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.