Indiana made a blockbuster deal to bring in Pascal Siakam at midseason. Siakam showed why Tuesday night.
Pascal Siakam DOMINATED to help the @Pacers tie the series 1-1 in Game 2!
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2024
37 PTS | 11 REB | 6 AST | 3 3PM
Game 3: Friday, 5:30pm/et on ESPN pic.twitter.com/jOSu1QOGil
Indiana's All-Star forward poured in 37 points on 16-for-23 shooting as the Pacers soundly defeated the Bucks, 125-108, to tie their first-round series at 1-1.
Siakam also added 11 rebounds and six assists and didn't commit a single turnover in the process.
Players to start the playoffs with back-to-back games of 35+ PTS & 10+ REB:
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) April 24, 2024
Pascal Siakam (2024)
Wilt Chamberlain (1967)
Elgin Baylor (1961) pic.twitter.com/amIjhQf74M
It's exactly what Indiana envisioned when it traded Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks to get Siakam from the Toronto Raptors.
In a series where their All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton hasn't been scoring — he's tallied 21 points in two games — Siakam has delivered games of 36 and 37 points to carry Indiana's offense.
To be fair, Haliburton did have 12 assists, including a lob to Siakam from roughly 35 feet away.
Tyrese Haliburton with the halfcourt lob to Pascal Siakam pic.twitter.com/bqpL87jd0k
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 24, 2024
It helped that for the second straight game, Damian Lillard was a non-factor in the second half. After scoring 35 points in the first half and zero in the second of Game 1, Lillard had 26 in the first half of Game 2 and only eight in the second, shooting 3-for-9.
Meanwhile, Siakam shot 8-for-9 after the break for 16 points, and Myles Turner drilled three second-half threes on his way to 14 second-half points.
Myles Turner to put us up 20 in the fourth.
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 24, 2024
️️️ pic.twitter.com/wE6YQRn0wQ
Siakam has been good all series, but the biggest difference from Game 1 was Indiana's outside shooting. The Pacers didn't make a three-pointer for the first 21 minutes of Game 1 and finished shooting 8-for-38 from deep.
In Game 2, they went 16-for-36, getting triples from seven different players.
20-4 PACERS RUN ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2024
Myles Turner connects from the corner to extend Indy's lead in the 4th quarter on NBA TV! pic.twitter.com/nh3xw19j2s
Indiana moved to 4-2 on the season against the Bucks, who are hoping to get Giannis Antetokounmpo back soon.
Until then, Milwaukee will need to find a way to slow down Siakam because if Haliburton starts shooting better, the Bucks are going to be in trouble.
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