Obi Toppin on Game 6 of NBA Finals: Indiana Pacers have to be ‘fearless’ to keep season alive

Obi Toppin and the Indiana Pacers find themselves on the brink of elimination, needing to win Game 6 of the NBA Finals to keep their championship dreams alive.

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“We’ve just got to go into this next game fearless,” Toppin told reporters Wednesday in Indianapolis. “There are two games left, but we’ve got to get this one (Thursday) first.”

The former Dayton Flyers forward Toppin scored in double figures for the third time in five games Monday, tallying 12 points in Game 5. The Pacers lost 120-109 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Toppin made 5 of 11 field goals, including 1 of 5 3-pointers. He had four rebounds.

The Thunder took a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 will take place Thursday in Indianapolis. The NBA Finals hasn’t lasted seven games since 2016 when the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors.

Toppin was asked Wednesday what the Pacers need to do to keep their season alive.

“Just go out there and play our type of basketball,” Toppin said. “Bring 110 (percent) effort the whole whole entire game and just do what we do best.”

Toppin ranks fifth on the team in scoring (11.4 points per game) in the NBA Finals. He is close to setting a record for the most points scored by a former Flyer in the finals. He has 57 points. Johnny Davis scored 64 points, averaging 10.7 points in six games, for the Portland Trail Blazers, who won the championship in 1977.

Toppin has averaged 24.5 minutes in this series after averaging 18.9 minutes in the Eastern Conference finals, 16.6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals and 15.4 in the first round of the playoffs. He has played in 100 games this season: 79 in the regular season and 21 in the playoffs.

“I’m not tired,” Toppin said. “I’m still young. I’ve got these young legs on me. This is our job. We love to do it and wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

The Pacers may play Thursday without star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is dealing with a calf strain.

“We’ve got soldiers on this team,” Toppin said. “We’re going to try to play through any type of injury. Ty’s a soldier. He’s most likely going to be good. We don’t know yet. We’ll see how that goes tomorrow.”

If Haliburton can’t play, Toppin said. “The next man’s got to step up. Everybody on this team is more than capable of stepping up and and filling in anybody’s spot. We’ve just got to be dogs to get this one.”