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As the Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks in Game 2, 114-109, to take a 2-0 series lead, Friday night was highlighted by the impeccable performance from star Pascal Siakam. With Siakam's special performance for the Pacers, he would speak after the game about what led to the outing, and it wasn't the questionable defense from their opponents.
Siakam would finish with a whopping 39 points on an efficient 15 of 23 shooting from the field, three of five from deep, to go along with five rebounds and three assists. He would credit his teammates for the career-high points in the playoffs, saying that they made sure Siakam “stayed aggressive,” according to The Athletic.
“Whatever was out there, I just took it,” Siakam said. “I think what makes us special as a team is just that we have different weapons and we’re not consumed with who’s going to do what. You just go into the game, and however the game presents itself, that’s how we go and take it and do it our way. And it doesn’t matter who scores.”
“I just try to play my game,” Siakam continued. “Shout-out to my teammates for finding me and making sure that I stayed aggressive the whole game. It’s going to take all of us to get where we wanna get to.”
Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton shouts out Pascal Siakam for big night
Despite the 2-0 series lead, the Pacers need to pump the brakes on feeling comfortable in winning this series, as despite going back home, the Knicks are a team that could explode offensively and catch them off guard. Siakam would echo the same sentiments, saying that the team “can't get too high.”
“We can’t ride the waves,” Siakam said. “We can’t get too high with the highs and too low with the lows. I just appreciate the opportunity that I have here to have a bunch of guys (who) want to hear my voice. They want me to say something.”
Still, Indiana has been impressive so far in stealing both games in New York, as besides Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton is in charge of leading the team, but he made sure to shout out the former Toronto Raptor.
“That’s why we brought him here. It’s what he’s here to do,” Haliburton said. “He can get a bucket in so many different ways. He started the game high, and we just kept feeding him. I thought he did a great job of making big shot after big shot after big shot, killing momentum.”
“I think when you’re in an environment like this, the crowd is getting into it,” Haliburton continued. “A lot of those shots can be backbreakers at times. He just kept making big play after big play. He was amazing for us. A big reason why we won today.”
At any rate, the Pacers are looking to make their first NBA Finals since 2000 (their lone appearance) and especially win the franchise's first title. Indiana looks for a 3-0 lead on their home floor in Game 3 on Sunday night.
