<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-reacts-pascal-siakam-embracing-captain-meme');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton reacts to Pascal Siakam embracing ‘captain’ meme');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Pacers-Tyrese-Haliburton-Pacers-Pascal-Siakam.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton reacts to Pascal Siakam embracing ‘captain’ meme</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-20T11:24:21-07:00">August 20th, 11:24am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-20T11:24:21-07:00">August 20th, 11:24am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After Indiana Pacers guard <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-fires-up-fans-with-post-achilles-surgery-first">Tyrese Haliburton posted an update on his recovery</a> from a ruptured Achilles injury in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, he posted commented on All-Star Pascal Siakam’s social media, embracing a popular meme. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-missing-hoops-message">Haliburton undoubtedly misses playing basketball amid injury</a>. He isn’t close to playing anytime soon but did recently lace them up as a critical step in the direction of playing again.</p><p>In the meantime, Siakam will take the wheel as the Eastern Conference champion Pacers’ leader in 2025-26, thus Pascal had fun with his Captain Phillips-inspired post, embracing the meme he was often photoshopped to amid Haliburton’s injury. Siakam posted a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DNisLosNPHq/?hl=en&amp;img_index=1" rel="noopener">picture of himself driving a boat</a> on his Instagram.</p><p>“Fine, I’m the captain now,” Siakam said, to which Haliburton replied, “bout time,” acompanied by three crying-laughing emojis in the comments.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="instagram-media"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DNisLosNPHq/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div><div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div><div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"><div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 24px;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div><p></p></a><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DNisLosNPHq/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Pascal Siakam (@pskills43)</a></p></div></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Haliburton’s comments hilariously pokes fun at Siakam taking the popular memes of him in stride, fittingly, ahead of a 2025-26 campaign where the Pacers will return most likely without Tyrese all season long. After losing starting center Myles Turner, who agreed to a three-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, in free agency, the Pacers signed free agent James Wiseman.</p><p>Head coach Rick Carlisle and the Pacers will look to build off their NBA Finals appearance in Haliburton’s absence next season.</p><h2><b>Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s message about missing hoops</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Pacers-Tyrese-Haliburton.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>After losing Tyrese Haliburton in the first half of Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Thunder, Pacers fans will always wonder “What if,” regarding their team’s chances of winning a title. Pushing the Thunder to the brink, Haliburton, amidst a right calf strain, led the Pacers to an inspring 108-91 blowout win in Game 6 to force a do-or-die matchup at the Paycom Center.</p><p>After scoring nine points in seven minutes, Haliburton suffered a ruptured Achilles and is expected to miss the 2025-26 campaign. While rehabbing throughout the summer, Haliburton <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1953295085514231928" rel="noopener">posted a three-worded message</a> that evoked the kind of emotional response that truly resonated with Pacers fans, on his Instagram.</p><p>“I miss baseketball”</p><p>Pacers guards Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Ben Sheppard, and veteran T.J. McConnell, will most likely take on increased roles in the backcourt for head coach Rick Carlisle. Back-up point guard Johnny Furphy could also be in line for an increased role as the aforementioned guards have already established themselves as part of Carlisle’s rotation over the past two seasons with an opporutnity to take on more on the horizon.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton reacts to Pascal Siakam embracing ‘captain’ meme

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pascal-siakam-nearly-turned-down-nba-to-become-priest');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ Pascal Siakam nearly turned down the NBA to become a priest');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Pascal-Siakam.jpg"><figcaption>Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pacers’ Pascal Siakam nearly turned down the NBA to become a priest</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-03T11:17:46-07:00">July 3rd, 11:17am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-03T11:17:46-07:00">July 3rd, 11:17am</time><address><a>Derick Quinanola</a>With a proficient background in basketball, NFL, and football, Derick Quinanola uses his knowledge to write blogs for readers that are both entertaining and informative. He has been writing with ClutchPoints for years and has developed an understanding of the type of content fans resonate with.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Evergreen</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Indiana Pacers star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-reflects-on-indiana-environment-after-failed-game-7-mission">Pascal Siakam has built an impressive NBA resume</a> ever since he got drafted in 2016. He’s an All-Star, an NBA champion, and has made over <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/20232/pascalsiakam" rel="noopener">$180 million</a> in contract earnings. However, if he never had a change of heart 16 years ago, Siakam would’ve never even considered playing basketball.</p><h2><b>Siakam was sent to seminary school when he was 11 to become a priest</b></h2><p>Growing up in Douala, Cameroon, basketball was on the radar for Siakam. His three older brothers had blazed the trail, all earning D1 scholarships in the U.S. Boris played at Western Kentucky University. Christian played at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Meanwhile, James played at Vanderbilt University.</p><p>Naturally, Siakam figured he’d follow in their footsteps, especially since his father had always dreamt about having one of his sons make the NBA.</p><p>However, what Siakam didn’t know was that his father had other plans for him. At 11, he was hand-picked to embody his family’s Catholicism, as per a 2020 article from <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23396205/nba-pascal-siakam-6000-mile-journey-raptors-stardom?ex_cid=DSS-Affiliate-Impact-Content-Business%2BInsider.-531511" rel="noopener">ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan</a>. He was enrolled at St. Andrew’s Seminary and Siakam entered with good spirits… At first.</p><p>“I would never go against his wishes,” Siakam said. “There isn’t a better man I’ve known in my life.”</p><p>By the time he was 15, Siakam felt a desire to pursue something else. He began acting out, skipping classes, and pushing boundaries. He wasn’t a troublemaker by nature; he just didn’t want to be a priest anymore.</p><p>Seminary director Father Armel Collins Ndjama knew exactly what Siakam was trying to do. However, since his <a href="https://ucatholic.com/blog/meet-pascal-siakam-from-seminarian-to-nba-champion/" rel="noopener">academic results were too good</a>, he decided to keep him around.</p><p>Siakam graduated to finish what he initially came there to do, then left the seminary right after.</p><h2><b>Pacers’ Pascal Siakam was discovered at Luc Mbah a Moute’s basketball camp</b></h2><p>Despite growing up in a family that cherished the game of basketball, Siakam first wanted to pursue soccer. Everything changed in 2011 when he tagged along with some of his childhood friends to see what former NBA player Luc Mbah a Moute’s free basketball camps were like, aka the same basketball camp Joel Embiid was discovered.</p><p>By virtue of having three brothers play in the NCAA, Siakam automatically got a spot to one of the camps. He wasn’t good, but he did show two things that can’t be taught. Physical tools — standing at 6-foot-8 — and immense hustle.</p><p>After another year of attending the camps, Siakam was invited to Basketball Without Borders. That’s where scouts really started to take notice.</p><p>From there, it was a whirlwind. He moved to Texas to play for God’s Academy, then committed to New Mexico State in 2013. In his sophomore year, Siakam averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds, earning WAC Player of the Year honors.</p><p>By 2016, Siakam applied for the NBA draft and was taken by the Toronto Raptors with the 27th pick of the draft.</p><h2><b>How has Pascal Siakam’s NBA career panned out thus far?</b></h2><p>Since then, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-how-pascal-siakam-6-year-journey-paved-road-to-nba-finals">Siakam has become one of the most underappreciated stars in the league</a>. In nine seasons, Siakam has more than exceeded his initial draft position, winning a championship with the Toronto Raptors and recently reaching the NBA Finals again with the Pacers in 2024-25.</p><ul><li>NBA champion (2019)</li><li>Most Improved Player of the Year (2019)</li><li>Three-time All-Star</li><li>Two-time All-NBA</li><li>First G-Leaguer to start in an All-Star Game</li><li>2025 Eastern Conference Playoff MVP</li></ul><p>Not too bad for someone who only started playing basketball 14 years ago.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pacers’ Pascal Siakam nearly turned down the NBA to become a priest

