Pascal Siakam Is A Star And A Glue Guy. He Put Pacers Up Two On Knicks

NEW YORK – All-Star players in the NBA aren’t typically the ones characterized as glue guys. But Pascal Siakam, who lit up the New York Knicks for 39 points Friday night to give the Indiana Pacers a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, is the dominant adhesive that keeps his team together.

Siakam – who postgame called himself a borderline-shy personality while speaking with reporters, an atypical nature for an NBA star — is atypical as a player, too. There aren’t many like him. He’s got a back to the basket midrange game, an arsenal of funky spin moves, and a still-improving jumper. He’s unstoppable with a small defender on him.

In Game 2 against the Knicks, those skills were all there. And Siakam wasted zero time showcasing that Friday would be his night. He had 11 points after 3:36 of game action, which was every point the Pacers had at the time. It was Siakam 11, Knicks 6 after over four minutes of play.

“He started the game hot. We just kept feeding him,” Pacers All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton said.

How did Pascal Siakam guide the Pacers past the Knicks?

By the end of the first quarter, Siakam had 16 of his team’s 24 points. Indiana would have been down big without him. When the three-time All-Star hit a three-point shot to open the second half, he had 26 points – half of the Pacers 52 to that point. For significant portions of the game, he was the team’s offense.

And the nine-year pro was doing it his way. He hit tough, fading jump shots over OG Anunoby, an elite defender. In transition, he raced to the rim with and without the ball. Siakam’s threes were dropping, When New York was forced to switch a smaller defender on Siakam, he attacked.

The variation made Siakam’s scoring so deadly. He spread out his buckets, too, making multiple shots in every quarter of the game. He had nearly 40 points, but it was a soft scoring performance, and one fitting for a player who described himself as reserved.

“He did a phenomenal job, and it’s a quiet 39 points. It really was,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said.

The Knicks just couldn’t stop Siakam. Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green recalled the challenges he dealt with when guarding Siakam during the 2019 NBA Finals, calling it one of the only matchups he ever lost during a series in his career. Siakam has that kind of ability at his best, and Friday was his best.

When the final buzzer sounded, Siakam’s 39 points became a playoff career high. He tied his best-ever mark for made threes in a postseason outing and was one field goal away from tying his top mark in that setting. History will show that it was Siakam’s greatest postseason showing.

That performance made Siakam the story Friday night. He was unstoppable. The Knicks will huddle up and discuss adjustments to slow him down. But it was the glue guy qualities Siakam possesses that dragged his team across the finish line for the second time in the series and brought them one win closer to the NBA Finals.

The glue guy label is given to players who bring the rest of their team together. Usually, that tag is used to describe a role player that makes his team’s style vibrant — a connective type that does a thing, or things, that brings his team together and makes them complete.

What makes Siakam the Pacers glue guy?

Siakam doesn’t fit the often-used definition of glue guy mostly due to his status as a star. But he should. In both of his seasons with the Pacers, he’s been an adhesive, and he was again versus New York.

On the court, Siakam makes lineups pop. His own brilliance influences these numbers, but Indiana was +16 with Siakam on the floor and -11 with him off in Game 2. The team’s defensive rating was significantly better in Saikam’s minutes, and he doesn’t just play with a talented starting five. The veteran forward spends time with the bench, too – he’s asked to buoy those lineups as a finisher and creator.

The Pacers want one of Haliburton or Siakam on the floor at all times, and Siakam gets more reps with the second unit because his size and two-way ability completes those lineups. One of the defining stretches of Game 2 came with Siakam on the floor with T.J. McConnell and Ben Sheppard along with other starters. Indiana rolled in those minutes, which came early in the fourth quarter.

All postseason long, Siakam has absorbed a difficult matchup. In the ongoing series, it’s Anunoby, a former teammate of Siakam’s that nearly made an All-Defense team this season. Even with challenging oppositions, Siakam has been terrific throughout the playoffs. Those excellent defenders can’t guard someone else if they’re on the star forward – in that way, Siakam makes his teammates’ lives easier.

“He’s a veteran who’s been in these situations multiple times,” Carlisle said of Siakam. “He understands the importance of patience and being disciplined and understanding [that] the NBA playoffs are a process.”

Off the court, the glue guy designation comes from Siakam’s constant teachings that have become sought out by his teammates since his arrival in Indiana. Last year, they were key for a core that was in the playoffs for the first time.

This year, they may be even more important. Siakam, who won a title with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, remembers thinking at the time that he’d be back on a big stage again. He felt like his team was on top of the world. But the Raptors won just one playoff series in total during the final four seasons that Siakam was on the roster. They were never close to their championship peak again.

That’s the message Siakam preached to his teammates after they made the Eastern Conference Finals last year. It was going to be challenging to make it back, and even more difficult to advance. Hard work would be a requirement. Yet here the Pacers are, two wins away from the NBA Finals. And it’s because Siakam’s words were heard and applied. The team practiced what he preached.

“We’re not consumed with who’s going to do what,” Siakam said of what makes the Pacers special. “You just go into the game and however the game presents itself, that’s how we’re going to take it… for me, I just try to play my game. Shoutout to my teammates just finding me. I stayed aggressive the whole game,” he added of his Game 2 performance.

Siakam brings the Pacers together and makes his team better. On most days, that shows up via strong performances from several members of the roster. Friday night, Siakam was the team. He had an A+ game on both ends and made his teammates better. Without him, Indiana isn’t up 2-0 in their current series. But without him, they aren’t at this point in the first place. That’s why he’s the glue guy.

“For 48 minutes,” Pacers wing Aaron Nesmith began. “It seemed like he just took control of the game.”