Pascal Siakam is anticipated to make his Pacers debut on Friday night when Indiana plays the Portland Trail Blazers.
On Wednesday, Siakam was acquired from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for three first-round draft selections, Bruce Brown, and Jordan Nwora. Since Siakam will be a free agency at the end of the season, he was up for trade.
The Pacers are excited to watch Siakam’s performance as a member of Indiana’s explosive offense alongside standout guard Tyrese Haliburton.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated, “This is a guy that we’ve really admired for a long time as a player.” He is a fantastic teammate and person, according to what I’ve heard. He works. If you can find one, the 6-9 playmaking power forwards in this league are quite valuable.Pascal is a man with a wide range of abilities on both ends of the court. We believe he fits in well with Tyrese and complements our team.”
Following a left hamstring injury, Haliburton is almost ready to return. Five games in a row have he missed, including Thursday’s 126-121 victory over the Sacramento Kings, who were the hosts.
Despite having very few players, the Pacers prevailed. Aside from Aaron Nesmith (shin) and Andrew Nembhard (back), the trade of Brown and Nwora hurt the rotation.
With 25 points, Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana, while T.J. McConnell chipped in with 20 points and 10 assists.
According to McConnell, everyone on the squad volunteered to take over. He is excited to visit Siakam as well.
“After Indiana improved to 2-2 on a six-game road trip, we traded for a big-time player in Pascal, and we’re excited to have him,” McConnell remarked. “He’s a special player.”
Anfernee Simons’ game-winning floater with 0.2 seconds remaining gave the Portland Trail Blazers a 105-103 victory against the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. The team is coming off a high point.
Portland had only won twice in nine games, both of which were against the Nets.
“I managed to obtain some space, although there appeared to be some confusion,” Simons remarked, summarizing the game-winning basket. “I believe they were meant to double (team) or something in the coverage they called. I attempted to shoot before the double appeared and managed to get my floater into a nice little shot that went in.”
Despite his illness, Simons scored 20 points on 8 of 20 shots. Portland coach Chauncey Billups said that even though he was having trouble finding the mark, he persisted that he was going to take the shot.
Billups remarked, “He wasn’t taking no for an answer on that.” He had also been having some difficulties, wasn’t feeling well, and had very little energy. However, he made a huge mistake.”
With eight rebounds and thirty points, Jerami Grant led Portland. It was Grant’s fifth campaign-long 30-point performance.
One of the others occurred on November 27, at Indianapolis, when Grant scored 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting to help the Trail Blazers defeat the Pacers 114-110. For the Pacers, Haliburton scored 33 points on 11 of 17 shots.
After missing 12 games, the Trail Blazers are hoping to have big man Deandre Ayton available. After suffering a knee injury that caused him to miss 11 games, he was unable to leave his neighborhood on Wednesday because of slippery roadways caused by a winter storm that pounded the Portland region.