Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I really hated the fake Larry O’Brien Trophy logos on the broadcast last night.
In today’s SI:AM:
⛈️ Thunder bounce back
🇫🇷 Coco and Carlos reign supreme
🧑⚖️ House settlement finally approved
Aaron Wiggins came to play
The version of the Oklahoma City Thunder that showed up in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday was more like the one we’d grown accustomed to seeing this season.
After a late collapse in Game 1 allowed the Indiana Pacers to win on Tyrese Haliburton’s buzzer beater, OKC rebounded with a dominant 123–107 win in Game 2. The Thunder opened up an 18-point halftime lead and were never threatened in the second half. They were sharper on offense and tighter on defense than they had been in the first game of the series.
The story of the game was how the Thunder made adjustments to ensure there wasn’t a repeat of Thursday’s disappointment. The most notable change was giving more minutes to reserve guard Aaron Wiggins, who took advantage of the opportunity and scored 18 points off the bench.
Wiggins has spent most of the playoffs at the end of the bench, ranking eighth on the team in minutes per game this postseason. Excluding the very first game of the playoffs, when the Thunder sat their starters for the entire fourth quarter in a 51-point blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies, he hadn’t seen more than 19:22 of playing time in a game this postseason. He played just nine minutes and scored three points in Game 1. But Thunder coach Mark Daigneault gave Wiggins a chance to shine on Sunday. His 18 points came on 6-of-11 shooting (5-of-8 from three) in 20:32 of playing time.
“I give him a lot of credit because he was a huge part of our success this season and in the playoffs, his role has been variant night to night. But he hangs in there,” Daigneault said. “He was huge in the Game 4 win at Denver, in that series. He was massive tonight. Went in there with great confidence. Didn't go until the second quarter and dove right into the game.
“Great professionalism, great readiness and a huge performance for us in that situation.”
It was a great reminder of how the Thunder’s depth makes them dangerous. Wiggins had averaged just 4.9 points in his previous 15 games, but he was ready to do more when the opportunity was presented to him.
“It's impressive to me. He’s been exactly who he's been all year throughout the playoffs,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Like, sometimes it’s 20 minutes, sometimes two minutes, sometimes he gets 10. It’s all over the place. No matter what, he finds a way to impact winning for us.
“You need it in the biggest moments. No one-man show can win an NBA championship. For him to rise to the occasion and just be who he’s been in the biggest moment of his basketball career is pretty gutsy. Says a lot about the competitor and the man he is. Hats off to Wiggs.”
The other main adjustment was Daigneault’s decision to play big men Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein together for the first time this series. Hartenstein had started each of OKC’s first 16 playoff games alongside Holmgren but has come off the bench in the first two games of the Finals. It’s a logical move, considering that Pacers center Myles Turner’s ability to space the floor makes him a better matchup for the more athletic Holmgren. But Hartenstein is an excellent rebounder and a stout interior defender, so ideally the Thunder would like to get him on the floor at the same time as Holmgren and allow both 7-footers to lock down the paint. Daigneault only played Hartenstein and Holmgren together for 4.5 minutes (during which time the Thunder outscored the Pacers by four points), but after they did not share the floor at all in Game 1, Daigneault’s willingness to find opportunities for them to play together will be something to watch as the series shifts to Indiana.
SI Debuts New Show
WNBA legend and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley joins New York Liberty and Unrivaled host Maria Clifton for the premiere of Sports Illustrated’s bold new weekly WNBA show, Around The W.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Chris Mannix wrote about how the Thunder’s supporting cast was the key to their Game 2 victory.
- Coco Gauff ended a 10-year American championship drought at Roland-Garros while Carlos Alcaraz charged to an epic title defense. Jon Wertheim shares 50 thoughts from the French Open.
- Bryce Young’s improvement has the Carolina Panthers franchise moving in the right direction, writes Matt Verderame in the latest installment of 32 Teams in 32 Days.
- Pat Forde reports that while the House v. NCAA settlement lets schools pay athletes, Olympic sports could suffer as most funds go to football and basketball.
- The Chicago Sky lost its engine. Point guard Courtney Vandersloot will miss the rest of the season after tearing her ACL.
- Longtime Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke reveals he is battling Parkinson's disease.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. A four-hit game for Royals rookie Jac Caglianone.
4. Mike Breen’s make-up “Bang!” for Tyrese Haliburton after not using his signature call on Haliburton’s game-winner.
3. Aaron Wiggins’s step-back three over Tyrese Haliburton during the Thunder’s big second-quarter run.
2. Mariners pitcher George Kirby’s 14 strikeouts against the Angels.
1. The moment Carlos Alcaraz finally won the French Open after a five-hour, 29-minute final with Jannik Sinner, the second-longest men’s Grand Slam final ever.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Adjustments Power Thunder to Game 2 Win.
