By JOE VARDON The Athletic
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OKLAHOMA CITY — There was no magical comeback, no last-second stunner by the opponent. Just a more typical, complete, dominant effort from the Thunder.

The NBA Finals is tied, 1-1, after Oklahoma City’s perhaps predictable response from its gut-wrenching Game 1 collapse to the Indiana Pacers. The Thunder won Sunday’s Game 2, 123-107, behind 34 points from league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, excellent individual recoveries by Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, and a complete game from a top-rated defense that snuffed out any Hoosier hope of yet another rally.

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Indiana was led by Tyrese Haliburton’s 17 points. Myles Turner contributed 16 points and Pascal Siakam provided 15 points and seven boards but shot 3-of-11.

Game 3 is at 8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Oklahoma City was the NBA’s best regular-season team with 68 wins, hasn’t lost consecutive games since November (besides a couple meaningless ones once playoff seeding was set), and beat its opponents by more points than any team in history. There is no time more important than the present to turn it up a notch. The second-youngest team to reach a finals in NBA history needs three more wins for its first championship since the franchise moved from Seattle to the great plains in 2008.

The Pacers erased a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter on Thursday, won the game on a Tyrese Haliburton jumper before the buzzer, and was attempting to open a third consecutive playoff series by winning the first two games on the road. They’d already come from 15 or more points down to win five playoff games, and won three postseason games when trailing by seven with three minutes or less to go.

The Thunder, the NBA’s best defense in the regular and postseasons, simply didn’t give the Pacers any room to breathe life into another upset. Indiana trailed by six after one quarter, by 18 at halftime and by 19 through three quarters. When Haliburton finally got it going in the fourth quarter (he’d scored just five through the first three), Oklahoma City traded baskets with him and didn’t let the lead get below 19 through the first six minutes.

The Thunder’s defense turned Indiana over again (15 turnovers in Game 2 after 25 in Game 1 from the Pacers) and was much better on the glass than it was on Thursday.

Holmgren, the Thunder’s 7-footer who struggled with just six points on 2-of-9 shooting in Game 1, responded with 15 points and six boards on Sunday. Williams, who like Holmgren is in his third season, recovered from his poor shooting performance in Game 1 to contribute 19 points, five boards, and five assists (he still only shot 5-of-14, but was 8-of-9 from the line and the output he provided felt much bigger in a win). Alex Caruso scored 20 points and Aaron Wiggins gave the Thunder 18 points off the bench.

With his first basket at 8:24 of the first quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander went over 3,000 points for the season, counting the regular season and playoffs. He is the 12th player ever to hit that mark, joining Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob McAdoo, Elgin Baylor, James Harden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Rick Barry, Shaquille O’Neal and Luka Doncic.

Gilgeous-Alexander added eight assists and five rebounds on Sunday and converted 11-of-12 at the foul line. He’s averaging 36.0 points through two games in this series, with a long way to go.

If you were getting at all nervous that Indiana might do it again — the Pacers had cut the deficit to 17 with four minutes left, Gilgeous-Alexander’s layup and free throw with 3:54 to go put those fears (or prayers, if you favor the Pacers) to rest.