Pascal Siakam is heading back to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Indiana Pacers stunned the New York Knicks 130-109 to take Game 7 on May 19.
In 37 minutes of action Siakam finished with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
He got off to a hot start hitting his first five shots:
Pascal Siakam put Isaiah Hartenstein in a BLENDER 👀
He’s up to an early 11 PTS on 5-of-5 FG so far!pic.twitter.com/LFFrlifNKO
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 19, 2024
Tyrese Haliburton led all Pacers with 26 points as Indiana set an NBA playoff record by shooting 67.1 percent from the field.
The Pacers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 10 years.
The last time Siakam played in the Eastern Conference Finals was in 2019 when the Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks in 6 games.
The Raptors went on to win the 2019 NBA Championship. Siakam is the only player on the Pacers roster who has won an NBA title so that experience will be valuable.
Siakam knocked off his former teammate O.G. Anunoby who started the game but then left and did not return after just 5 minutes of action.
Siakam said he wasn’t going into Game 7 with the mentality to test Anunoby’s hamstring.
“It didn’t look too healthy. I love OG, seeing him out there, I was just making sure he was okay first. He had a great season, proud of him,” Siakam said via SNY.
Siakam has been a solid second star for the Pacers. Indiana’s trade for Siakam on Jan. 17 has paid off and then some. The Pacers went from a fringe playoff team to a team headed to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Pacers take on Celtics next round
Siakam and the Pacers have their work cut out for them in the next round. They will take on the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics. The Celtics won the season series against Indiana 3-2. They faced the Pacers five times due to the In-Season Tournament.
Game 1 of this best-of-seven series is on May 21.
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