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The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers duel in a monumental Game 6 of the NBA Finals tonight, as the Thunder can hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy on the Pacers’ home court with a win. The Pacers tried their best to come back and wrestle a lead away from the Thunder, but they could only get the Thunder lead to just two points before succumbing to Oklahoma City’s star power without a 100% Tyrese Haliburton. The Thunder have a 3-2 series lead and will try to close things out in Game 6.
With Game 6 of the NBA Finals quickly approaching, let’s dive into tonight’s matchup while recapping how both teams got here and making a Game 6 pick for tonight.
The Thunder are on the doorstep of winning their first NBA Championship under the Thunder name. Technically, they did win a title in 1979 when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics, but since moving to Oklahoma City, their Finals experience consists of one loss in 2012 to the Miami Heat. Whereas the trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook couldn’t get the job done in that NBA Finals, the trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren can etch their name in stone for a franchise that has rebuilt itself into a formidable unit capable of winning with efficient shooting and lockdown defense.
Even when Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 31 points and 10 assists in Game 5, it wasn’t just him. SGA didn’t even lead the team in scoring! That was Jalen Williams, who reeled off 40 points en route to getting the Pacers on the ropes in an elimination game tonight. It wasn’t just the offensive prowess that pushed the Thunder ahead; they also forced 23 turnovers on the defensive end. It wasn’t without warts, though, as an 18-point Thunder lead was whittled to just 2 points in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma City proved they learned from Indiana’s Game 1 comeback and shut the door on the Pacers’ comeback attempt with an 18-4 run to close out Game 5.
If the Pacers can move this series to a Game 7, they’ll have to do so with Haliburton not playing at 100%. He aggravated a lower leg injury that essentially made Haliburton a decoy in Game 5, with exactly zero shots made from the field (0-for-6) and his 4 points coming from the free-throw line. Indiana almost pulled off one of their signature comeback attempts on the backs of Pascal Siakam (28 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) and T.J. McConnell (18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists), but the Thunder put that rally on ice with a run of their own. Even with Haliburton’s injury, he’s made a vow that he can go. “If I can walk, then I want to play,” he proclaimed.
After briefly leaving in the first quarter for treatment, Haliburton returned with his leg wrapped. Despite his best efforts, he wasn’t the same player who had guided the Pacers’ offense to two wins this series. Now, they find themselves on the brink of elimination, and a lot of the offensive heavy lifting falls on the shoulders of Siakam and the rest of the team.
Game 6’s DFS prospects look about the same as ever… or do they? Of course, we have bankable stars on the Oklahoma City side and a team-first approach for Indiana, where you usually don’t know where the scoring comes from on any given night.
But we have Haliburton’s injury, and we have no idea how effective he can be with his leg injury; not just as a scorer, but as a ball distributor. That said, the Pacers’ scoring may condense down to Siakam because they NEED him to be the offensive focal point on their home court to force a Game 7. That feels way better on Indiana from a DFS perspective.
The Thunder’s Jalen Williams showed that the scoring doesn’t always have to come from SGA, but a competitive Indiana team needs Siakam tonight. Let’s go that route tonight.
Kevin has been writing about sports since 2015 with a primary focus on fantasy football. His work has been featured on outlets like Matthew Berry's Fantasy Life, FantasyPros, Sports Illustrated, RotoBaller, Fantasy Alarm, and numerous other fantasy websites. As a native New Yorker now living in the Midwest, Kevin counts the Green Bay Packers, New York Yankees and Syracuse Orange as his favorite teams.