How the Pacers (wedge) rolled with the (counter) punches

On the late-game three-man adjustments between Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Haliburton, and most notably: Pascal Siakam 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

A week ago, when the Pacers lost to a depleted Charlotte Hornets team at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Pascal Siakam failed to score in double figures for the first time since he was traded to Indiana last January, as he tallied just nine points on a season-low of eight shots. For the game, despite playing against an opponent who finished small with Cody Martin at nominal five, Siakam only recorded a single field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter, even as he also closed out the game at nominal five. Meanwhile, he notched a total of three post-ups -- two of which came during the first twelve minutes of action. Of course, the Hornets had somewhat of a hand in why the ball didn't often stay in his hands for direct scoring opportunities.

As an offshoot from the Joe Mazzulla coaching tree, head coach Charles Lee took a page from his time as an assistant in Boston and outright assigned center Nick Richards to T.J. McConnell, just as the Celtics did last season at times with both Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet. On the one hand, the hide-a-big strategy was no match for T.J.-ball, given that McConnell finished with a career-high of 30 points. On the other hand, however, the hide-a-big strategy essentially dictated that the offense was largely T.J.-ball and mainly T.J.-ball. After all, if Richards has both of his heels planted in the paint when McConnell has the ball at the top of the key, there isn't going to be much of an advantage generated from Siakam ducking-in against a smaller guard or wing, even though (generally speaking) there should definitely be an advantage generated from Siakam ducking-in against a smaller guard or wing.

Still, after McConnell scored twice in a row and got fouled, Richards left the game with 8:38 to play in the fourth quarter, and Siakam only had one touch (yes, touch) in two-point range for the remainder of the game. That shouldn't happen, and it didn't happen -- at least, not in the next game against the Sixers.

In fact, when what once had been a 19-point lead dwindled to just seven with 4:31 to go in Philadelphia, the Pacers went to the same play on three-straight possessions, all of which led to scores while heavily involving Siakam.

Here's what happened.

On the first trip, Tyrese Haliburton set an angled back-screen for Siakam to then set a ball-screen for Andrew Nembhard on the wing.

If that looks familiar, it's probably because this isn't the first time that the Pacers have gone to this action during crunch-time. Remember the big, late-game shot that Haliburton made at home against the Magic? That also came out of a wedge-roll, as Siakam effectively screened Jalen Suggs out of the play for Haliburton to pull-up from deep against a team that typically chases over or pushes the action to the sideline against side pick-and-rolls, while also occasionally blitzing on re-screens or angle adjustments.

In that regard, since the Magic (thankfully) decided to stop playing zone, the play worked to create breathing room for Haliburton, as also would've been the case if they had intended to blitz -- which would've led to a delayed ball-screen coverage. That said, note the difference in Philadelphia. Rather than setting the wedge screen, Nembhard is the ball-handler.

To understand why, recall that the Sixers started switching on nearly everything at around the 5:08 mark of the third quarter. If the opposing team switches the wedge screen and then switches again on the ball-screen, the way to generate the most favorable match-up for Siakam is for him to set the ball-screen on the wing for Nembhard, who typically draws the weaker assignment.

Or, at least, that's what would've happened, if not for the fact that the Sixers stayed active on the weak-side, keeping Andre Drummond low so that he could immediately scram out the mismatch.

The only problem is, the Pacers stayed active, too. At the same time as Drummond was scramming out the mismatch, Turner cut to the top of the key and immediately sprinted into a hand-off with Nembhard. Again, there was another switch, but with Paul George off-balance from chasing Turner, Nembhard was able to turn the ball downhill, finding Siakam with a cross-court dart for the open three.

With only that possession, Siakam already had as many touches within two-point range as he logged over the final eight minutes against Charlotte after Nick Richards went to the bench. And, here's the thing: They didn't stop there. On the very next possession, they went back to the same action, only this time the Sixers didn't switch the ball-screen, which meant that Drummond didn't need to come across the lane to scram out Tyrese Maxey. As such, Siakam effectively did what Siakam is capable of doing against smaller guards and wings.

Just for added emphasis, he recorded a total of three post-ups against the Charlotte Hornets. There, he had two within the same possession. At that point, the Sixers effectively determined that enough was enough and made the change to swap Tyrese Maxey onto Bennedict Mathurin, with Kelly Oubre taking on the assignment against Nembhard. In theory, given that Paul George was guarding Siakam, it seems as though that would neutralize the ball-screen on the wing, as one wing with size could simply trade assignments with another wing with size. Well, here's the thing: The Pacers made a change, too. This time, with Oubre defending Nembhard, look at who's back at the controls. Yep, in a reprisal to the aforementioned possession against Orlando, it's a return to the Haliburton-Siakam wedge roll.

Hypothetically, if the Sixers had continued to switch, putting Haliburton back on ball would've led to a size mismatch for Siakam in the post again against Jared McCain, who apparently was dealing with knee soreness and was later diagnosed with a meniscus tear. As it was, Paul George ducked under the wedge screen from Nembhard in order to cut Siakam off from sliding to the block. In turn, though, that meant that George was out of position to cover the side ball-screen, which created clearance for Haliburton to attack with his strong hand -- especially with (ahem) Nembhard clearing the path.

In the end, although the Pacers ran the same action three times, they never scored in the same way, as they extended the lead from seven to 15 in less than two minutes by repeatedly wedge rolling with the counter punches.

According to Second Spectrum, there are 20 players in the NBA who have recorded at least 50 post-ups. Among them, no one's team has been more efficient on possessions featuring that action than Pascal Siakam, as the Pacers have notched 1.260 points per chance. To be fair, that doesn't mean he should be force fed the ball, as there could potentially be diminishing returns if the play started to become more static; however, what stands out about each of those possessions is the degree to which the play wasn't static, as Nembhard, Haliburton, and Siakam stayed a step ahead of the defense, pressing the right buttons at the right time, rather than allowing the defense to catch up or, quite frankly, letting the defense off the hook.

Every game is unique and takes on its own character, but there's reason to keep Siakam posted or at the very least more "wedged" into the action than what was the case in Charlotte. As the final possession of the three in Philadelphia goes to show, even when he doesn't touch the ball in the post or as the wedge roller, his presence and activity within the action still has the potential to optimize the touches that his gravity, in cutting off his route to the post, tilts toward his teammates.

Whether moving the ball ahead against a scram switch and relocating to the corner, going to work against a mismatch, or simply popping out to three with his defender not in position to guard the ball-screen, what the Pacers found in Philadelphia is that he shouldn't be lost in the shuffle to the degree that he was in Charlotte.