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/chicago-bulls/bulls-news-noa-essengue-pascal-siakam-comparison');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bulls’ Noa Essengue draws Pascal Siakam comparison');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Chicago-Bulls-forward-Noa-Essengue.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Bulls’ Noa Essengue draws Pascal Siakam comparison</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-26T13:44:06-07:00">June 26th, 1:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-26T13:44:06-07:00">June 26th, 1:44pm</time><address><a>Zachary Howell</a>Zachary Howell is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints focusing on creating premier MLB content. He is a big fan of the Yankees, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Syracuse Orange. In his free time, he likes to be outside or read.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Chicago Bulls selected <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/chicago-bulls/grading-chicago-bulls-noa-essengue-2025-nba-draft-pick">Noa Essengue with the 12th pick in the NBA Draft</a>. Essengue, who spent last season playing in the EuroCup and BBL, was one of the youngest players in this year’s draft class. After his arrival to Chicago, one scout had high praise for the 18-year-old, comparing him to Indiana Pacers All-Star forward Pascal Siakam.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/2025-nba-mock-draft-5-0-76ers-hornets-ace-bailey-destiny-latest-intel">Essengue was projected to be picked at No. 10</a> in ClutchPoints’ NBA Insider Brett Siegel’s latest mock draft. Instead, the prospect fell two spots to the Bulls. He joins a young core featuring players like Coby White, Josh Giddey, Patrick Williams, and 2024 lottery pick Matas Buzelis.</p><p>CHSN Bulls Insider K.C. Johnson spoke with NBA scouts about Essengue leading up to the draft. According to him, one scout said that Siakam is a <a href="https://x.com/CHSN_Bulls/status/1938325592488751187" rel="noopener">“high end”</a> comparison for what the French forward could become.</p><p>While Chicago fans hope that the comparison ends up coming true, they could have to wait a while. Siakam took multiple years to develop before blossoming into a star in Indiana. For now, Essengue joins Buzelis and Williams as long-term projects for the Bulls’ development team.</p><p>Chicago’s general manager, Marc Eversley, <a href="https://x.com/CHSN_Bulls/status/1938283510323630577" rel="noopener">is excited to welcome</a> Essengue to Chicago and begin working with him.</p><p>“He[Essengue] certainly fits the way we want to play,” Eversley said. “But when you’re picking at No. 12, we made the decision internally that we’re going to pick the best player available. It’s twofold; best player available, and he fits the style of play that we want to play.”</p><p>Essengue’s new teammates are also happy to have him join the team. Williams appeared on the <i>By The Horns </i>podcast with Johnson to <a href="https://x.com/CHSN_Bulls/status/1938263263591993561" rel="noopener">speak about the pick</a>.</p><p>“I’m loving the pick,” Williams said. “I’m excited. I think he’ll fit right in with exactly what we’re trying to do, how we’re trying to play, so it’ll be fun.”</p><p>Siakam helped lead the Pacers all the way to the NBA Finals this season. Chicago’s aspirations are not quite that ambitious, but fans can’t wait to see what Essengue can bring to the table in his rookie season.</p><p>On a team with young players like White and Buzelis, the newest member of the Bulls has a chance to lead the team into a new era.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Bulls’ Noa Essengue draws Pascal Siakam comparison

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/toronto-raptors/raptors-news-noa-essengue-scottie-barnes-pascal-siakam-comparisons');   ga('set', 'title', 'Noa Essengue turns heads with Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam comparisons amid Raptors');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Raptors-news-Noa-Essengue-turns-heads-with-Scottie-Barnes-Pascal-Siakam-comparisons.jpg"></figure><h1>Noa Essengue turns heads with Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam comparisons amid Raptors</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-24T21:38:09-07:00">June 24th, 9:38pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-24T21:42:13-07:00">June 24th, 9:42pm</time><address><a>Erik Slater</a>Erik Slater is the credentialed Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for ClutchPoints. He's a graduate of Lehigh University and the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, as well as a Lehigh Football and Syracuse Football alum.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>French phenom <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/toronto-raptors/toronto-raptors-3-best-options-no-9-pick-2025-nba-draft">Noa Essengue will be among the Toronto Raptors’ top realistic options</a> with the No. 9 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. On Tuesday, ClutchPoints <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1937601211223646225" rel="noopener">asked the projected lottery pick</a> which NBA players he models his game after.</p><p>“I’d say guys like Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, Kawhi [Leonard]. They can really do everything on the court. Play defense, dribble, shooting,” he replied.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Asked Noa Essengue if there are any NBA players he studies or models his game after:</p><p>“I’d say guys like Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, Kawhi. They can really do everything on the court. Play defense, dribble, shooting.” <a href="https://t.co/5cWSMsvftS">pic.twitter.com/5cWSMsvftS</a></p><p>— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1937601211223646225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The response quickly caught the eyes of Raptors fans. Toronto is projected to select Essengue with the No. 9 pick in ESPN’s latest mock draft.</p><p>Could his allusion to the team’s current and former stars be an indication of what’s to come?</p><h2>Noa Essengue says he models game after Raptors stars after ahead of 2025 NBA draft</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Nets-news-Noa-Essengue-skipping-German-playoffs-to-attend-draft-amid-links-to-Nets-2.jpg"></figure><p>Essengue would check several boxes Masai Ujiri has prioritized in past prospects. At 6-foot-10 barefoot with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and fluid athleticism, the 18-year-old forward boasts impressive two-way upside.</p><p>Essengue has been impressive this season while playing in the BBL, Germany’s top professional league. He has averaged 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists on 52/28/71 shooting splits in 22.8 minutes per game for Ratiopharm Ulm.</p><p>Offensively, Essengue has been effective as a transition ball-handler, roll man and secondary self-creator, posting a 62.5 true shooting percentage. He’s been a free-throw drawing machine, attempting 7.6 per 36 minutes and converting 70.7 percent. Adding weight to his 204-pound frame while improving his raw handle and outside shot could elevate his game to another level down the line.</p><p>Essengue’s length and nimble feet offer immense versatility defensively, something the Raptors have placed a premium on under Ujiri.</p><p>The French prospect <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/brooklyn-nets/nets-news-noa-essengue-skipping-german-finals-attend-draft-links-nets">will continue to be linked to Toronto</a> leading up to the team’s pick on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Bleacher Report projects the Brooklyn Nets to select him at No. 8, while several <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/portland-trail-blazers/portland-trail-blazers-perfect-outcome-pick-2025-nba-draft">other mock drafts have him coming off the board</a> in the late lottery or mid-teens.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Noa Essengue turns heads with Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam comparisons amid Raptors

