240 days ago, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum scored the first points of the first game of this NBA season. Tonight, with the Oklahoma City Thunder up 3-2 on the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, could be the last game of the NBA season. If the Thunder triumph, this game will go down in NBA history as a perfect ending to a historic season.
Who will set the tone for this pivotal matchup by scoring the first basket? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the +450 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, with Oklahoma City teammate Chet Holmgren at +550 and Indiana star Pascal Siakam at +600.
The Thunder are 5.5-point favorites (-225 Moneyline), with the point total set to 222, so barring an upset, an Oklahoma City or Pacers starter will open the books on the NBA’s conclusion.
Best First Points Scorer for Thunder at Pacers Game 6
Tyrese Haliburton First Points Scorer (+1100)
After he put up just four points on zero-for-six shooting in Game 5, ESPN’s Shams Charania revealed that Haliburton was dealing with a calf strain, and he’s officially been listed as questionable prior to Game 6. However, Haliburton is expected to gut through the injury, Charania reported early Thursday afternoon. Though he originally suffered the injury in Game 2, he likely exacerbated it in Game 5 by slipping while planting his foot for a drive, knocking him out of the game for a brief period of time. I’m no doctor, and Indiana hasn’t revealed the severity of his strain, but it’s likely that his calf is healthier than it was during the immediate minutes after the aggravation.
Pascal Siakam leads the Pacers in first-quarter usage rate and was instrumental in keeping them in Game 5, and he was my best bet to be the game’s first scorer in Game 4, but he’s actually the only player in Indiana’s starting lineup who hasn’t scored the game’s first basket yet these playoffs. A Pacer has scored the game’s first points eight times in their 21 playoff games so far, and Haliburton — like Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard, and Aaron Nesmith — has done so twice, in Games 2 and 4 of the conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Indiana has allowed the game’s first bucket in each of the last 10 games, which can mostly be chalked up to terrible luck that is due for normalization.
Both of Haliburton’s first baskets came in the paint by way of an assist from Siakam, so his injury could actually work in his favor. The Thunder, accounting for Haliburton’s diminished physical state, might venture that Siakam will take the first shot and hound him, which could get Haliburton open on a back-door cut. Alternatively, Haliburton could start out by driving hard to test his injury, which would mentally free him up if the calf responds well to aggressive play and allow him to adjust his game plan if it did not. He also might consider taking a three-pointer, which is less likely to put strain on the calf, and this series, Oklahoma City has allowed the Pacers to shoot a solid 36.6% from deep, including 49.1% in the corners.
