Basketball, She Wrote

Pascal Siakam makes a mismatch out of Knicks, leads Pacers to 2-0 series lead

Added 2025-05-24 19:29:14 +0000 UTC

Breaking down the starring performance of Indiana's non-centralized star

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

Following Game 1, with the Pacers guarding Jalen Brunson by forcing him to guard, it seemed as though this might be a more muted series for Pascal Siakam. After all, there were times (for good reason), that he could be seen merely standing in the corner, removing O.G. Anunoby from the action, as the guards proceeded to seek out Brunson by any means necessary in the middle of the floor. Instead, Siakam turned the volume all the way up on his play, blaring his impact as a mismatch against nearly every match-up. As a result, although the Knicks made some changes, switching and going big while also cross-matching more often, the outcome remain unchanged: another win for the Pacers, who now, with Siakam at command, return home to Indiana with a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Joining me to discuss both the dominance and indomitability of Siakam's 39-point "Garden" party, along with everything else Game 2, is (once again) Samson Folk.

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

6:26 - Siakam scoring in different ways against every Knicks starter + Robinson

13:57 - Brief aside on the differences between Siakam and Sabonis as post operators

18:10 - The ability of the Pacers to keep playing when plays breakdown

19:52 - Siakam's (ahem) unselfishness

25:00 - Distinguishing TJM at the helm of the offense from TJ-ball

25:27 - Bennedict Mathurin not playing in the second half

31:10 - Andrew Nembhard's off-ball playmaking (thanks, in part, to Josh Hart)

37:01 - Will the Knicks make a starting lineup change?

41:57 - Being confused by the Knicks confusion on defense (also, what's with all of the hedging against TJM?)

46:52 - Keeping it simple against switches + relocating Robinson weak-side corner