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-reflects-on-indiana-environment-after-failed-game-7-mission');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pascal Siakam reflects on Pacers environment after failed Game 7 mission');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_1698.jpeg"><figcaption>Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pascal Siakam reflects on Pacers environment after failed Game 7 mission</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-22T23:23:05-07:00">June 22nd, 11:23pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-22T23:23:05-07:00">June 22nd, 11:23pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It’s hard to imagine just how much heartbreak and pain the Indiana Pacers are feeling right now after coming so close yet so far of an NBA championship. Not only did they lose Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 103-91, they also <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-exit-highlights-jayson-tatum-similarity-beyond-injury">lost Tyrese Haliburton to an Achilles injury</a> that is likely to keep him out for quite a long period of time. There is so much devastation around the Pacers after they let their best chance as a franchise to win a championship slip away from their fingertips.</p><p>Nonetheless, not too many believed that the Pacers could make it this far in the playoffs. But the players had unshakeable belief in what they could accomplish and came to within just one win away from a title, and for a good while, the Pacers’ loyal fanbase believed that this team could perhaps be the one that gets the franchise over the hump.</p><p>As for Pascal Siakam, he credited the Pacers’ fanbase for instilling so much belief in them and vice versa. Siakam also made sure to tell them that they <a href="https://x.com/ScottAgness/status/1936990219263234254" rel="noopener">gave it their all</a>, heartbreaking result in Game 7 of the NBA Finals notwithstanding.</p><p>“It was refreshing to be in that environment and to see how much basketball means for people (in Indiana). I hope you guys can see that we fought hard and we couldn’t get it done,” Siakam said, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.</p><p>Next season is going to be a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tj-mcconnell-hits-indiana-with-harsh-reality-check-after-nba-finals-loss">more difficult one for the Pacers</a>. The entire league will be wary of what they’re capable of, and to make matters worse, they’re likely not going to have Haliburton at all for its entirety.</p><p>But if there’s a lesson to be learned in this year’s playoffs, it’s that these Pacers can never be counted out in any capacity.</p><h2><b>Pascal Siakam has transformed the Pacers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pacers-All-Star-Pascal-Siakam-1.jpg"><figcaption>Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>This Pacers team became what it is today upon the arrival of Siakam via trade from the Toronto Raptors in early 2024. Siakam was such a crucial, do-it-all piece, a big forward who can feast on mismatches, create shots for himself and his teammates, and play incredible defense both on and off the ball.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-pascal-siakam-winning-ecf-mvp">Siakam was the Eastern Conference Finals MVP</a> for a reason, and he was the Pacers’ most consistent player throughout the entire postseason. He probably would have been the favorite to win the NBA Finals MVP award had Indiana managed to take care of business in Game 7. But alas, Siakam and company look to do it again in the coming years — this time looking to finish the job.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pascal Siakam reflects on Pacers environment after failed Game 7 mission

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-reveals-lesson-learned-kawhi-leonard');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ Pascal Siakam reveals ice-cold lesson he learned from Kawhi Leonard');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Feb-6-2025-Inglewood-California-USA-Los-Angeles-Clippers-forward-Kawhi-Leonard-2-is-defended-by-Indiana-Pacers-forward-Pascal-Siakam-43-as-he-drives-to-the-basket-in-the-first-h.jpg"><figcaption>Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pacers’ Pascal Siakam reveals ice-cold lesson he learned from Kawhi Leonard</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-21T20:36:29-07:00">June 21st, 8:36pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-21T20:36:29-07:00">June 21st, 8:36pm</time><address><a>Richard Pereira</a>Richard Pereira joined ClutchPoints in January 2025 as an Associate Editor. He earned his degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2023 and has been covering the school's athletic programs since 2020, having served as a Sports Editor at the FAU University Press. He was granted the unique opportunity to report on the men's basketball team's journey to the Final Four in Houston for FAU Owls Nest during March Madness, consistently striving to grow as a sports journalist.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Pascal Siakam learned a lot from Kawhi Leonard during their time together as teammates on the Toronto Raptors. So much so that the former understood a key lesson from the star forward as he looks to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/2-indiana-pacers-bold-predictions-nba-finals-game-7-thunder">lead the Indiana Pacers to glory</a>.</p><p>Siakam and Leonard were only co-stars for one season with the Raptors during the 2018-19 campaign. That was all they needed to lead the team to their first-ever NBA title after beating the Golden State Warriors in six games. Siakam played a solid role as a full-time starter throughout the playoff run as Leonard went on to win Finals MVP.</p><p>Now with the Pacers, Siakam is preparing for Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has a chance to do what he accomplished with Toronto in 2019, which led him to reflect on Leonard’s <a href="https://x.com/SIChrisMannix/status/1936553607404585410" rel="noopener">impact on his development</a> to being a star.</p><p>“Being even-keeled. I think Kawhi, no matter what happened, he is always the same. That’s something I try to have for me. It’s like no matter good or bad, make shots, miss shots, it doesn’t really matter. Just be yourself,” Siakam said, per Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.</p><h2><b>What lies ahead for Pascal Siakam, Pacers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Jun-19-2025-Indianapolis-Indiana-USA-Indiana-Pacers-forward-Pascal-Siakam-43-shoots-the-ball-against-Oklahoma-City-Thunder-guard-Isaiah-Joe-11-during-the-second-half-of-game-six.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Pascal Siakam has done a lot to build himself as one of the best players at his position. He has Kawhi Leonard to thank for that, as the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/pacers-x-factor-determine-nba-finals-game-7-thunder">Pacers star now looks to make history</a> on Sunday night.</p><p>This postseason has been marvelous for Siakam. After 22 games, he is averaging 20.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He is shooting 51.8% from the field, including 42.9% from beyond the arc, and 72.2% from the free-throw line.</p><p>He played a crucial role in helping the Pacers elevate themselves into title contention, first reaching the East Finals in 2024. This year, they are now one game away from cementing themselves in NBA championship history forever.</p><p>The Pacers will fight to win their first-ever NBA title when they face the Thunder in Game 7. The contest will take place on June 22 at 8 p.m. ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pacers’ Pascal Siakam reveals ice-cold lesson he learned from Kawhi Leonard

