The ‘almost’ stars of the NBA Finals

The Golden State Warriors tied the NBA Finals 1-1 by eeking out a five point victory Sunday over the Toronto Raptors. Both team’s victories have come with big help from an almost-star player. One is a former star, one is a possible future star.

Game one of the series was dubbed the Pascal Siakam game very quickly as he went 14-17 from the field and dropped 32 points en-route to a Raptors victory.

By all measures, Siakam’s performance was his best of this playoffs. It came in the biggest game, so far, of his career. This was only the second time he’s scored over 30 points in a playoff game, and only the seventh time in his career, all of which have come in 2019.

Siakam could be a star in the future if he continues to have big games in big moments. He has already put together an impressive enough regular season to be considered the leading candidate for the Most Improved Player award. The man had a quiet game two, but a third year player will often have struggles on and off in a career. To be considered a star, he needs to become more consistent in putting up big numbers.

The second game of the Finals was a different story. Toronto had struggles with its supporting cast and allowed the Warriors to take full advantage of it.

Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) goes down on a shot as Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins (0) defends during the first half of Game 2 of basketball’s NBA Finals, Sunday, June 2, 2019, in Toronto. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

DeMarcus Cousins was a complete game-changer for Golden State. After a slow start in which he looked sluggish, Cousins began running much of the high-post passing plays that normally run through Draymond Green.

Golden State used this to their advantage much of the second half, including playing Boogie a staggering 28 minutes while he had only played eight in the first game back from an injured quad.

Cousins finished the game with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six huge assists. The man just worked Marc Gasol late in the game — neutralizing him — which proved to be a huge part of the Warriors success.

If the Warriors win this series, Cousins will have earned his ring. You can’t say he rode the coattails in the finals after that performance.

With the first two games producing huge nights from sort of role-stars, who will be the next to do it for his team and help it get closer to an NBA Championship?

Twitter: @ajlars13