One of the Indiana Pacers’ unlikely heroes in Game 2’s win over the New York Knicks on Friday night was Pascal Siakam, who put up a playoff career high 39 points to lift his team to a thrilling 114-109 victory.
Thanks to Tyrese Haliburton’s heroics in Game 1 and Siakam’s big statline in Game 2, the Pacers now hold a commanding 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals going into their two-game homestand at Gainsbridge Fieldhouse. It’s the most ideal of starts in the ECF for a young and largely underestimated Pacers side that many NBA analysts and pundits didn’t give a second thought to in their preseason predictions.
But those closely following the Pacers knew this year’s squad was locked in from the start—which dates back to eight months ago when Siakam apparently hosted an informal team camp at his house in Orlando.
During one workout session, Siakam delivered a rousing speech to his teammates that will give you chills.
“Whatever we did last year, we gotta do that s— triple to even get to where was at… Don’t go in [with] the mindset that comfortable like, ‘Oh, we did something.’ We didn’t do s—,” Siakam said. “We got to the Eastern Conference finals, that don’t mean nothing. We still gotta go out there and f—ing be the dogs that we are. Every single night, run fast, play fast, do what we do. Can’t be comfortable, that’s what will kill you.”
Listen to rest of the inspiring speech below:
Siakam has already won one NBA title with the Toronto Raptors back in the 2018-19 season, and it’s no surprise he brings a championship mentality to the Pacers as they look to win their first ever ring in franchise history.
Game 3 of the Pacers-Knicks series is Sunday night.