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-hilarious-reaction-to-game-6-demon-face');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pascal Siakam’s hilarious reaction to Game 6 ‘demon’ face');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Pascal-Siakam-looks-to-jumbotron.jpg"><figcaption>Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pascal Siakam’s hilarious reaction to Game 6 ‘demon’ face</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-20T14:18:42-07:00">June 20th, 2:18pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-20T14:18:42-07:00">June 20th, 2:18pm</time><address><a>Lorenzo J Reyna</a>Lorenzo J Reyna is an Associate Editor covering the NFL and NCAA Football for ClutchPoints. He's equipped with past experience for both realms through his recent stops at Pro Football Network and Heavy while also writing for 247Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Pascal Siakam had the look of a demon spirit before his Indiana Pacers snatched Game 6. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-undertaker-game-6">Siakam looked more like wrestling legend The Undertaker</a> — with the eyes rolled back look.</p><p>He spearheaded the 108-91 rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder that forced Game 7 for Sunday. Siakam finally caught up with what everyone is talking about involving him. He gave a hilarious reaction to his “demon” face Friday.</p><p>“They said I was a demon?” Siakam asked first. “I wish I had a 30 point game or something so then I could’ve been like yeah, the spirit took over.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“They said I was a demon? I wish I had a 30 point game or something so then I could’ve been like yeah, the spirit took over.”</p><p>Pascal Siakam on his viral pregame face 🤣</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NoContext_NBA_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NoContext_NBA_</a>)</p><p> <a href="https://t.co/xkGSotP0DC">pic.twitter.com/xkGSotP0DC</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1936161580103913949?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Siakam then explained his real intentions during that huddled moment when his eyes stole the show.</p><p>“When I try to close my eyes, I’m thinking about closing it but I’m not closing it,” Siakam said. “Sometimes I have to remind myself to close my eyes.”</p><h2><b>Pascal Siakam delivered eye-opening performance in Pacers vs. Thunder</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Pascal-Siakam-dunking.jpg"><figcaption>Maddie Meyer-Pool Photo via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Siakam delivered moments where fans would’ve hated it if they blinked. Particularly one viscous second quarter throwdown.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-facial-jam-buzzer-beater-vs-thunder">Siakam created a poster dunk on Jalen Williams of the Thunder</a>. He grabbed a Tyrese Haliburton pass in transition then rattled the rim, plus the Game 5 hero on the Thunder’s side.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">PASCAL SIAKAM WITH THE POSTER SLAM ON JALEN WILLIAMS 🤯😤<a href="https://t.co/8zkdyRZBPZ">pic.twitter.com/8zkdyRZBPZ</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1935878065198186650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-playful-jab-pascal-siakam-game-6-moment">Haliburton even reacted to the Siakam dunk</a>. Describing how special it looked. But Siakam wasn’t through from there. He drained a final jumper over Alex Caruso — which closed out the first half.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pascal Siakam gives us a 22-point lead at the first-half buzzer 🚨 <a href="https://t.co/7mYrVJ9dSB">pic.twitter.com/7mYrVJ9dSB</a></p><p>— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1935878624881852627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Pacers never trailed throughout the second half. They even shutdown the big scoring trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Williams. Only SGA surpassed the 20-point mark (21 points). Holmgren got limited to four points. Williams finished with 16.</p><p>Indiana extended the series to a seventh game in the process — making it the first time since 2016 that an NBA Finals contest stretched to a Game 7. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-indiana-facing-tough-game-7-nba-finals-trend">Now the Pacers have a Game 7 trend to shatter</a> on Sunday inside the Paycom Center.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pascal Siakam’s hilarious reaction to Game 6 ‘demon’ face

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-playful-jab-pascal-siakam-game-6-moment');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton takes playful jab at Pascal Siakam over Game 6 moment');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Pascal-Siakam-and-Tyrese-Haliburton.jpg"><figcaption>Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton takes playful jab at Pascal Siakam over Game 6 moment</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-20T08:09:50-07:00">June 20th, 8:09am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-20T08:09:50-07:00">June 20th, 8:09am</time><address><a>Jaren Kawada</a>Jaren Kawada is a former full-time sports bettor and is now a NFL, College Football and Betting Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. Kawada was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, after graduating from Butler University with a B.A. in sports media. Aside from football, Kawada is an avid combat sports and basketball bettor.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Several moments from the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/pacers-news-fans-in-full-party-mode-after-routing-thunder">Indiana Pacers’ massive NBA Finals Game 6 win</a> made headlines, but none more than Pascal Siakam’s dunk over Jalen Williams. The dunk came off a dish from Tyrese Haliburton, who joked that the play was a rarity for his All-Star teammate.</p><p>Haliburton started the play with a steal before staying in bounds and tossing a no-look pass to a streaking Siakam, who threw down a right-hand hammer over a mystified Williams. Despite being up 18 at the time of the dunk, the play was crucial to the Pacers’ momentum in the dominant victory. After the game, Haliburton <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci2z8p5AQyg" rel="noopener">recalled how “special” it was</a> before joking about Siakam’s lack of aggressiveness at the rim.</p><p>“That’s a special moment,” Haliburton said in his post-game presser. “Especially because we’re always getting on Pascal for not dunking anymore.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">OH MY GOODNESS THIS PACERS SEQUENCE 🤯</p><p>HALIBURTON STEAL.<br>HALIBURTON NO-LOOK DIME. <br>SIAKAM SLAM WITH FORCE. </p><p>Indy seeking a Game 7 on ABC 🏆 <a href="https://t.co/hr7RKcCUbq">pic.twitter.com/hr7RKcCUbq</a></p><p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1935877492575027499?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Coming off a no-show Game 5, Haliburton ended Game 6 with 14 points, one rebound and five assists. His mere presence on the court energized his team and the crowd to seal a must-win game in the Pacers’ final home contest of the season. Haliburton ended with a game-high plus-minus of plus-25 in Indiana’s 108-91 victory.</p><p>Siakam ended with 16 points and 13 rebounds, notching his first double-double since Game 1. Though he struggled offensively — shooting just 6-of-14 from the floor — <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/thunder-news-jalen-williams-hits-historic-nba-finals-low-point-game-6">Siakam held Williams to just 16 points</a>. Williams entered the game off a 40-point outburst in Game 5 and surpassed 25 points in three straight outings.</p><h2><b>Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam lead Pacers into Game 7</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Mark-Daigneault-v2.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With momentum back on their side, the Pacers return to the road for the final game of the 2024-2025 NBA season. Everything will come down to Game 7 on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s home court at the Paycom Center.</p><p>The Thunder won the most recent matchup at the Paycom Center, but are just 2-1 at home in the 2025 NBA Finals. Oklahoma City dominated most of Game 1 before the Pacers pulled off another iconic comeback victory, capped off with a Haliburton game-winner.</p><p>Haliburton remains at less than 100 percent, but he did not appear too limited in Game 6. The blowout only forced him to play 23 minutes, giving him additional rest time. Haliburton sat for most of the second half, along with the majority of both teams’ starters.</p><p>Given his limited status, Andrew Nembhard stepped up for his biggest game of the series. Nembhard dropped a team-high 17 points, adding four assists and three steals. When Haliburton suffered a similar injury in the 2024 playoffs, Nembhard fully took over the offense, averaging 28 points, five rebounds and 9.5 assists in two games without his backcourt partner.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton takes playful jab at Pascal Siakam over Game 6 moment

