OG Anunoby referred to Pascal Siakam earlier this week as “one of my great friends in the league,” however as they are saying, with pals like this, who wants enemies?
Siakam has torched the Knicks — and his former Raptors teammate, particularly — within the first 4 video games of the Japanese Convention finals, with 30 factors in 35 minutes Tuesday night time serving to the Pacers seize a 3-1 sequence lead.
It marked the second sport of at the least 30 factors towards the Knicks for the three-time All-Star ahead, who registered a team-high 39 in Indiana’s Sport 2 victory on the Backyard.
Coming into Sport 5 on Thursday night time again at MSG, Siakam leads the Pacers with a scoring common of 25.8 factors, and he’s linked on 54.1 p.c of his field-goal makes an attempt and 50 p.c (6-for-12) from 3-point vary, together with 3-of-4 in Sport 4.
He additionally has constantly gotten to the free-throw line, making an attempt a team-high 24 within the sequence, whereas changing 17 of them (.708).
“Oh yeah, Pascal is a great player,” Anunoby mentioned between the 2 video games in Indiana. “Simply after that Sport 2, simply attempting to make it as troublesome as potential. Perhaps not assist as a lot in sure conditions and never give him straightforward appears or their pictures.
“Just try to make it as difficult as possible and force him into uncomfortable possessions. Pascal is one of my great friends in the league. We were very close as teammates. He’s a great player and a great person, but we’re competing right now.”
In 27:32 with Anunoby as his major defender — by far essentially the most minutes among the many Knicks — Siakam has scored 27 factors on 9-for-20 from the sphere.
the Knicks’ Sport 4 loss to the Pacers. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Submit
Anunoby netted his sequence excessive Tuesday night time with 22 factors, together with three steals and two blocked pictures, however he missed 6-of-7 tries from lengthy vary.
“The second half [of Game 3] wasn’t to our standards,” Siakam mentioned, “and we came back with more energy and played Pacers basketball. We know we will give ourselves a chance every night if we play that way.”
The Pacers acquired the 31-year-old Siakam from Toronto in January of final season, sending out Bruce Brown, Kira Lewis, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks in a three-team commerce with the Raptors and the Pelicans.
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Siakam added that Tyrese Haliburton “was everywhere” in posting a triple-double with 32 factors, 15 assists and 12 boards with zero turnovers. He additionally joked that his All-Star teammate “stole a lot of my rebounds, but I’ll let that go,” after ending the sport with 5 for the third time within the 4 video games.
After patiently answering a number of questions on Haliburton and the Sport 4 contributions of teammates Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin, the 6-foot-8 Siakam lastly took a query about his not-to-be-overlooked efficiency.
“You ain’t gotta ask about myself, man, it’s all about my team,” Siakam interjected. “Simply taking what the protection provides us and once more, attempting to be aggressive. I do know, like, the playoffs, it is a massive second for everybody, after the sport, take a look at the boxscore, everyone seems to be working to that, like, what number of factors did this individual rating?
“But that’s not us. It’s gonna be different people on different nights. It’s been that for the whole year and that’s all we really care about. Every time we come in here, and if we have a ‘W,’ I’m good. I’m sleeping well. So that’s my mindset going into this, and that’s been the mindset of our team, and it’s going to continue to be like that for us to be successful. It’s not a me thing, it’s an us thing, and I’m just glad to be able to help.”
