The Pacers head back to Indiana for Game 3 tied 1-1 for the NBA Finals series, as the Oklahoma City Thunder rebounded in their win in Game 2. However, based on most of their playoff series, the Thunder are a different team with their home/road splits, as Indiana will look to win in their home court.
The Pacers all basically no-showed, as even their best players didn’t have impactful nights in their loss against OKC. But Oklahoma City still has to keep pace with Indiana, as OKC has one of the better home-court advantages despite the Pacers stealing Game 1.
This will be a pivotal Game 3, as this could be a long series if Indiana can pull off a potential upset against the Thunder after they made adjustments post Game 1. Game 2 was a typical dominant OKC performance, so it is now Indiana’s turn to showcase their adjustments at home.
Captain
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Oklahoma City Thunder
AT
Indiana Pacers
(1-1)
SGA: another 50 plus point fantasy performance in Game 2, going over 60 once again on DK. In any Thunder game in this series, he is a must-play as a captain or utility and worth the $19.5K (C) and $13K (U) price point.
Besides game three against the Timberwolves in Minnesota in their abberation loss when they were up 2-0, SGA averages north of 50 fantasy points. That was the only game where Gilgeous-Alexander went under 30 fantasy points in any playoff series, as it seems to be an extreme outlier but rest assured, he is a must-play once again.
Utility
Pascal Siakam
Indiana Pacers
VS.
Oklahoma City Thunder
(1-1)
Pascal Siakam hasn’t had a great first two games of the series, but I would look for him to bounceback in a potential Pacers win at home. The MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals has been their most consistent shooter and even if he doesn’t hit his ceiling, have a solid floor around 30 fantasy points at utility is useful with his game to game averages fantasy wise at $9.4K.
Obi Toppin
Indiana Pacers
VS.
Oklahoma City Thunder
(1-1)
At a low $4.4K, Obi Toppin, if left to shoot, can hit the 3s like in Game 1. At home, I would expect Toppin to be involved again and could play more minutes, unlike in Game 2. The Pacers will need to show out early and often, and in their wins, they usually have Toppin or T.J. McConnell ($4K) play meaningful minutes and contributing off the bench.
Utility
Aaron Nesmith
Indiana Pacers
VS.
Oklahoma City Thunder
(1-1)
Out of the ancillary options for the Pacers, while Thomas Bryant has had his moments, I think Aaron Nesmith might be due for a big game. Myles Turner has been bad the last two series and Andrew Nembhard has been alittle more consistent but not too fantasy relevant compared to the Cavs series. Nesmith is at $6.4K but possesses high-upside this postseason to win a showdown.
Utility
Alex Caruso
Oklahoma City Thunder
AT
Indiana Pacers
(1-1)
Alex Caruso has been a big factor in this series as a consistent scoring option outside of SGA for the Thunder, going over 25 fantasy points the last two games. At his price around $6.2K, I would prefer Caruso over options like Lou Dort, as he averages around 5 points on the road and is better at home. While Isaiah Hartenstein did play more minutes in Game 2, he still wasn’t involved fantasy wise compared to the Timberwolves series.
Fade
Tyrese Haliburton
Indiana Pacers
VS.
Oklahoma City Thunder
(1-1)
Haliburton is another fade, as this is the toughest NBA defense that has handled him in OKC, besides a clutch shot in Game 1. But for fantasy, his rollercoaster statline just isn’t reliable and I don’t seem him going off like a MVP level player like SGA or even Siakam on a game to game basis. Especially as the second highest priced player for Showdown, as most of his points in Game 2 were in the fourth quarter when Indiana was already down too much to really come back.
