After he scored 40 points in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams was heaped with praise . Apparently, Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam took that personally.
Near the end of the second quarter of Game 6 in Indiana on Thursday night, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton deflected a pass from Williams at the top of the three-point line and stole the ball. On the ensuing fastbreak, Haliburton dished the ball to Siakam, who threw it down over Williams.
On the Pacers’ following possession, Siakam nailed a buzzer-beater off an 18-foot turnaround jump shot over Thunder guard Alex Caruso, giving Indiana a 64-42 lead at halftime. The Indiana forward had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half.
Williams is considered a sidekick to Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Siakam plays a similar role to Haliburton.
Williams, though, has received more spotlight for his excellent performance in the Finals thus far. Through his first five games in the series, he averaged 25.8 points per game, which made former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen take notice.
“He is pretty special,” the six-time champion and former sidekick to Michael Jordan said of Williams, via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “I’m enjoying watching him. I see a lot of me in him for sure. I see a guy rising to be one of the top players in this league. He’s a player that is capable of being able to lead that franchise to multiple championships — him and Shai, of course.”
Williams deserves recognition, but let’s not forget about Siakam. He has already won Eastern Conference Finals MVP this postseason and averaged 20.6 PPG through the first five games of the finals.
The dunk should remind fans that Siakam is one key reason Indiana has made its deep postseason run.
