, Williams got more comfortable scoring 10 of his 17 points in the second half lifted up by an eight point final frame. The Santa Clara Product must parlay that finish into 48 minutes of success on Sunday.

For Holmgren, his lack of force was jarring, from his drives off the catch to chances around the rim, the typical wise beyond his years big man was lost at times offensively on the big stage. Like Williams, the Gonzaga product has a history of responding to this situations with great outings the next game. That will be a requirement for the Thunder to win.

4) Knocking Down Triples

Indiana nailed eight more 3-pointers than Oklahoma City on seven more attempts. This break down was built on a 6-for-10 fourth quarter for the Pacers from beyond the arc compared to an 0-for-5 frame from the Thunder.

With the turnover gap likely shrinking, so too much the 3-point column. It is the great equalizer in the modern NBA and Oklahoma City has to dump in triples in Game 2 as role players typically play better at home –– which was not the case in the series opener.

5) Adjusting Rotation

Shifting the starting lineup was not the problem with Mark Daigneault's rotation. The decision to close small was more than interesting, but the real change that has to come from Game 1 –– often referred to as the feel out game –– was the minutes sliced up.

The biggest change? Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has to play the majority of the game. This is the time of year where there is no reason not to wear the MVP to the ground in a quest for an NBA title and the offseason on the horizon.

Gilgeous-Alexander shouldered most of the load on Thursday but the Thunder could stand to bring him back into the contest earlier in the fourth quarter around the nine minute mark.