MILWAUKEE — As the young Indiana Pacers, the majority of them untested in the playoffs, began to huddle around head coach Rick Carlisle with 9 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, one individual couldn’t sit down.
Not right now. There was too much energy, too many emotions to be contained in a seat.
A fiery Pascal Siakam was on his feet, pacing and pointing at every teammate one by one. He was yelling at the top of his lungs. He had been here before and needed to ensure that everyone understood the significance.
At the moment, Indiana held a 100-88 lead, hardly a security blanket in today’s NBA. The Pacers were desperate to avoid falling into a 2-0 series hole. But given how the previous two possessions had unfolded — Siakam had scored four much-needed points in quick succession — it was clear Siakam’s presence would dictate Wednesday night’s outcome, one way or another.
In what has emerged as a theme over the first two games of the series, Siakam has to carry the offensive burden. That was the result of Milwaukee’s defensive game plan on Tyrese Haliburton, but also part of the reason Indiana traded for Siakam in January.
“Pascal’s a guy that naturally has a personality and a presence that is poised,” Carlisle said following Indiana’s 125-108 Game 2 win. “He just doesn’t get rattled. He plays the game at his pace. He’s a unique player. His experience shows and he had a lot of big plays for us tonight.”
For years, Siakam settled into his surroundings in Toronto, where he helped win a championship in 2019. But the Pacers, who traded Bruce Brown and three first-round picks for his services, didn’t do so just for Siakam to be one of the group. His game, a quirky modern style with a pinch of old-school flair, stood out for a reason. Indiana needed him. Haliburton, the All-Star in search of a Robin — or even a Batman on some nights —needed him. Carlisle, the veteran coach, needed him, too.
“His experience in the playoffs is so valuable,” Carlisle said. “He’s not a guy that’s going to get rattled by anything. Never has once, since January, since we got him. He’s a guy people confide in, look up to. He’s an important part of what we’re doing.”
Leadership takes different forms and for Siakam, the journey to find his voice is as long as his winding path through the NBA. Siakam was never the type to outwardly display leadership, because there were others around him better equipped to fill that role — Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Kawhi Leonard.
Siakam preferred to do the grunt work and hoped others would follow his example. When there was a structure in place, Siakam could contribute to a championship-winning team. But over the last few seasons, the struggle for dominance ended up causing more harm than good.
“It’s different,” Siakam said. “I’m usually not a talkative person. And it’s something that in the past, in a different situation, it was always a hope that (I) talked a little bit more but I’m coming in, putting in the work every single day and leading by example. But I was challenged with this group to talk. It feels better when it feels like your voice is received well — once you talk, the guys are looking, hearing and feeling like they want to get whatever information you have. It’s been good, I enjoy it. It’s another part of my growth as a player.”
It’s why joining the Pacers was so powerful. Changing teams in the middle of a season is difficult. But establishing a leadership position — separate from on-court ability — is another battle, especially within an already well-established system designed around a star player in Haliburton.
That relationship took time to develop. The Pacers pride themselves on pace and space, but Siakam’s game has historically lent itself to patience and a penchant for midrange proficiency. Finding the happy medium between the two for a Pacers team already among the league leaders in offensive rating is a job for Carlisle. Still, Haliburton’s unselfishness played a part, too.
“Probably early, I was maybe a little too aggressive at trying to hunt him,” Haliburton told The Athletic. “Not being who I am. But I think it’s helped build our chemistry because he sensed it too. He came up to me and was like ‘You’re not being you. You’re hunting me maybe a little too much.’ That was one of the first real honest conversations that we had. So just doing a better job of implementing him into what we already do offensively and he’s excelled well in that.”
Teammate Andrew Nembhard said Siakam’s best trait is his ability to make others around him calm, which comes in handy in an emotional playoff matchup against a familiar foe.
After the Game 1 loss, Siakam showed no sign of worry or frustration, admitting the Bucks did what they were supposed to do at home against a lower-ranked seed. That championship experience and the ability to play the long game versus the short-sighted reaction is invaluable to the Pacers.
Pascal Siakam has found his stride with the Pacers after a January trade from the Toronto Raptors. (Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
The beauty of Siakam’s 37-point, 11-rebound, six-assist performance in Game 2 is that his impact on both ends of the floor never feels forced. It should bode well for Indiana in the rest of the series.
Given how Game 1 unfolded, the Bucks’ best path to a quick series was cutting off Haliburton, and seeing how the Pacers would respond. On Sunday, Indiana succumbed to the pressure, hitting just 8 of 38 3-point attempts, giving credence to a Bucks unit willing to rev up the aggressive coverage.
Over the last two months of the regular season, Siakam hadn’t taken more than four 3s in a game, constantly reverting to his heavy midrange arsenal. But that style doesn’t mesh well with a Milwaukee team prepared to pack the paint or switch to a zone. Siakam had to prove himself a viable release valve for Haliburton (who played a much more controlled, up-tempo game despite finishing with nine points), hitting all of his outside shots in the first half, along with the contributions of his teammates.
Haliburton’s playmaking in conjunction with the Pacers’ 3-point barrage deemed the Bucks’ pressure futile, forcing them to switch things up. And when they adjusted, Indiana countered.
One such tweak was putting Siakam at center, allowing him to take advantage of Brook Lopez’s lack of lateral quickness. Having Haliburton on the bench in these moments forced the Bucks to revert to their base scheme, which the Pacers knew they could exploit in transition and semi-transition scenarios.
Siakam has the physicality to bang with Lopez body to body but can also stop and pull up for jumpers in a flash. In the second half, Siakam was given the freedom to explore as many gaps in Milwaukee’s defense as he could find, using his elite touch and feel around the rim to keep the opposition at bay.
“Just taking what’s out there,” Siakam said. “I don’t feel like I’m trying or forcing anything. Just playing within the flow of the offense. Not thinking about it.”
Defensively, Siakam’s length came in handy on several occasions. The Bucks found early success with Damian Lillard (who still finished with 34 points but only eight in the second half) and Lopez attacking Myles Turner in drop coverage. Turner prefers to hang closer to the rim which is quite dangerous against a pull-up shooter like Lillard.
But when Lopez isn’t on the floor, is a time when the Pacers can remain versatile and effective. Siakam has the length to defend some guards in space. Still, one of his greatest assets is his ability to toggle between matchups, like he does defending three individuals below. It’s an irreplaceable skill set for a team that tends to struggle to string together consistent stops.
“I thought defensively tonight, he was excellent,” Carlisle said. “Everybody did better defensively tonight than they did the other night and he was one of many that stepped it up.”
Parting shots
• We’ll get into this more in the coming days but Nembhard and Turner have played tremendous games. Nembhard (20 points, four rebounds, three assists) has shown aggression on both ends of the floor despite being given the task of chasing Lillard all night. Turner (22 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks) has shown consistency at all three levels offensively while also being a sturdy defensive force down low. Nembhard’s offensive rebound in the third quarter was the embodiment of the mentality the Pacers adopted in Game 2, as well as his willingness to get tangled up with both Lillard and Patrick Beverley.
• We previously mentioned the possibility of Carlisle tightening up his rotations moving forward and he essentially played eight men on Wednesday with Obi Toppin, T.J. McConnell and Ben Sheppard off the bench. The second unit stepped in admirably and filled an important role, but I still expect Carlisle to lean heavily on his starters, especially going into what figures to be a raucous Game 3 in Indiana. Per NBA.com tracking data, the starters are a plus-23.1 during this series, with an eye-popping 139.8 offensive rating. Since Milwaukee’s defense has slacked considerably, I’d continue to hammer that home.
(Top photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
