Pacers guard T.J. McConnell could play key role on whether NBA Finals go to Game 7

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell just keeps doing the unthinkable.

At 6-foot-1, he repeatedly backs his way into the paint and outmaneuvers the NBA’s giants for scores. At age 33, he still runs the court with a speed opponents struggle to contend with. And defensively, he often harasses some of the league’s top stars into miscues.

Now, though, McConnell faces his biggest challenge: Potentially replacing two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton on Thursday night as the Pacers try to extend their season against Oklahoma City in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

Haliburton said Wednesday he will try to play through the strained right calf because of the stakes. Coach Rick Carlisle called his catalyst a game-time decision, an indication that at the very least, McConnell could log more minutes than usual.

Either way, McConnell promises he’ll be ready.

“I’ve just got to inject energy, like I always do,” McConnell said after Wednesday’s practice. “Our starters have willed us here and we’ve just kind of got to go in there and, like I said, inject energy where it’s needed and do our jobs.”

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So far, he has thrived in the spotlight. While McConnell’s averages of 9.0 points, 4.0 assists, 2.9 rebounds in 16.7 minutes look ordinary, his presence has been extraordinary.

He became the first bench player in Finals history to record five assists and five steals in one game, and he helped the Pacers cut a 16-point second-half deficit to two while Haliburton struggled in Monday’s 120-109 loss that gave the Thunder a 3-2 lead.

But it’s the way he plays the game that has made McConnell such a fan favorite in a basketball-loving state that prefers toughness and defense to stars or point totals.

The truth is, this is how he learned the game from his father, Tim, a longtime prep coach from suburban Pittsburgh who has become a regular in the crowd during this playoff run.

“Everyone knows what they’ve got to do when they’re on the floor with T.J.,” Pacers forward Obi Toppin said. “We expect him to get in the paint. We expect him to move the ball. We know what he’s doing when we’re out there, so it makes our job easier.”

Toppin, McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin have formed a tight bond on the court despite their differing backgrounds and styles.

Toppin, the 2019-20 College Basketball Player of the Year, and Mathurin, the first Canadian-born player to attend the NBA’s Latin America Academy, were lottery picks. Toppin also won the 2022 NBA Slam Dunk title, while Mathurin was a 2023 all-rookie selection.

McConnell, meanwhile, went undrafted out of Arizona — the same school Mathurin attended — and has had to repeatedly reprove himself.

The critics at Duquesne thought he was too scrawny to make a difference even at a non-power conference school only to watch the Pittsburgh-tough guy transfer to Arizona and help the Wildcats reach the Elite Eight in his two seasons in Tucson.

McConnell’s strong preseason in 2015 prompted the Philadelphia 76ers to keep him for the next four seasons before letting him test free agency and land with the Pacers. Then early last season, it appeared McConnell’s career might be teetering.

Carlisle told McConnell early last season he wouldn’t be in the regular rotation, a discussion Carlisle described as one of the toughest he’s ever had. But McConnell wasn’t discouraged.

“I think coaches in the league have a tough job because you can’t please everybody, so sometimes you’re the odd man out,” he said. “So you can put your head down and sulk about it and make excuses or you can put your head down and go to work. I chose the latter.”

The Pacers couldn’t be happier with the results.

McConnell played so well during last year’s breakout playoff run that Indiana gave him a four-year, $45 million contract extension and played even better during this year’s run to the Eastern Conference title.

Can he help save their season Thursday night? Perhaps.

Just don’t count him out.

“We’ve been in this position before,” McConnell said. “So we just, you know, we can’t flinch. We’ve got to be ready for the challenge because they’re going to come out ready and, like I said, we just have more work to do.”

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