Visibly upset after Game 1, you just knew Chet Holmgren was going to bounce back. The 23-year-old might have the occasional stinker, but never two in a row. He only needed the first quarter to prove that, as he exceeded his Game 1 point total.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>\u00a0evened the NBA Finals at 1-1 with a\u00a0123-107 Game 2 win<\/a>\u00a0over the\u00a0Indiana Pacers<\/a>. After barely using the Holmgren-Hartenstein lineup in Game 1, the Thunder went back to it in spurts and had at least one big on the floor.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Holmgren finished with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, six rebounds and one assist. He shot 1-of-3 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had a block. Off the bench, Isaiah Hartenstein had three points, eight rebounds and four assists.<\/p>\n Receiving the inbound pass, Holmgren faked the corner attempt and drove past Turner for a scoop layup in the final seconds of the first frame. That was a perfect move to finish a hot start and flexing his confidence hasn’t gone anywhere.<\/p>\n The Thunder stuck with their Game 1 starters and reaped the benefits. They didn’t overreact to an anomaly. Instead, they relied on what the lineup data has suggested all year. The Holmgren-Hartenstein lineup was back on the table after barely being played in Game 1. It worked out tremendously in their limited reps. Hartenstein even connected with Holmgren on an alley-oop.<\/p>\n “They were both really good in both situations. I thought both of them gave us huge lifts on both ends of the floor. That was one area where we improved tonight, was our pick-and-roll coverage against their bigs. They’re a different look because of the rolling, the popping, just the way they play,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on Holmgren-Hartenstein. “I thought one area that we really improved was on the defensive end in that area of the game. They both were great. I thought Chet, in particular, had a rough offensive night in Game 1. As always, he rose back up and was really, really good.”<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n This is probably the best usage of Holmgren. He’s at his peak at center. The Pacers always had to second-guess themselves when they drove to the basket. When he gets it going as a scorer, that makes the Thunder even more dangerous.<\/p>\n And then Hartenstein has been fantastic off the bench. He’s been a rebound machine. He helped the Thunder stay within it on the boards. They also utilized his classic big-man screening to create space for their drivers and created some second-unit action.<\/p>\n “I think we did a good job of being aggressive and then playing more on two feet, making some decisions in that mid-paint area where in last game we were kind of just putting up those shots,” Holmgren said. “I think we did a better job of finding some better looks, whether it was dunker’s baseline or kick-outs, whatever it may be, I feel like we did a good job of slowing down in that space.”<\/p>\n