The Pacers and Bucks fought to a 1-1 draw, with G1 Siakam scoring 36 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks on 15-of-25 shooting, and 37 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists on 16-of-23 shooting from G2 Siakam. He became the first player since Chamberlain in 1967 to score 35 points and 10 rebounds in the first two games of the playoffs.
If the scope is expanded to two consecutive playoff games, there are a total of five people in NBA history who have scored at least 35 points and 10 rebounds in two consecutive games and shot more than 60% from the field: Chamberlain (1967), O'Neal (2000 and 2002), Duncan (2003), Antetokounmpo (2021), and Siakam (2024).
Looking at the history of the Pacers, there are only three people who have scored at least 35 points and 10 rebounds in a single playoff game: O'Neal Jr. (1 time), George (2 times) and Siakam (2 times). Before the playoffs began, everyone thought the Pacers boss was Haliburton. When it comes to the playoffs, fans find out that Siakam is the boss of the team!
After the first round of G2, Pacers coach Carlisle said in an interview: "Siakam's playoff experience is invaluable, and he has established himself as a senior leader on the team!" Siakam has played 55 playoff games so far in his career, and Turner (28 games) and Haliburton (2 games) have only played 30 playoff games combined.
Haliburton played average in these two playoff games, he played 37.5 minutes per game, scored 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, and shot 47.1%, 40%, 50% from three. It's not inefficient, but the score is too small, and there are only 2 free throws in the two games, which is not aggressive, and Siakam has 13 free throws in two games!
Haliburton averaged 8.5 shots per game in the playoffs, five of which came from beyond the three-point line. As the core of the team, the number of shots is too small, and the lethality is not enough. For comparison, Siakam averaged 24 shots per game in the playoffs this year, only four of which came from beyond the three-point line. Thanks to Siakam, otherwise the Pacers were 2-0 down......
On January 18 of this year, the Pacers traded Bruce Brown, Jordan Walla and three first-round picks to get Siakam from the Raptors. His current contract is four years, $137 million, which expires this summer, and he has a salary of $38 million this season. The Raptors wanted to straighten Barnes, so they traded away Siakam and Anunoby this season.
In the regular season this season, Siakam played 41 games for the Raptors, averaging 31.8 minutes per game, scoring 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.4 blocks while shooting 54.9% from the field, 38.9% from three-point range and 69.9% from the free throw line. The shooting and three-point shooting percentage are both career highs. He averaged 12.8 interior points per game, which ranks 9th in the league.
Siakam was born on April 2, 1994, just turned 30 years old, he is 2.03 meters tall and has an arm span of 2.22 meters. The Pacers are an offensive team that averages 123.3 points per game in the regular season, which ranks first in the league. In the playoffs, the Pacers are averaging only 109.5 points per game, and it is not enough to count on offense. Siakam's defense is exactly what the Pacers lack!
If Sika can help the Pacers get past the Bucks, how much do you think he can get to his next contract?