Key Highlights:
- Pascal Siakam is the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 to start the postseason with a 35/10 streak.
- Siakam is faster than Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis and bigger than any of the Milwaukee Bucks' linebackers
- Siakam's combination of size and skill is key to the Indiana Pacers' hyper-potent fastbreak attack
When the Indiana Pacers pulled the trigger on the blockbuster midseason trade that cost them Pascal Siakam, they did so with their eyes trained on the future. Although this year is the last year of Siakam's contract, the Pacers seem confident that the two-time All-NBA forward will retire with them this offseason.
That means Indiana has a two-way star at the heart of its glory to beat the brilliant Tyrese Haliburton and his blitzkrieg. Together, the tandem, if built properly, has the potential to be one of the best teams in the East in the next half decade.
What I underestimated (and I believe many others) about the deal is how valuable Siakam could be to the team this season.
Unprecedented Numbers
Through the first two games of their first series against the Milwaukee Bucks, Siakam averaged 36.5 PPG, 12 RPG, 4 APG, and 1.0 BPG on 67.9% true shooting. According to the good folks at Opta Stats, Siakam is the first player since the great Wilt Chamberlain (1967) to put up 35 and 10 (in points and rebounds) in his first playoff game.
Also, in Game 2, Siakam became just the sixth player in NBA history to put up 35/10/5 with zero points.
Pascal Siakam is the 6th player in our database to put up 35/10/5 in a playoff game with 0 turnovers.#NBA | #BoomBaby pic.twitter.com/l1m2q9xv86
– Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) April 24, 2024
Milwaukee Riddle Unsolvable
In addition to the crazy numbers, Siakam was instrumental in the Pacers' ability to split the first two games of the series in Milwaukee. With Giannis Antetokounmpo out with a calf injury, the Bucks are down to their best defense option for Siakam. That forced them to choose between Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis to see who will be lucky enough to succeed in the competition to protect Siakam.
Throughout his career, Portis has been an incredibly hard-working defender (9th in average defense plus and minus, per Dunks & Threes). Therefore, Head Coach Doc Rivers was not shying away from the opportunity to guard Siakam. Besides, when the two have crossed paths, Siakam has been giving Portis business (like this one).
Because of this, Milwaukee started the series with their All-Defensive Team center (Lopez) in Siakam. Lopez is a good pull-up defender and rim protector. Also, he moves a lot for his size (7'1) and age (36). The problem is that Siakam is faster and more skilled than most people in his height bracket (6'8).
As a result, Lopez needs to concede a spot to Siakam, which opens the door for Spicy P (or should we start calling him Playoff P now?) to get into his patented midrange jumper (first clip in the montage below). On the season, Siakam is in the 79th percentile in midrange efficiency and the 93rd percentile in midrange volume. If Lopez doesn't give Siakam space, Siakam will just blow past him and take him off the dribble (second clip). And since Siakam is a big body himself, he has no problem challenging Lopez's mountain frame on the edge (third).
By the end of Game 2, Rivers had decided he had seen enough of Siakam cooking Lopez and decided to try Portis on him again. As well as spoon-feeding an easy match to Siakam, this decision came with secondary consequences.
Since he wasn't guarding Siakam, Lopez had to guard Myles Turner. Lopez can handle Turner inside well, but Turner's strength makes him a good counter to the drag coverage Milwaukee prefers to put Lopez on.
Check out how Haliburton and Turner ignited Lopez's drop with a simple pick-and-pop:
This may go without saying, but everyone on the team's playoff roster is too small to tackle Siakam by himself (even 6'7 Khris Middleton).
The Transition Dynamo
The biggest selling point of Siakam joining the Pacers (besides the fact that he's one of the top 40 basketball players in the world) is that he's a perfect fit for the Pacers' ownership. Specifically, he's a great transition player on a run-and-gun team.
Everyone knows that playing fast leads to easy scores. Simple math. If you run the court faster than you defend, you're more likely to get access to high-value field goal attempts (like this one).
But the part about playing at speed that people often forget to talk about is the cross-matches they build. For those who don't know well, a cross-match occurs when a case arises so quickly in court that the accused are forced to make different matchups than they originally intended.
If you thought big men like Lopez and Portis had a hard time containing Siakam, can you imagine how much worse the stakes get when one of Milwaukee's guards is paired with him?
On the play below, Siakam collects the rebound and flips the ball to Haliburton. To his advantage, Haliburton slows down, forcing Middleton (Siakam's target man) to guard Haliburton. As a result, Damian Lillard (a notoriously poor defender) you are forced shade Siakam. Predictably, Lillard did a poor job, forcing Portis to help out at the tight end, thus creating a third open corner for Turner (who we already know is a good shooter at his position).
In Game 2 especially, Siakam and the Pacers did a good job of pushing the pace any chance they had to create these offensive situations. In the end, the Pacers outscored the Bucks 14 to 5 in rushing scores (even with that stat. for sale the speed difference of the two teams).
And it was Siakam's combination of size and skill that made this approach work so well in Indiana. He's too big on most wings and forwards to guard and he's too skilled for any big forward to trust him to carry. As we have tried to explain before On this website, pure skill is better than pure size. But when you have both size and skill (like Siakam), you become a very intimidating chess piece the board that is something basketball.
That's what Siakam is – a versatile and dangerous chess piece. And now he's helping the Pacers get their teammates out sooner than anyone expected.
