LeBron James names Indiana Pacers star who is the ‘key reason’ behind forcing a Game 7 in NBA Finals

LeBron James believes one Indiana Pacers star made the difference for their team and helped take them to Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

Tonight is the night.

For the first time since 2016, the NBA championship will be decided in a Game 7.

The Indiana Pacers will look to overcome the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder .

The Thunder were favorites to reach this stage from the start of the season.

But no one expected the Pacers to get this far.

In fact, Kendrick Perkins said the Pacers would miss the playoffs at the start of the season.

But their roster never lost faith.

In fact, Pascal Siakam held a Pacers team meeting ahead of the season to ensure they understood the goal.

Now, theyre one win away from a franchise-first NBA championship.

And according to LeBron James , the Pacers have one player to thank for getting them to this stage.

LeBron James says T.J.

McConnell helped Indiana Pacers reach Game 7 LeBron James made an appearance at Fanatics Fest this weekend.

During a live episode of Mind the Game, James discussed the NBA Finals.

The man responsible for the last Game 7 Finals win credited Pacers bench star T.J.

McConnell for getting the team to this point in the series.

You look at TJ McConnell, hes not the tallest or fastest guy, but you dont know what hes going to do...

Hes the key reason theres a Game 7 tomorrow night.

James does make a fair point about McConnell.

Coming into this series, no one would have expected McConnell to make the impact he did.

But he has been a real difference maker in this series, willing the Pacers to several wins against the Thunder.

You look at TJ McConnell, hes not the tallest or fastest guy, but you dont know what hes going to do...

Hes the KEY reason theres a Game 7 tomorrow night LeBron shows TJ McConnell love pic.twitter.com/bhnCfBXHjx TJ McConnell putting on generational sixth-man performance The numbers do not lie.

T.J.

McConnell has been excellent for the Pacers when coming off the bench.

While Tyrese Haliburton has struggled with injury , McConnell has been a reliable performer for them.

Here are his stat lines from all six games in the NBA Finals so far.

His output on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.

McConnell is similar to JJ Barea , a player Rick Carlisle relied on from the bench to help win the 2011 NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks .

Similarly to LeBron James, Lou Williams claims that T.J.

McConnell has been the key to their NBA Finals fight .

And heading into Game 7, McConnell will be a crucial star for the Pacers if they hope to topple the OKC Thunder to win the NBA championship.

This article first appeared on NBA Analysis Network and was syndicated with permission..

This article has been shared from the original article on yardbarker, here is the link to the original article.