NBA Finals: Festus Ezeli wins feats of strength with putback and-1 (VIDEO)
How to tell things are going well: the third-string center starts throwing down in a vital moment of the NBA Finals.
Barely a rumor for most of the playoffs, Festus Ezeli has found himself playing big minutes in Game 6 on Tuesday night, as he did in Game 3 last week. The Golden State Warriors want to stay small and mobile, and they've played well with Ezeli at center over Andrew Bogut or even David Lee.
Ezeli is rewarding that continued faith in a big way, scoring nine points and grabbing four rebounds in his first nine minutes of action. Three of those points came in the form of an announcement of his presence, with Ezeli flying to the rim to put back a Steph Curry miss and draw the foul in the process.
Here's another look:
Ezeli averaged 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 11 minutes during the regular season and entered Tuesday averaging 3.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 19 playoff games. He may not be a superstar, but Ezeli apparently has this whole timing thing down pat.
HEADLINES
- Campbell excited about new coordinators: Lions aren't 'starting from scratch'
- Patriots' McDaniels: 'Blessing' to take year off football
- Reds become 1st team since 1960 to lose 3 straight 1-0 games
- Bruins winless in 10 straight games after falling to Canadiens
- Giannis records historic 35-15-20 stat line in win over 76ers