Filip Tomic
Game 1 didn’t go to plan for the OKC Thunder, and now they are under a lot of pressure to tie things up in the NBA Finals before we go back to Indianapolis. Tipoff for Game 2 is set at 8:00 pm ET on ABC, and I have prepared a +484 odds Same Game Parlay for this occasion.
The NBA Finals are heating up, you can get predictions on the side and total for all upcoming games on our NBA Picks page. But now let’s get into my Pacers vs Thunder Game 2 SGP!
OKC Thunder -11 (-108)
Alex Caruso 2+ made threes (+128)
Myles Turner to record 6+ rebounds (-148)
Same Game Parlay odds: +484
OKC Thunder -11 (-108)
One thing I couldn’t wrap my head around was the fact that even before the game tipped off, the OKC Thunder started making adjustments to their game-plan to adapt to the playing style of the Indiana Pacers. That’s an odd thing to do for a team that’s won 80 games this regular season and playoffs, ahead of Game 2 I’m hoping they revert back to playing the style that got them to this point. Losing the first 2 home games in this series would be catastrophic — just ask the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. The loss in the opener ended an 18-game win streak against Eastern Conference opponents for OKC, it was only the 2nd time in 31 such games this year the Thunder lost.
The Pacers can play Game 2 without any pressure, as they’ve gotten a split — at worst — already thanks to the heroics of Haliburton late. One thing that surprised me in Game 1 was Indy winning the rebounding battle; that’s something that’ll need to be cleaned up if you’re Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault. Expect Isaiah Hartenstein back in the lineup and subsequently the tempo of the game to go down. OKC fell into the trap of playing too much iso ball, resulting in just 13 assists which is just too low to win at this stage. Defense is what got Oklahoma City this far, Game 2 is as good of a moment to showcase just how well it played on that end. I’m looking for a completely different approach from SGA and company in this game; they led by double-digits in the fourth quarter before the meltdown happened, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen to them in back-to-back games. I’m taking OKC to cover in Game 2.
Check out our full Indiana Pacers vs Oklahoma City Thunder Game 2 predictions
Alex Caruso 2+ made threes (+128)
Alex Caruso actually had a pretty decent Game 1, logging the second-highest amount of minutes in a postseason game going back to Game 4 of the Nuggets series. I expect his playing time to remain the same or even increase depending on how things are going out there on the court. In the opener he had 11 points on 3-for-8 shooting, half of his shots came from beyond the arc and he connected on just 1 of them. Over his last 10 games he is shooting the deep ball at 40% on 1.6 makes per game, so we’re getting a pretty solid price for him to make a pair of threes in Game 2. Indiana’s defense looked solid in Game 1, holding OKC to under 40% from the field and 36% from deep. However, with the adjustments presumably made in Game 2, I’m expecting those numbers to go up significantly. Caruso’s efficiency goes up by more than 20% from the field and almost 14% from downtown in wins this season, so it’s quite clear that he plays a vital role in the team’s success.
Myles Turner to record 6+ rebounds (-148)
Turner made the most out of his 28 minutes in Game 1, recording 15 points and 9 rebounds — almost doubling what the oddsmakers expected him to get on the boards. Indiana dominated the glass all night long, especially on offense — where they grabbed 13 of them. Obviously the Thunder would be foolish not to make adjustments for Game 2, but I still feel like Turner is Indiana’s most vital player down low in this series. At 6’11”, he is their tallest player out there — so it makes sense to play him even more minutes than the 28 he logged in Game 1 if Hartenstein makes the start. He is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game in his last 10 meetings against the Thunder, while clearing this line fairly easily in 2 of the last 3 games. A slowed down pace by the Thunder would mean a more physical game which in theory means more misses and rebounding opportunities across the board. If that’s the case then I expect very little issues for Turner to get to 6 boards.
