[From ESPN]

Two games into the 2025 NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder are all squared up at a win apiece, and the script hasn't deviated much from expectations going in.

For instance, we knew that if the Pacers were going to steal one on the Thunder's home court, Indiana probably would need some of the same magic that has carried it throughout this playoff run. And indeed, Game 1 gave the Thunder a taste of the same medicine Indiana fed the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks earlier in the postseason. But then, as has usually been the case when coming off a playoff loss, Oklahoma City flexed its superior talent in Game 2, pulling away early and never letting the Pacers back into the contest.

So yes, the overall arc of the series might feel familiar. But that doesn't mean the numbers have been mundane. From Pacers turnovers to Thunder free throws, the opening games produced statistical outliers as compared with how these teams usually play. That's important to consider, because one of the best ways to understand what a team is doing well -- or where it is falling short -- is to compare each statistical category to the baseline that got it here in the first place.

Read more of ESPN's story HERE