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-undertaker-game-6');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pascal Siakam goes full ‘Undertaker’ before do-or-die Game 6');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_1698.jpeg"><figcaption>Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pascal Siakam goes full ‘Undertaker’ before do-or-die Game 6</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-19T19:23:19-07:00">June 19th, 7:23pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-19T19:23:19-07:00">June 19th, 7:23pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/pacers-news-rick-carlisle-issues-challenge-fans-nba-finals-game-6">Indiana Pacers came into Game 6 of the NBA Finals</a> against the Oklahoma City Thunder facing a sense of urgency and elimination. Hoping to force a Game 7, the Pacers were well on their way to doing so, leading by 20+ points as of publication. But fans noticed something funny with Pacers star Pascal Siakam prior to Game 6 of the NBA Finals where he appeared to channel his inner Undertaker.</p><p>During the Pacers pregame huddle in the hallway before taking the /court for Game 6, a snapshot of Pascal Siakam with his eyeballs seeming rolled back in <a href="https://x.com/search?q=siakam%20undertaker&amp;src=typed_query&amp;f=top" rel="noopener">the same fashion as</a> former WWE star The Undertaker, began to circulate on social media with legitimate news sites such as Bleacher Report <a href="https://x.com/BleacherReport/status/1935861506710675503" rel="noopener">picking it up</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pascal Siakam locked in for Game 6 👀 <a href="https://t.co/C32bk4p0h9">pic.twitter.com/C32bk4p0h9</a></p><p>— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1935861506710675503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Whether or not the image was simply someone hilariously catching Siakam at that specific moment, or he really did lock in like the Undertaker in an attempt to hype himself and the team up, remains unknown. But what is clear is that the Pacers came out with zero intentions of rolling over and having their season end.</p><p>While Game 6 is still early in the third quarter, the Pacers have thoroughly outplayed the Thunder. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-facial-jam-buzzer-beater-vs-thunder">Siakam in particular has had a huge game</a> as well. About midway through the third quarter, Siakam was up to 13 points, nine rebounds and two assists and one blocked shot in 23 minutes. He was shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.</p><p>The Eastern Conference Finals MVP, Siakam has been a strong compliment to the Pacers’ other star in Tyrese Haliburton. During the team’s playoff run, Siakam has been having one of the best postseasons of his career. He’s been averaging 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 52.2 percent shooting from the field, 43.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 71.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pascal Siakam goes full ‘Undertaker’ before do-or-die Game 6

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-facial-jam-buzzer-beater-vs-thunder');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ Pascal Siakam drops facial jam, buzzer beater vs Thunder');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Siakam-and-Turner.jpg"><figcaption>Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pacers’ Pascal Siakam drops facial jam, buzzer beater vs Thunder</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-19T19:09:28-07:00">June 19th, 7:09pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-19T19:09:28-07:00">June 19th, 7:09pm</time><address><a>Kendall Capps</a>Kendall Capps is a multi-media journalist and editor who is overly passionate about all sports (to his wife's dismay). He's a Senior Editor at ClutchPoints who previously managed SB Nation's golf vertical. He has also done work for FantasyPros and co-hosted the Lay The Points podcast as part of a decade-long career in sports entertainment.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Indiana Pacers are facing a must-win scenario in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. They trail the Oklahoma City Thunder in the series, 3-2. The Thunder took care of business at home in Game 5. Thus far Thursday night, the Pacers are doing the same.</p><p>Indiana holds its largest lead of the series at halftime, 64-42. They closed the second quarter on a 30-9 run, including two fantastic plays from Pascal Siakam.</p><p>With under a minute left in the half, the Pacers got out onto the break, which culminated in a Siakam <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1935878065198186650" rel="noopener">facial jam</a> on Jalen Williams.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">PASCAL SIAKAM WITH THE POSTER SLAM ON JALEN WILLIAMS 🤯😤<a href="https://t.co/8zkdyRZBPZ">pic.twitter.com/8zkdyRZBPZ</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1935878065198186650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-doctors-tyrese-haliburton-injury-outlook-beyond-nba-finals">Haliburton, who is playing with a serious calf injury</a>, came up with his second steal of the game. He then found Siakam on a sick no-look feed to Siakam, who put Williams on a poster.</p><p>But the veteran forward was not done.</p><p>Seconds later, Siakam put an exclamation point on the first half. He backed Alex Caruso down and raised up over the shorter defender, <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1935878624881852627" rel="noopener">draining the jumper at the buzzer</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pascal Siakam gives us a 22-point lead at the first-half buzzer 🚨 <a href="https://t.co/7mYrVJ9dSB">pic.twitter.com/7mYrVJ9dSB</a></p><p>— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1935878624881852627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>If the Thunder want to avoid a Game 7 back in Oklahoma City, they are going to have to complete the largest halftime comeback in NBA Finals history.</p><p>The Pacers started slow, missing their first eight shots of the game. Within a matter of minutes, they trailed 10-2 and the crowd was out of the game. But once they started hitting shots, the crowd came to life.</p><p>Once again, TJ McConnell made a large difference for Indiana. He brought a ton of energy, effort and even a scoring punch in Game 6. At halftime, McConnell has eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in just 11 minutes.</p><p>He has had help off the bench, too. Obi Toppin has eight points and even Tony Bradley chipped in with three.</p><p>But this game has mostly been about turnovers. The Pacers turned the table, causing 12 OKC giveaways. Meanwhile, the Pacers have just two.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pacers’ Pascal Siakam drops facial jam, buzzer beater vs Thunder

