Pascal Siakam falls 39; Pacers put Knicks in the hole of the 2-0 series

New York – After a quiet performance by Pascal Siakam in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Indiana Pacers joined the New York Knicks on Friday evening to involve him more on the offensive.

It worked from the opening tip.

Siakam dropped the first 11 points from Indiana, scored 17 points in the first quarter and with a playoff career heights of 39 points with 15 out of 23 shootings with five rebounds and three templates. The performance contributed to silence the crowd in the Madison Square Garden and to give the Pacers a 114-109 victory, which brought it 2-0 in the series when it was shifted to Indianapolis on Sunday.

“That's why we brought him here,” said Pacers Guard Tyrese Haliburton. “That is what he is here. He can get a bucket in so many different ways.

“We just fed him again and again, and I thought he did a great job to make Big Shot to Big Shot after Big Shot. If you kill dynamics. If you are in an environment like this, the crowd can penetrate you, many of these recordings can be backbreaker.”

Siakam won a championship with the Raptors 2019, and the Pacers have relied on his experiences since they acquired him in a trade with Toronto in January 2024.

Siakam gave his teammate his usual advice on Friday evening: Despite her serial advantage, it was important not to get too far ahead of him.

“You can't drive a wave,” he said. “I can't get too high with the heights, I can't get too low with the lowest.

Siakam's leadership is valuable, but the Pacers also benefited from his goals during their successive runs to the conference final. This was his third 35-point game in the playoffs with the Pacers, the third highest of all time (only Reggie Miller and Paul George), says Espn Research.

“He was the guy who got us going and brought us through some difficult distances,” said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. “It is difficult to achieve this number of points in a game like this, in which you always have a physical matchup defensive and a guy falls and flies on the basket. But he did a phenomenal job. It is a quiet 39 points. It really was.”

Siakam was coordinated in this series with his former Raptors teammate Knick's striker OG Anunoby, which gives him an additional incentive. Anunoby kept Siakam at 0: 3 at Field's goal attempts, but Siakam was 4 against 6 when he was guarded by him on Friday.

“It is astonishing that we are both in a position where we can compete at this level from Toronto,” said Siakam. “There is only additional motivation. You only choose to compete at a higher level. I know how hard he is a competitor.”

Siakam was one of six Pacers who scored a goal in double -digit numbers. Haliburton added 14 points and 11 templates, and Myles gymnast scored 13 of his 16 in the fourth quarter of his.

“What is really special about our group at the moment is that we only have so many different people,” said Haliburton. “So many people do special things.”

The balanced attack helped the Pacers to win their sixth streets in a row in this post -season when they improved to 6-1. But Carlisle asked his team to concentrate despite a serial advantage.

“There are many traps here,” said Carlisle. “You cannot assume that it will be easier to go home. It is never. Every game when you climb into a playoff series. And New York, you have an amazing fighting spirit.”