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4 hours ago
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The stakes were already high with it being the NBA Finals, but winning Game 2 can give both teams a huge sigh of relief for different reasons.
Breaking down the importance of winning Game 2 for Pacers & Thunder
Let's go into how each scenario would impact both teams.
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Pacers
The Pacers have been marked as the clear underdogs entering the series.
They came back to win Game 1 on the road in a contest they probably shouldn't have won.
Not having a homecourt advantage for the series is a tough break for Indiana, but at minimum splitting their first two away games in the series would be a success, which they've already done.
They are in a similar situation to the Knicks series where if they can go back home up 2-0, it would give them a huge boost with some room for error in the coming games.
The Pacers have a lot of experience with playing difficult road games in the playoffs, so they should feel confident despite the Thunder likely playing like their season is on the line Sunday night.
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Thunder
The Thunder shouldn't panic just yet, but this feels like a must-win game.
On paper, the Thunder looks to be the better team, but none of that matters if they can't execute properly.
The Thunder have shown that they can respond well after a loss, and rarely lose back-to-back games, especially at home.
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When teams trail 2-0 in the NBA Finals, they have only come back to win the series 13.5% of the time (5 total times).
It happened a few years ago when the Bucks won four games in a row after trailing 2-0, but they did have the benefit of returning to Milwaukee for Games 3 & 4 after trailing 2-0, which OKC won't have this series.
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