With the Eastern Conference Finals now over, you know what that means, right? No, it is not the ‘long’ wait now for the NBA Finals. Rather, it is the announcement of the ECF MVP. Throughout the whole season, and the recent series against the New York Knicks, the Indiana Pacers squad dominated at a level that hadn’t been seen for over a quarter century. Now, after the recent game, one of them was bestowed with one of the ultimate honors a player could receive while entering the NBA Finals.

After much anticipation, the fortunate winner of the Larry Bird trophy was declared to be Pascal Siakam, not Tyrese Haliburton! Ernie Johnson Jr. announced the winner, while Reggie Miller presented the accolade. The Gainbridge Fieldhouse erupted in cheers, and his teammates patted him as Siakam headed to the front to accept the trophy. As Miller embraced him amidst the continuing cheers from the fans, Siakam must have certainly felt that this was one of the moments that had finally made his 9-year journey within the NBA worth it.

It certainly was a close race between Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton. According to NBA Communications, the power forward received 5 of the 9 votes for Eastern Conference Finals MVP from a media panel covering the series. Haliburton, on the other hand, received the other four votes. The data showed that amongst the people who voted for Tyrese Haliburton was Reggie Miller himself, who voted as a representative of TNT. The others who voted for Haliburton were the NBA’s Steve Aschburner, ESPN’s Jamal Collier, and ‘The Athletic’s Joe Vardon. However, with Tim Bontemps, Dustin Dopirak, Katie George, Fred Katz, and Steve Popper deciding to go in another direction, Haliburton’s fate was sealed.

Not many can deny that Pascal Siakam had the accolade coming his way. He averaged the highest points against the Knicks in the last 6 games by averaging 24.8 points through 9.2-17.5 (52.4%) field goals, 1.7-3.3 (50.0%) 3-pointers, and 4.8-7.2 (67.4%) free throws. On top of that, he also averaged 5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. When Tyrese Haliburton faltered on the offensive front by scoring only 14 and 8 points during Games 2 and 5, Siakam tried to bridge the gap with his 39 and 15 points, respectively.

Therefore, with the Indiana Pacers heading to the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years, it was appropriate to honor the player who helped the team get to that stage the most. Despite this, everyone knows that while Siakam’s contribution was vital, Haliburton also did his part in elevating the team’s standing. Therefore, Rick Carlisle didn’t choose to leave the point guard out in his remarks.

Rick Carlisle gave his flowers to both Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton, as the ECF MVP gave a shoutout to teammates

The Pacers squad was on the court commemorating Pascal Siakam’s feat for quite a while. After that, however, it was time for the post-game presser. At the same time, he also mentioned that “Our two stars, Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, put our team on their backs and just decided that we were not going to lose this game today”. Everyone’s attention was focused on the power forward. However, the Pacers’ head coach also let the 25-year-old have his moment.

Tyrese Haliburton’s contribution in the recent game certainly cannot go unmarked. After all, while Siakam scored 31 points, the point guard followed behind with his 21 points through 9-17 (52.9%) field goals, 2-5 (40.0%) 3-pointers, and 1-1 (100.0%) free throws. If that wasn’t enough, he also made 6 rebounds and 13 assists! Through his performance, Haliburton reminded everyone that Pascal Siakam might not have gotten to hold the ECF MVP trophy if he also didn’t have efficient teammates to guide them. Fortunately, the player knows this fact.

“Shout out Indy, man. It’s been such an amazing experience for me so far from the first day I landed here. The love has been amazing,” said Siakam after winning the Larry Bird trophy. “After a bad Game 5, I wanted to bounce back. I have 100% belief in my teammates. Whenever we are down, we always find a way and we did that tonight.”

Tyrese Haliburton might have missed out on the prestigious accolade, but fret not. If all goes well in the NBA Finals for him, he might end up walking off with both the Larry O’Brien trophy and the NBA Finals MVP accolade. It all depends on how the team accepts the challenge by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co.