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-gives-tyrese-haliburton-100-support-after-woeful-game-5');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ Pascal Siakam gives Tyrese Haliburton ‘100%’ support after woeful Game 5');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tyrese-Haliburton-and-Pascal-Siakam-on-May-31-2025.-2.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pacers’ Pascal Siakam gives Tyrese Haliburton ‘100%’ support after woeful Game 5</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-17T01:36:01-07:00">June 17th, 1:36am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-17T01:36:01-07:00">June 17th, 1:36am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Tyrese Haliburton could not have picked a more inopportune time to have one of the worst games of his career. On Monday night, Haliburton scored just four points without making a single one of his six field-goal attempts on the night as the Pacers suffered a 120-109 defeat against the Oklahoma City Thunder. in Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals. It’s important to note, however, that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-opens-up-about-playing-through-injury-for-game-6">Haliburton was dealing with a calf injury</a> and was less than 100 percent.</p><p>Still, against a Thunder team that has close to no weaknesses, the Pacers cannot afford such a horrendous performance from Haliburton. Nevertheless, similar to how Haliburton always has his teammates’ back, Pascal Siakam, the Pacers’ best player in Game 5 who powered them to within two points in the fourth quarter before fading late, <a href="https://twitter.com/YahooSports/status/1934826426278269314" rel="noopener">expressed his full support</a> for his ailing teammate.</p><p>“He’s a fighter. I think he’s been our rock all year. He’s a big reason why we’re here. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong but I know he’s fighting and he’s gonna give us everything he got. We are 100 percent behind him, we support him. I think, one thing he’s showed is resiliency. He’s showed that all year.”</p><p>“I think that we can count on him to keep fighting and I admire that from him just ‘coz I know that it’s hard. We got a couple days to take care of our bodies, rest well, and be ready for Game 6,” Siakam said in his postgame presser, via Yahoo Sports.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I don't know exactly what's wrong, but I know he's fighting."</p><p>Pascal Siakam on Tyrese Haliburton's injury in Game 5. <a href="https://t.co/1GXLqZPWR4">pic.twitter.com/1GXLqZPWR4</a></p><p>— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/YahooSports/status/1934826426278269314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-rick-carlisle-reveals-tyrese-haliburton-game-6-status">Haliburton does so much for the team</a> from an execution standpoint that they cannot afford another stinker like this in Game 6. The Pacers will at least need him to pose a scoring threat; he doesn’t necessarily have to score 30. But either way, Siakam and company will do whatever they can to give Haliburton the support he needs as they head into the biggest game of the season.</p><h2><b>Pascal Siakam nearly powers Pacers to yet another comeback</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pascal-Siakam-1.jpg"><figcaption>Michael McLoone-Imagn Images.</figcaption></figure><p>With Haliburton nursing an injury, forcing him to be less than 100 percent, the Pacers needed huge productions from the rest of the supporting cast to mount another comeback against the Thunder. For what it’s worth, Siakam did everything he can, pulling the Pacers to within two points in the fourth (95-93) before he was subbed out by head coach Rick Carlisle to try and preserve his energy for crunch time.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tj-mcconnell-goes-viral-heroic-game-5-quarter">TJ McConnell also did his fair share</a> of the heavy lifting; he went off in the third quarter and cut the deficit to single digits. He ended up being a +4, and he could play a similarly huge role in Game 6 should Haliburton struggle yet again.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pacers’ Pascal Siakam gives Tyrese Haliburton ‘100%’ support after woeful Game 5

