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Strus may have played longer than the Cavaliers wanted him to, as Craig Porter Jr.'s first-half ankle injury left the team without any available point guards. That put Max in a position to take on more playmaking responsibilities, and the result was his fifth triple-double of the season (and seventh of his career). Due to the loss, Cleveland will be the 4-seed in the East, with Orlando being their first-round opponent.

This certainly wasn’t the performance OKC was hoping to get out of the MVP with a chance to close out the series. Sure, he led the team in scoring, but the eight turnovers were abysmal. Turnovers haven’t been an issue for the Thunder this year; they averaged the fewest turnovers per game in the league during the regular season and have won the turnover matchup for most of this series. They’ll certainly need to clean things up to defend their homecourt and win a championship in Game 7 on Sunday.

After a 40-point masterclass in Game 5, Williams cooled off in Game 6. It was a disappointing night after two consecutive strong performances. He also posted a team-worst -40 plus/minus, which isn’t solely on his shoulder, but it was indicative of how the game went during his 27 minutes. The 24-year-old will have to be better in Game 7 on Sunday.

Caruso has had some big games in this series, but Thursday was not one of them. He was held scoreless and didn’t contribute much else in the box score. Of course, his defense is always valuable, but it wasn’t enough to slow down Indiana. What was noteworthy was that Caruso started the second half in place of Isaiah Hartenstein. The Thunder were down 22 points at halftime, so this could’ve been Mark Daigneault trying to create a spark. Caruso will likely return to a reserve role on Sunday for Game 7, but the situation is worth monitoring.

McConnell has been fantastic in this series, and this was arguably his best performance. He has averaged 11.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals through the first six games of the Finals, and he has scored in double figures four times. He stepped up with Tyrese Haliburton (calf) not fully healthy, which allowed them to manage Haliburton’s minutes. McConnell has been invaluable for the Pacers in this series, and they’ll need him to continue to contribute on Sunday, especially if Haliburton’s calf is still bothering him.

Toppin continues to shine for Indiana. He has scored in double figures in six of their last eight games and in three straight, and his timing couldn’t be any better. This was his second 20-point game of this postseason, with the other coming in Game 4 against the Cavs. Toppin has been at his best at time, but he has had some solid performances on the road, including in Games 1 and 5 of this series. If he can keep it up, the Pacers will have a strong chance of winning Game 7 on Sunday.

After scoring at least 20 points in three straight games, Siakam didn’t do as much scoring in Game 6, but he still made enough of an impact for Indiana to force a Game 7 on Sunday. This was his second double-double of the series and only his third of this postseason run, and the 13 rebounds were the most he’s had in a game during these playoffs. Siakam will likely need to do more scoring on Sunday for the Pacers to win a ring on the road.

This game could not have gone any better for the Pacers. They took control in the second quarter and extended the lead after halftime, which allowed them to manage Haliburton’s minutes. There were reports that if this were the regular season, Haliburton would likely be in line to miss multiple weeks. He showed incredible resilience by even suiting up, and while the numbers weren’t eye-popping, he played really well in this game and hit some big shots to help them take a big lead. They’ll continue to monitor his injury, but it would be shocking if he didn’t play in Game 7 on Sunday with a championship on the line.

Carlisle said that Haliburton went through strength testing and did “very well.” He also mentioned that there won’t be a minutes restriction, but they will monitor Haliburton closely. Trips to the NBA Finals don’t come around often, so it isn’t surprising that Haliburton will play through the injury. We’ll see if Haliburton’s presence, along with the home crowd, is enough to force a Game 7.

Bailey has long been considered a lock to be selected in the top-three, but he has yet to workout for any team. Givony’s report does indicate that Philly haven’t ruled out selecting Bailey, but other reports indicate that Bailey may want to go to a team where he can be the top scoring option, which wouldn’t be the case with the 76ers. There is a lot that could happen on draft night; Philly could take Bailey, trade down and let another team take him or Bailey could slide down the board.

Haliburton is currently listed as questionable with a right calf strain. The 25-year-old point guard participated in practice on Wednesday and is expected to go through walkthrough ahead of Game 6 on Thursday. Shams said he was told Haliburton would miss multiple weeks if this were the regular season, but this game carries paramount importance as the Pacers are facing elimination in Game 6. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said earlier this week Haliburton would probably be a game-time decision.