Pascal Siakam produced a near triple-double – 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds – as the Indiana Pacers won well away in Charlotte on his 10th appearance since last month’s trade move from Toronto. Naturally, the two-time All-Star forward spoke about his excitement to rack up more wins and stress-test the ball club’s full potential alongside a healthy Tyrese Haliburton.
Spicy P serving up optimism in Indiana
- Efficient bucketgetter: Siakam has finished with 20 or more points scored in seven of his ten Pacers appearances to date and was decisive here
- Cameroonian spoke about excitement playing with Haliburton as optimism grows they may add a third star in the offseason, or via trade
- Pacers host Houston and Golden State before a three-game road trip before the All-Star break ends with Siakam’s old team Toronto on Feb. 15
Pascal Siakam led all Pacers with 25 points and was on the cusp of a triple-double during their 115-99 win over the Charlotte Hornets, who had a new career-high 35 points from rookie forward Brandon Miller end in vain.
Tyrese Haliburton posted 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting alongside four assists, two blocks, a rebound and steal in 20 minutes from the start
Cameras frequently focused on the guard keeping warm on a spin bike near the tunnel in the second-half when not in the game, as the ball club are patiently trying to manage his minutes and workload to avoid reaggravating the hamstring issue that kept him sidelined last month after a scary fall against Boston.
On how much fun it is playing alongside the 23-year-old, Siakam didn’t mince words:
“He’s trying to get back healthy, I know how special he is – just want him to be healthy. Knowing the type of players we are, I’m not worried about that [not winning together yet], we’ll win a lot together. Feels like it [the trade] just happened, I’m excited to be part of this team, competing at the highest level.
We’re gonna fight hard and it feels like a lot more [than ten games], can’t wait to get more.”
Indiana (28-23) sit five games over .500 in sixth place out East at the time of writing, having snapped a three-game losing streak against Charlotte.
Their schedule for the rest of the month is packed with winnable games, home and away, though it’s easier said than done when you fall into bad habits.
On their tough stretch and how they must stay switched on regardless of the in-game circumstances – whether winning or trailing teams – Siakam added this postgame:
“We played three [games] in four nights, we knew this was an important one for us – have to work as a team, try to get back into winning games. Gotta lock in more, it’s easy when you’re up [on the scoreboard] to relax, we can’t do that, gotta keep to our principles from start-to-finish.”
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via Charlotte’s team broadcast
Mo and Sports 