INDIANAPOLIS — The headlines — most of them, anyway — will be about Tyrese Haliburton.
The Indiana Pacers point guard fought through a calf strain that had threatened the team’s Cinderella season Thursday night, then had his Willis Reed(ish) moment that ignited a stunning 108-91 rout of Oklahoma City in Game 6 of these fabulous NBA Finals. It was high-level hoops theater, to be sure, and had everything to do with the Pacers pushing this loaded Thunder squad to the brink of a colossal upset in Game 7 back in OKC on Sunday.
But as is so often the case with this cockroach of a team (yes, that’s a compliment), with Haliburton’s remarkable penchant for game-winning shots and compelling moments like this health scare that compromised a title push, his exploits tend to overshadow the Pascal Siakam effect that has been there since he arrived here from Toronto two Januarys ago. Game 6 was no different, with Siakam’s 16-point, 13-rebound, three-assist outing the kind of performance that might not have been appreciated if not for his rare appearance on the highlight reel.
For the series, Siakam has quietly become the Pacers’ frontrunner to win the most unexpected of finals MVP awards. He’s averaging 19.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, four assists, 1.7 steals, 1.3 blocks and 1.8 turnovers in the finals, marks that far surpass Haliburton’s production (14.8 points, 6.8 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 turnovers per), though they can’t touch Haliburton’s flair for the dramatic.
That’s why their shared splash of brilliance late in the second quarter was so perfectly poetic.
The Haliburton steal on the pass from Jalen Williams to Lu Dort. The Globetrotters-esque pass to the streaking Siakam on the right side. The hang time, with the 31-year-old Siakam soaring through the air like he used to so often in those days at New Mexico State, and the dunk through Dort and Williams that put the Pacers up 20 with 40.2 seconds to go before halftime. This was Haliburton and his flair on full display, with Siakam’s speed and athleticism showcased on the back end of their beautiful connection.
For good measure, Siakam buried an 18-footer with one second left before the break that pushed the lead to 22 and, in the end, provided enough of a cushion to set up the all-or-nothing finale. But take a closer look at the reaction from their teammates on the bench after Siakam’s dunk, and you’ll start to understand why this dynamic duo is everything to their team.
