The Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks both walked away from their respective Game 2s victorious on Wednesday night, with the Thunder tying up their series with the Denver Nuggets 1-1 and the Knicks taking a robust 2-0 series lead over the Boston Celtics.
The Thunder made it clear early and often that they would not drop Game 2 after the Nuggets stole Game 1 on a buzzer-beater. The Thunder finished the first half with an 87-56 lead — and their points mark set an NBA record for the most by any team in the play-by-play era (1997-98) — en route to a 149-106 victory.
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As a team, the Thunder shot 56.2 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3. It had 31 assists and 12 steals, and only nine turnovers compared to the Nuggets’ 21.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge with 34 points, and eight total OKC players scored in double digits, including all five starters.
“We came out here desperate,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on the postgame broadcast.
Nikola Jokić had 17 points for the Nuggets. Russell Westbrook scored 19 and Jamal Murray had 14.
Earlier in the night in Boston, it was a 20-point deficit, a lopsided scoring run and a Mikal Bridges steal to ice the victory. Again.
Game 2 between the Knicks and Celtics played out near exactly how Game 1 did, and it resulted in a shocking 2-0 series lead for New York.
The Knicks, looking to overcome their second straight 20-point deficit, were down 12 heading into the final frame. They cut the deficit to four points with roughly three minutes to play and took their first lead of the night — courtesy of NBA Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson — with under two minutes left.
Bridges, who scored no points through the first three quarters, finished with 14 points. Josh Hart paced the Knicks with 23, Towns had 21 and Brunson 17.
The Celtics put together another uncharacteristic shooting night, going 34-for-94 (36.2 percent) on field goals and 10-for-40 (25 percent) on 3s.
Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each had 20 points for the Celtics, and Jayson Tatum finished with 13 after scoring only two points in the first half.
Game 3 between the Thunder and Nuggets is Friday in Denver, while the Knicks and Celtics meet Saturday in New York.
Oklahoma City 149, Denver 106
(Series tied 1-1)
(Photo: Joshua Gateley / Getty Images)
A statement game for the Thunder
The difference between Games 1 and 2 for the Thunder against the Nuggets was simple. In Game 2, Oklahoma City did everything it did well in the first 43 minutes of Game 1 — only better. And this time, the final five minutes were a mere formality. After giving up a late lead and squandering Game 1 in shocking fashion, the Thunder’s regular-season dominance re-emerged from the opening tip in Game 2.
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Oklahoma City didn’t trail for the final 47:05 following a made 3-pointer by Lu Dort that gave the Thunder a 3-2 advantage. A 30-9 run over the next eight minutes then put the Thunder ahead 30-11, which opened the floodgates to a 45-21 first quarter and an eventual rout.
If it wasn’t a statement game, the Thunder certainly demonstrated that they aren’t the team that let one get away in Game 1. Oklahoma City’s ball movement, offensive execution and shot-making were much crisper than Game 1, and the Thunder did a far better job closing out quality defensive possessions with rebounds, a major problem in Game 1.
As the series now shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4, the Thunder can travel with complete confidence that the Nuggets don’t have any answers for Gilgeous-Alexander. In these first two games against Denver, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 33.5 points on 23-of-39 shooting (59 percent). He’s added seven rebounds and eight assists per game, while turning the ball over just three times in 70 minutes. — Darnell Mayberry, senior NBA writer
Thunder push, and Nuggets fail to push back
The Nuggets gave in to the desperation of the Thunder on Wednesday night. The Thunder obviously wanted anything but to go back to Denver in a 2-0 series hole. So, they came out and played their best game of the postseason. It was also their most physical. They held. They pushed and shoved. They scratched and clawed, and they controlled every aspect of Game 2.
The Nuggets didn’t meet that physicality, which is why this game turned into a rout very early in the first quarter. It’s something that happened in the first round against the LA Clippers, and something the Nuggets will have to answer in Friday night’s Game 3.
One of the chief concerns for Denver has to be taking care of the basketball. The Nuggets have turned the ball over way too much in the first two games of the series. When they turn the ball over, it allows the Thunder to get into transition. Denver simply can’t win this series without taking care of the ball and running a cleaner offense. — Tony Jones, NBA staff writer
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New York 91, Boston 90
(Knicks lead series 2-0)
(Photo: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)
Déjà vu
This is déjà vu in basketball form. Boston was up by 20 against the Knicks in Game 2 on their home floor, just like in Game 1. The same result: New York wins.
The cardiac Knicks keep finding ways to win. The defense has done just enough and Boston missing more 3s than there are fans between the two historic franchises combined has led them to blowing back-to-back large leads.
Now New York goes back home with a 2-0 series lead against the defending champions, who continue to look rattled in the game’s most pressured moments because their 3-ball isn’t falling.— James Edwards III, Knicks beat writer
Tatum needs to find his footing
Tatum averaged 33.5 points per game against the Knicks during the regular season. Much of the discussion entering this series centered around how they had no answers for him. Through two games, the Celtics star’s regular-season dominance has given way to playoff problems.
Game 2 turned into a disaster for him. He finished the game with just 13 points on 5-of-20 shooting, missing four of five 3-point attempts, five of nine attempts inside the paint and all five of his other two-point attempts. With less than four minutes left, he misfired on an open corner 3-pointer that would have put the Celtics ahead by nine points. Two minutes later, he bricked a fadeaway jumper with the Celtics’ lead down to one. He briefly flirted with his first single-digit postseason scoring game since 2021 before finally reaching double digits on a pair of free throws inside the final minute.
After giving the Celtics a lead with 18.5 seconds left by going full-court for a clutch slam dunk, he finalized his team’s collapse by committing a turnover on his team’s final possession after two Brunson free throws put the Knicks back ahead.
Boston needs more from Tatum. A lot more. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer
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This is why the Knicks acquired Bridges
This is why the Knicks traded four unprotected first-round picks. And another protected one. And a first-round swap. It wasn’t because they thought Bridges was some future MVP, worth a haul on par with other deals for superstars of the past. It was because he was the piece to put them over the top. It was because of the defense that he didn’t always show during the regular season, the shot-making he didn’t even present until the final quarter of Game 2.
But this is why they wanted him. Bridges went for 14 points in the fourth after failing to score over the first three quarters.
For a second consecutive game, he ripped off the greatest defensive play of the Knicks’ season, this time obliterating a Tatum shot that could have won it for Boston.
Bridges is making up for an up-and-down season in the loudest of ways. — Fred Katz, senior NBA writer
Celtics can’t rely on 3-point shooting to turn series around
Remember the Celtics? The team that won a title by burying the world under an avalanche of 3s. The squad that always had an offensive answer for every scenario, with a star-studded lineup full of scorers in every phase of the game.
Well, that team isn’t answering the bell right now. The Celtics look like the kind of defending champ that reminds you why we rarely say, “repeat champ.” They look tired, plain and simple.
They can fix this easily. They lost both games on walk-off defensive plays by Bridges. Though they are collapsing, the gap is minuscule and the Celtics’ whole identity is in opening up those gaps. But they don’t look like themselves right now and turning things around means something has to change. — Jared Weiss, Celtics beat writer
(Photo: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)