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-pascal-siakam-breaks-down-indianas-end-of-game-offensive-issues-vs-thunder');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ Pascal Siakam breaks down Indiana’s end-of-game offensive issues vs. Thunder');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Siakam.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pacers’ Pascal Siakam breaks down Indiana’s end-of-game offensive issues vs. Thunder</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-14T02:28:18-07:00">June 14th, 2:28am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-14T02:28:18-07:00">June 14th, 2:28am</time><address><a>Miguel La Torre</a>Miguel La Torre is a lifelong sports junkie and seasoned sports writer whose passion for the game has been with him since childhood. A former soccer player turned dedicated runner, he's now chasing his dream of completing all seven major world marathons. Miguel is also a proud Utah Jazz believer, a passionate Manchester United and Real Madrid supporter, and loyal Novak Djokovic fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Indiana Pacers were on the doorstep of history. With a seven-point lead entering the fourth quarter of Game 4, they were within reach of taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. The Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd could sense how close they were to moving one win away from the franchise’s first-ever NBA championship. But then, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-fans-cant-believe-indiana-blew-game-4-nba-finals-thunder">everything unraveled</a>. The Oklahoma City Thunder stormed back <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-desperation-game-4-win-pacers">with a furious fourth-quarter rally</a>, stealing a 111-104 win that evened the series at two games apiece.</p><p>After the game, Pascal Siakam, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-indiana-can-win-game-5-okc">one of Indiana’s most experienced voices</a>, offered a brutally honest assessment of what went wrong down the stretch.</p><p>“We took some shots, we missed them,” Siakam <a href="https://x.com/BrettSiegelNBA/status/1933735268617752582" rel="noopener">said post-game</a>. “They made shots, and they went to the free-throw line a lot of times. We just did not execute at the end of the game. We did not get easy shots. The easy shots that we got, we missed them.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pascal Siakam on the Pacers’ end of game offense:</p><p>“We just didn’t execute at the end of the game.” <a href="https://t.co/yBPARQ66UM">pic.twitter.com/yBPARQ66UM</a></p><p>— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrettSiegelNBA/status/1933735268617752582?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Siakam’s words perfectly captured the story of the Pacers’ collapse. In a game where they controlled much of the action for three quarters, the fourth quarter exposed their inability to maintain composure and offensive rhythm when the pressure reached its peak.</p><p>Indiana’s offense, which had been sharp throughout much of the playoffs, went ice-cold at the worst possible time. In the fourth quarter alone, the Pacers shot just five of 18 from the field and failed to register a single assist until the final moments. Ball movement stopped, open looks disappeared, and confidence seemed to drain from every possession. As the Thunder <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunders-chet-holmgren-earns-major-praise-for-game-4-defense">turned up their defensive intensity</a>, Indiana could not respond.</p><p>The Pacers’ struggles were not limited to offense. Rebounding, something they had controlled for much of the night, became another critical weakness late in the game. Oklahoma City grabbed multiple offensive rebounds during the closing minutes, turning second-chance opportunities into crucial points. Every missed box-out seemed to further shift momentum toward the Thunder.</p><p>Meanwhile, Oklahoma City’s stars stepped up when it mattered most. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge, scoring 15 of his game-high 35 points in the final frame. Jalen Williams added 27 points of his own, while Alex Caruso delivered 20 key points off the bench, providing defense and timely offense.</p><p>Indiana entered the fourth quarter in control, but once Oklahoma City began to close the gap, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-rick-carlisle-breaks-down-indianas-game-4-4th-quarter-collapse-vs-thunder">the Pacers never found an answer</a>. Each possession became more tense, each miss more costly. The open shots they had hit earlier in the game rimmed out late, and the Thunder’s defensive adjustments made life increasingly difficult for Indiana’s guards.</p><p>Siakam led the Pacers with 20 while adding eight rebounds and five assists. The thirty-one-year-old veteran was brought to Indiana precisely for moments like this. His championship experience, earned during his time in Toronto, where he helped lead the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title, was supposed to guide Indiana’s younger core through the pressure of the Finals.</p><p>At six-foot-eight, the former 27th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft had grown into one of the league’s premier two-way forwards. His versatility and poise had been instrumental in Indiana’s playoff run, which included his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-wins-ecf-mvp-masterful-game-6-win-knicks">recent honor as Eastern Conference Finals MVP</a>.</p><p>Even with Siakam’s steady presence, the Pacers could not stop their unraveling. Tyrese Haliburton, who had orchestrated the offense masterfully throughout much of the postseason, finished with 18 points and seven assists <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-game-4-collapse-thunder">but shot poorly on threes</a>. Obi Toppin chipped in seventeen off the bench but could not spark the offense once Oklahoma City seized control.</p><p>For Indiana, the path forward is clear but difficult. They must regroup mentally and physically, and the rebounding battle must be addressed immediately. The team needs to secure defensive boards to prevent Oklahoma City from creating extra possessions, and they must also reignite the ball movement that has defined their best performances. When Indiana plays with pace, shares the ball, and forces defenses to rotate, they are at their best. That identity disappeared in the fourth quarter of Game 4.</p><p>The Pacers still have the talent to win this series. Siakam, Haliburton, Mathurin, Turner, and Toppin form a balanced group capable of competing with any team. But they must rediscover their poise and execution under pressure if they hope to reclaim control.</p><p>Game 5 looms as the defining moment of this tight finale. The Pacers can reclaim their footing and swing the momentum back in their favor, or allow this missed opportunity to haunt them for the rest of the series. Siakam’s honest postgame words reflect the reality facing Indiana. The time for adjustments is now, and the margin for error is gone.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pacers’ Pascal Siakam breaks down Indiana’s end-of-game offensive issues vs. Thunder

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-indiana-can-win-game-5-okc');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pascal Siakam reveals why Pacers can still win Game 5 in OKC');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Pascal-Siakam-2.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pascal Siakam reveals why Pacers can still win Game 5 in OKC</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-13T23:00:53-07:00">June 13th, 11:00pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-13T23:00:53-07:00">June 13th, 11:00pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is a Senior Editor and College Sports Lead at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/pacers-news-fans-cant-believe-indiana-blew-game-4-nba-finals-thunder">Indiana Pacers blew a big chance</a> to take control of the NBA Finals on Friday night, but all hope is not lost. Even after a disastrous fourth quarter in Game 4 led to a 111-104 loss and a tied series, the Pacers are still two wins away from an NBA Championship and have essentially a best-of-three series to get it done.</p><p>Crucially, the Pacers lost home-court advantage in the series with this loss. Now, they will have to get at least one more road win in Oklahoma City in Game 5 or a possible Game 7 in order to lift the trophy.</p><p>As demoralizing as this loss certainly is for Indiana, star forward Pascal Siakam is still confident that his group can <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1933736558777282821" rel="noopener">get another victory away from home</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“We [Pacers] have the confidence to do it… We have the group to do that.”</p><p>Pascal Siakam believes the Pacers can go into OKC and steal Game 5 🔥</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/BrettSiegelNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrettSiegelNBA</a>) <a href="https://t.co/WZe6uQdBcD">pic.twitter.com/WZe6uQdBcD</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1933736558777282821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“We’ve gotta go out there, we’ve won some games on the road before, so we’ve gotta go out there with our confidence,” Siakam said. “We’ll watch what we did wrong and try to get better at those things, and at the end of it we’ve just gotta go out here and do things that we’ve done in the past. We have that confidence that we can do it. It’s gonna take a lot and it’s gonna be hard, but we have a group capable of doing that.”</p><p>Siakam and company can take some confidence from their Game 1 road win in Oklahoma City. The Thunder seemed to be in control of that game essentially from start to finish before a furious Indiana rally and a Tyrese Haliburton game-winner allowed the Pacers to steal it. Now, they will have to replicate the feat to gain back control in this series.</p><p>The Pacers can also look to build off of their fourth-quarter success, even though the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/thunder-news-alex-caruso-bounces-back-historic-game-4-pacers">Thunder got the better of them</a> in that department. Even after Friday’s setback in the final frame in Game 4, Indiana is still outscoring Oklahoma City by 13 points for the series in the fourth quarter. If some of these games get tight, they can lean on that to try to steal one on the road.</p><p>The Pacers will need big games from Siakam, Haliburton and the rest of the team if they want to regroup from this loss and still pull off the improbable upset. They have shown that they are capable of that time and time again in this postseason, and now the time has come for them to answer the bell once again.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pascal Siakam reveals why Pacers can still win Game 5 in OKC

