Siakam earns All-Star nod in a number of ways for Pacers
Since joining the Pacers last season, Pascal Siakam has had a impact on winning for the Pacers by doing more than just putting the ball in the basket.
When Charles Barkley announced that Pascal Siakam was selected among the Eastern Conference All-Star reserves on Thursday night, my first thought was: well, earned.
With the coaches voting on reserves, winning is always part of the equation and the Pacers past six weeks of winning has been impossible not to notice and Siakam’s fingerprints are all over the W’s.
Consistently averaging over 20 points and 7 rebounds per game all season help steady the Pacers even when they were struggling. But as the wins have started flowing, Siakam has resembled Dirk Nowitzki with his fade away midrange game on point while also shooting the 3-ball at a career high clip (42%).
On the surface, those numbers combined with the wins made Siakam a legit All-Star this season. But if you dig deeper, those numbers, as beautiful in their consistency as they are, aren’t the only reason for the wins piling up. In fact, Siakam has impacted winning games in other ways that are more difficult to quantify.
With Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton starting max contracts, they are naturally the leaders of this team. While Haliburton does more leading by running the team on the floor, Siakam’s veteran voice has been huge in leading this team both on and off the court.
It started before the season, when Haliburton was busy with Team USA, Siakam hosted most of the roster in Orlando to work out together and engage in team building work. Siakam seemed acutely aware that while the team was running it back with much the same roster this wouldn’t be the same team. The big contracts for he and Haliburton combined with other players getting paid and young players looking to expand their role and impact on the team, would alter the dynamic of the tight knit group that had a blast making a run to the Eastern Conference Finals the prior year.
Videos of Siakam preaching to the squad about the challenges that lie ahead and putting last season behind them were direct, maybe even harsh, but needed to be said and repeated. The team chemistry had to be reset and built back organically to reach the lofty goals the team had and Siakam was ready and able to do the heavy lifting to make it happen.
Siakam’s veteran voice hasn’t wavered throughout the season as the team survived their early struggles with injuries and poor play at both ends of the floor. He often echoes the sentiments of his coach, Rick Carlisle after wins, enjoying the moment but warning that this team has no margin for error and time to exhale regardless of how well they have played. Maintaining that focus and stacking days is the only way they can rises up to compete with the top teams in the East.
Well, thanks to Siakam’s All-Star effort, the Pacers continue that march, now tied in the W-L column with Milwaukee for fourth place in the East. The Bucks currently have the tie breaker, but the Pacers have been able to separate a few games ahead of the Detroit, Miami, Orlando group that seems to swap between 6-8 spots in the standings on a daily basis.
Hawks at the Fieldhouse
Maintaining that separation won’t be easy as the Pacers have enjoyed relatively good health of late while surviving their quirky scheduled which loaded up road games before the Paris trip. After a couple of days off at home, the Pacers host the Hawks on Saturday evening.
The Hawks recently lost they dynamic forward Jalen Johnson for the season and have a few other vets missing. Trae Young and their other young talent are always dangerous to go off, which we’ve seen from Young over the years at the Fieldhouse. With WWE in town for the Royal Rumble, the 5 p.m. ET tip time is a bit different for Saturday. Of course, Tyrese Haliburton has been fully engaged in all of the WWE festivities which started on Thursday with a big press conference and then on Friday at the Fieldhouse with a Smackdown event.
Both Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin remain questionable, but appear on track for a possible return after practicing on Thursday. Here’s to hoping the distractions don’t play a part and the Pacers can add another win over the Hawks before Haliburton slides over to Lucas Oil Stadium for WWE. No doubt, his vet Siakam will do his part to make sure all are focused on the main event of the night — beating the Hawks.
Pacers vs. Hawks
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
When: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, 5:00 p.m. ET
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers -8
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, AndrewNembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner
Hawks: Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Mouhamed Gueye, Onyeka Okongwu
Injuries
Pacers: Andrew Nembhard (back) - questionable, Bennedict Mathurin (illness) - questionable, James Wiseman (Achilles) - out, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out
Hawks: Bogdan Bogdanovic (personal) - out, Kobe Bufkin (shoulder) - out, Clint Capela (back) - out, Jalen Johnson (labrum) - out, Cody Zeller (personal) - out
The Pacers are better now than I thought they could be with this roster. So happy to be wrong and that Myles and Co ARE tough enough to win in this league. (so far ;)
Game date is wrong. It's Saturday not Wednesday February 1st.