Key Highlights:
- Pascal Siakam is the primary participant since Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 to begin out the postseason with back-to-back 35/10 video games
- Siakam is just too quick for Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis and too huge for any of the Milwaukee Bucks different defenders
- Siakam’s mixture of dimension and talent is the important thing to the Indiana Pacers’ hyper-potent fastbreak assault
When the Indiana Pacers pulled the set off on the blockbuster midseason commerce that netted them Pascal Siakam, they had been doing so with their eyes skilled towards the longer term. Regardless of this 12 months being the ultimate 12 months of Siakam’s contract, the Pacers appear assured that the two-time All-NBA ahead will resign with them this offseason.
That signifies that Indiana has a two-way star on the coronary heart of his prime to flank the dazzling Tyrese Haliburton and his blitzkrieg barrage. Collectively, the tandem, if constructed round correctly, has an opportunity to be among the best groups within the East for the subsequent half decade.
What I (and I imagine many others) underestimated concerning the deal is simply how invaluable Siakam can be for the group this postseason.
Unprecedented Numbers
By way of the primary two video games of their first spherical collection towards the Milwaukee Bucks, Siakam is averaging 36.5 PPG, 12 RPG, 4 APG, and 1.0 BPG on 67.9% true capturing. Based on the nice individuals at Opta Stats, Siakam is the primary participant for the reason that nice Wilt Chamberlain (1967) to place up a 35 and 10 (in factors and rebounds) in his first two playoff video games.
Additionally, in Sport 2, Siakam turned simply the sixth participant in NBA historical past to place up a 35/10/5 with zero turnovers.
Pascal Siakam is the sixth participant in our database to place up 35/10/5 in a playoff recreation with 0 turnovers.#NBA | #BoomBaby pic.twitter.com/l1m2q9xv86
— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) April 24, 2024
A Riddle Milwaukee Simply Can’t Resolve
Greater than the loopy numbers, Siakam has been important within the Pacers’ capability to separate the primary two video games of the collection in Milwaukee. With Giannis Antetokounmpo lacking in motion with a calf damage, the Bucks are down their greatest choice to defend Siakam. That has compelled them to decide on between Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis to see who would be the fortunate raffle winner of the competition for defending Siakam.
All through his profession, Portis has been an extremely underwhelming defender (ninth in defensive estimated plus-minus, per Dunks & Threes). So, Head Coach Doc Rivers wasn’t precisely salivating on the alternative to have him guard Siakam. In addition to, when the 2 have crossed paths, Siakam has been giving Portis the enterprise (like this).
Due to this, Milwaukee began out the collection with their two-time All-Defensive Workforce middle (Lopez) on Siakam. Lopez is a superb drop defender and rim protector. Plus, he’s very cellular for his dimension (7’1) and age (36). The issue is that Siakam is quicker and extra expert than most fellows in his peak bracket (6’8).
Consequently, Lopez must concede house to Siakam, which opens the door for Spicy P (or ought to we begin calling him Playoff P now?) to circulation into his patented midrange jumper (first clip within the montage beneath). On the season, Siakam is within the 79th percentile in midrange effectivity and the 93rd percentile in midrange quantity. If Lopez doesn’t give Siakam house, then Siakam will simply blow proper previous him off the dribble (second clip). And since Siakam is a reasonably large physique himself, he has no problem difficult Lopez’s mountainous body on the rim (third).
Towards the top of Sport 2, Rivers had determined he’d seen sufficient of Siakam cooking Lopez and determined to strive Portis on him once more. Together with spoon feeding a straightforward matchup to Siakam, this determination additionally got here with secondary penalties.
Since he wasn’t guarding Siakam, Lopez needed to guard Myles Turner. Lopez can deal with Turner on the inside simply advantageous, however Turner’s perimeter prowess makes him an awesome counter to the drop protection Milwaukee prefers to have Lopez stationed in.
Take a look at how Haliburton and Turner burn Lopez’s drop protection with a easy pick-and-pop:
This probably goes with out saying, however everybody else on the group’s playoff roster is just too small to face an opportunity towards Siakam in isolation (even the 6’7 Khris Middleton).
A Transition Dynamo
The largest promoting level for Siakam becoming a member of the Pacers (outdoors of the truth that he’s one of many 40 greatest basketball gamers on the planet) is that he suits the Pacers’ identification completely. Particularly, he’s an awesome transition participant on a group that likes to run and gun.
Everybody is aware of that enjoying quick creates simple factors. It’s simple arithmetic. For those who race up the court docket quicker than the protection, likelihood is that you’ll acquire entry to a excessive worth discipline purpose try (like this).
However the half about enjoying with tempo that folks usually overlook to speak about is the cross-matches that it creates. For many who is probably not absolutely conscious, a cross-match is what occurs when an offense will get up the court docket so quick that the protection is compelled into matchups which might be totally different than those they initially meant.
For those who thought giants like Lopez and Portis had been having a tough time containing Siakam, are you able to think about how rather more dire the stakes develop into when one in every of Milwaukee’s matador guards is paired with him?
Within the play beneath, Siakam collects the rebound and flips the ball over to Haliburton. A lot to his credit score, Haliburton sprints down the ground, which forces Middleton (Siakam’s meant man) to protect Haliburton. Consequently, Damian Lillard (a notoriously poor defender) is compelled to shadow Siakam. Predictably, Lillard did an insufficient job, which compelled Portis to assist off the robust aspect nook, thereby creating an open nook three for Turner (who we already established is an efficient shooter for his place).
In Sport 2 particularly, Siakam and the Pacers did an awesome job of pushing the tempo any alternative they’d to be able to create these cross-match conditions. In the long run, the Pacers outscored the Bucks 14 to five in fastbreak factors (even that statistic is underselling the discrepancy within the two groups’ velocity).
And it was Siakam’s mixture of dimension and talent that made this technique so efficient for Indiana. He’s too huge for many wings and forwards to protect him and too expert for any lumbering huge to hope they will comprise him. As we’ve tried to elucidate earlier than on this web site, pure talent is best than pure dimension. However when you could have each dimension and talent (like Siakam), you develop into a really threatening chess piece on the board that is basketball.
That’s what Siakam is – a flexible and harmful chess piece. And now he’s serving to the Pacers dish out checkmates method earlier than anybody may have fairly anticipated.