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-shares-viral-moment-with-tj-mcconnells-grandpa');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ Pascal Siakam shares viral moment with TJ McConnell’s grandpa');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Pascal-Siakam.jpg"></figure><h1>Pacers’ Pascal Siakam shares viral moment with TJ McConnell’s grandpa</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-12T15:46:42-07:00">June 12th, 3:46pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-12T15:46:42-07:00">June 12th, 3:46pm</time><address><a>Dylan Fine</a>Dylan Fine focuses on the NFL and NCAA Football for ClutchPoints, in addition to working on the meme team. Dylan is a graduate of Georgetown University and has covered various topics ranging from local politics in the DMV region with DC Voter For Animals to live sporting events in the Long Island and Rochester areas with The Southampton Press and Pickin’Splinters. When he isn't working, he's usually running in preparation for the next annual Turkey Trot.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam shared a heartwarming moment with TJ McConnell’s grandpa after the team’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-reggie-miller-drops-big-reaction-to-indianas-game-3-win-vs-thunder">Game 3 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder</a>. Another day, another victory for the Eastern Conference champions in crunch time. The Pacers inched closer to their first-ever NBA title with another vintage performance from this group. Tyrese Haliburton was not joking when he said this team <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-reveals-indiana-group-michael-jordans">was a “group of Michael Jordans”</a>. While the star point guard and Siakam had efficient showings, the bench was the story of this game.</p><p>Led by incredible performances from <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/how-bennedict-mathurin-pacers-caught-thunder-by-surprise-game-3">McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin</a>, this unit put up 49 points, which were critical in this 116-107 win. The Pacers’ backup point guard has been a lifesaver for this franchise throughout the playoffs. McConnell has continually made winning plays when his team has needed it most, and last night was not different as he scored 10 points with 5 asssists and 5 steals. In the postgame, McConnell was surrounded by his family, and his grandpa interacted with one of his favorite players, Siakam. The video of <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1933237096753311756" rel="noopener">this interaction</a> understandably went viral.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">What a BEAUTIFUL moment between T.J. McConnell’s grandfather and Pascal Siakam after Game 3 of the NBA Finals 😅</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a>)<a href="https://t.co/TyEZ5ya7Kg">pic.twitter.com/TyEZ5ya7Kg</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1933237096753311756?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>The Pacers know they can win this series</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tyrese-Haliburton_f8bfee.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>This team’s unwavering belief in themselves, when everybody has doubted them, has been inspiring. It’s led to new guys stepping up every game, which gives this offense the unpredictability that’s necessary against the Thunder. The Pacers are now halfway in this series to an NBA championship, with a chance on Friday to take a commanding 3-1 lead. Outscoring the OKC on fastbreak points and points off turnovers are two categories Indiana will need to continue to win to take out this 68-win team. That’s where the depth and having a gritty bench, willing to pick up halfcourt, is so critical to this group’s makeup.</p><p>There’s a lot of work to be done. The Thunder have been down 2-1 before and will surely put forth a better performance on Friday. But last night’s effort was reflective of how far the Pacers have come over these past two seasons. One of the reasons this franchise has taken that next step is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pascal-siakam-trade-grades-pacers-raptors-pelicans">last season’s trade for Siakam</a>.</p><p>The three-time All-Star has fit in like a glove with Indiana and has the championship pedigree to continue his recent run of form. Siakam is the kind of player that OKC doesn’t really have an answer for, matchup-wise, so his continued efficiency is essential. Overall, the moment between the star forward and McConnell’s grandpa showcased how tight-knit this group is.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pacers’ Pascal Siakam shares viral moment with TJ McConnell’s grandpa

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-reveals-thunder-plan-in-loss');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pascal Siakam shares what Thunder did that led to Pacers’ fall');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Pascal-Siakam-under-the-basket.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pascal Siakam shares what Thunder did that led to Pacers’ fall</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-08T21:14:57-07:00">June 8th, 9:14pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-09T05:14:49-07:00">June 9th, 5:14am</time><address><a>Lorenzo J Reyna</a>Lorenzo J Reyna is an Associate Editor covering the NFL and NCAA Football for ClutchPoints. He's equipped with past experience for both realms through his recent stops at Pro Football Network and Heavy while also writing for 247Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Indiana Pacers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Pascal Siakam described the moment as “disruptive.” Especially on an evening he delivered his second double-digit scoring outing in the NBA Finals. But his 15 points weren’t enough, as the Oklahoma City Thunder walloped Siakam’s Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday.</p><p>Siakam rose as the lead scorer to open the series, dropping 19 before <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburtons-buzzerbeater-vs-thunder-stuns-world">Tyrese Haliburton hit the epic game-winner</a>. Siakam even earned <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/indiana-pacers/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburtons-4-word-message-pascal-siakam-epic-game-1-thunder">a four-word message from Haliburton</a>. The 2019 NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors later watched a disruptive display during Game 2.</p><p>But more so from OKC’s side. Siakam <a href="https://x.com/DustinDopirak/status/1931912344709497126" rel="noopener">didn’t mince words about</a> what the Thunder did that spearheaded the Pacers’ Game 2 fall.</p><p>“They did a good job of being disruptive,” Siakam shared via Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Guys made some big shots. They got rebounds.”</p><p>He added that they’re a “disruptive kind of team” and “super aggressive.” Which he adds is the OKC blueprint.</p><p>The league’s best team built a massive lead including by 20 at one point. This time OKC didn’t let up. Siakam got left dealing with a Thunder team that disrupted the Pacers’ hopes for a sweep before returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse.</p><h2><b>Pascal Siakam, Pacers struggled throughout night vs. Thunder </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Pascal-Siakam-on-offense.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Siakam hit the first basket for Indiana. He banked a 25-foot three-pointer for the Pacers’ first points to make it 3-2. But the last time they led was 5-4 during the opening quarter.</p><p>“I thought the game was pretty close in the beginning,” Siakam said to reporters. “There was a lot of mental buckets and some key turnovers that we can take away.”</p><p>Siakam added how OKC got out in transition and made some tough shots. Especially off the bench.</p><p>“They did the little things more than we did,” Siakam said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pascal Siakam full postgame conference, after OKC beat the Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals and tied the series at 1-1 <a href="https://t.co/COsBZ8WDIo">pic.twitter.com/COsBZ8WDIo</a></p><p>— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1931915490621882730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Siakam now knows the “biggest game of the year” is next. He and the Pacers will host a long-awaited NBA Finals game in Indianapolis.</p><p>“Our fans are super excited to have us. We’re excited to be back in our home arena. We’re ready to compete. That’s our focus. As hard as this one is, we’ve got to move on,” Siakam said.</p><p>Indiana will aim to retake the lead on Wednesday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
20.2	6.9	3.4	0.5	0.9

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
20.2	6.9	3.4	0.5	0.9

Pascal Siakam news

Pascal
Siakam news