OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put on a masterclass Sunday in Game 2 of the Finals. At the same time, the league-best Thunder defense lived up to its reputation, making life difficult for Tyrese Haliburton.
However, the Thunder won Game 2 because of their bench.
That Oklahoma City bench scored 48 points on the night, and it was the bench that fueled the 19-2 second quarter run, which ultimately decided the game.
“I think we just kind of found a rhythm on both ends of the court,” Aarom Wiggins said of the second-quarter run that broke the game open. “We were able to get stops, get out in transition, hit a couple shots. Once we kind of got going, you could kind of just feel the energy playing a factor in that.”
Praise for Caruso, Wiggins
The Thunder bench was led by Alex Caruso’s 20 points and Wiggins’ 18. However, it wasn’t all about the points, Kenrich Williams had zero of those but had a fantastic hustle shift in the first half that helped in the big run, and he was +15 on the night in just eight minutes of action.
“They were huge tonight. [Wiggins] was huge tonight,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “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 varied night to night. But he hangs in there. He was huge in the Game 4 win at Denver, in that series. He was massive tonight…
“Great professionalism, great readiness and a huge performance for us in that situation.”
Wiggins’ ability to stay ready through these playoffs, despite his wildly inconsistent minutes, has impressed his teammates.
“It’s the hardest job in the league, I feel like. I think he’s underrated…” Jalen Williams said of Wiggins. “That goes underrated. It’s really hard to stay engaged and stay ready. For him to be able to do that on the biggest stage he’s ever played on and have a really good game, very special player.”
“It’s impressive to me. He’s been exactly who he’s been all year throughout the Playoffs,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Wiggins. “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.”
From his perspective, Wiggins has seen it all, which has him ready for these moments.
“I think I’ve been in every different position, whether that’s having the ball in my hands, being a second, third, fourth option, even coming off the bench,” Wiggins said. “Regardless of what’s asked from me, I think I’ve just kind of had experiences.”
As for Caruso, Chet Holmgren called him “our GOAT.”
“He’s one of those guys who you know is going to bring it every single night, whether he’s [age] 22 or 30, doesn’t matter, he’s going to bring it,” Holmgren said of Caruso, having a little fun with him being one of the older players on the team. “I feel like as a collective we really feed off of that. Then also his ability to kind of process things that are happening out there and relay it and communicate it to everybody else is really important for us.”
“He has a lot of experience and he is really smart,” Lu Dort said of Caruso. “Sometimes I feel like he is seeing the game a little differently. He’s an unbelievable defender, me as well, so every time we talk about defensive stuff I am picking his brain.”
While Wiggins has seen fluctuating minutes during the playoffs, Caruso saw Daigneault limit his minutes all season long, with the goal of having him fresh for moments like this.
“It was difficult just because I am such a competitive guy,” Caruso said of his limited minutes this season. “If I’m only playing 15 to 20 minutes, if it’s one of those nights where it’s 15, we’re not playing great, like my instinct is to, all right, coach, leave me in there, let me fix it, let me be the one to help us get out of it…
“At the same time, we won 68 games in the regular season. We had a 12-, 13-man rotation through the year depending on who was hurt, different teams we played. That just comes with the nature of having a really good, deep team.”
That depth is why Oklahoma City is back in the series, now tied 1-1 and heading back to Indiana for Game 3.
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