Backup point guards show up and out in Game 6

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.

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