Game 7 NBA Finals - Pascal scores 3pts in the second half

[Basketball_Jones]

Odd long rest they gave him. But yeah, they will have to look to feature him more next season with Halliburton out now. I’m not sure they have a real strategy in place when Halliburton doesn’t play.

[WWSRD]

He's really good...just not THAT good.

Like when we gave him the MAX, you thought maybe, he's not a "max" player yet, but if he takes that next little step, he would be. And given his development since coming into the league, it seemed plausible. However, he just leveled off as a non-starting all-star type guy.

He got to where he needed to be in 2019-2020 to make max money and I think that was the goal. I don't think he really feels the need to go that extra crazy mile it probably takes to be truly elite.

[James_Raptors]

He's really good...just not THAT good.

Like when we gave him the MAX, you thought maybe, he's not a "max" player yet, but if he takes that next little step, he would be. And given his development since coming into the league, it seemed plausible. However, he just leveled off as a non-starting all-star type guy.

He got to where he needed to be in 2019-2020 to make max money and I think that was the goal. I don't think he really feels the need to go that extra crazy mile it probably takes to be truly elite.

You think a guy with that kind of drive, to keep continuing to grow, and expand his game (late in life, and against high odds) just decides "ya know, screw this internal drive stuff, I'm just giving up on getting better?" If so, that's an odd take. Sure, we can debate whether Pascal is a Tier1 or Tier2 or 3, an alpha scorer or a 2nd or even a 3rd "guy". But the suggestion that he intentionally isn't giving it all, or reaching for the most he can get, is a bit nonsensical given what we know about Pascal's drive to be the best he can be.

[YogurtProducer]

Not too shocked. Nearly 80% of his baskets are assisted. Once the fast paced tempo is gone, OKC can neutralize him from getting to his spots.
He averaged more in the finals in the 2019 year than this year lol.

He averaged 19.8ppg in 40mpg in 2019
He averaged 19.3ppg in 32mpg in 2025

Like... technically you are right but also it is very misleading.

Y'all agendas against Siakam is so **** weird

16 points in a game 7 and I’m hearing all excuses as to why he didn’t show up.

Lol the dude was a big reason why they even made the finals, and why they even made game 7. The Pacers were struggling to get over half court at times and were struggling to even get the ball to Siakam anywhere near where he could be effective.

What pathetic analysis man. Honestly.

[Raps in 4]

He's really good...just not THAT good.

Like when we gave him the MAX, you thought maybe, he's not a "max" player yet, but if he takes that next little step, he would be. And given his development since coming into the league, it seemed plausible. However, he just leveled off as a non-starting all-star type guy.

He got to where he needed to be in 2019-2020 to make max money and I think that was the goal. I don't think he really feels the need to go that extra crazy mile it probably takes to be truly elite.

Not everyone has the talent to be a first option, and there is nothing really wrong with that. Scottie Pippen, Klay Thompson, Jalen Brown, etc. None of these guys had the talent to be dominant first options on offence, but they were still elite second options who earned their max contracts. Pascal is in that category.

[djsunyc]

This thread is further proof that a lot of posters on this board let their agendas blind them from real basketball analysis. Well, that’s the generous way to put it. And because I’m a mod I won’t express the non-generous way to put it.

But ultimately, when you put your agenda and need to be right ahead of analysis based on facts and context it significantly lowers your credibility as a poster. Something to think about.

agreed. there is one word that makes online forums unbearable at times...ego.

[Raps in 4]

Thread should really read - Pacers lose title because they fail to get Pascal the ball.

Because their best player and the guy who enures the right player gets the ball left the game in the first quarter.

[HumbleRen]

He averaged 19.8ppg in 40mpg in 2019
He averaged 19.3ppg in 32mpg in 2025

Like... technically you are right but also it is very misleading.

Y'all agendas against Siakam is so **** weird

16 points in a game 7 and I’m hearing all excuses as to why he didn’t show up.

Lol the dude was a big reason why they even made the finals, and why they even made game 7. The Pacers were struggling to get over half court at times and were struggling to even get the ball to Siakam anywhere near where he could be effective.

What pathetic analysis man. Honestly.

Lmao at being everyone else’s fault on the team but Siakam that he only got 13 FGA’s up.

[sbsat]

Siakam is an extremely valuable player and is a key reason Indy made it to game 7 of the finals. Anchor bias of all the geniuses on here aside, everyone can see his value.

[Agimat]

This thread is further proof that a lot of posters on this board let their agendas blind them from real basketball analysis. Well, that’s the generous way to put it. And because I’m a mod I won’t express the non-generous way to put it.

But ultimately, when you put your agenda and need to be right ahead of analysis based on facts and context it significantly lowers your credibility as a poster. Something to think about.

agreed. there is one word that makes online forums unbearable at times...ego.

"Those who shout the loudest online are often echoing the quiet struggles within themselves"

Not just ego -it might run a lot deeper than that tbh

[MoneyBall]

This thread is further proof that a lot of posters on this board let their agendas blind them from real basketball analysis. Well, that’s the generous way to put it. And because I’m a mod I won’t express the non-generous way to put it.

But ultimately, when you put your agenda and need to be right ahead of analysis based on facts and context it significantly lowers your credibility as a poster. Something to think about.

agreed. there is one word that makes online forums unbearable at times...ego.

"Those who shout the loudest online are often echoing the quiet struggles within themselves"

Not just ego -it might run a lot deeper than that tbh

**** U THATS NOT TRUE!!! YOUR THE WORST I HATE YOU AND SIAKAM AND THE WHOLE WORLD!!!

[ATLTimekeeper]

Some folks compared Siakam to Kevin Garnett couple weeks ago lmaooo

What did Garnett do before he was a third option defensive specialist with the Celtics?

Obviously Garnett was a great player and better than Pascal, but he gets mythologized too much. He had significant limitations as a half-court scorer. More than the current version of Pascal to be honest. But he’s better than Siakam in terms of overall impact for sure.

Garnett scored 17 points in a Finals Game 7 loss, I know that much. Also got bullied by Pau Gasol in that game.

Siakam isn't KG, but he led a team to being one average half away from the greatest upset in our lifetimes as NBA fans. That's an accomplishment.

[canada_dry]

This is embarrassing. All the goons go from "hating? Who? Me? Nah. Always loved him" to once again showing their true colors here.

Sheep in wolves clothing.

The pacers DO have a habit of ignoring him and not giving him the ball enough. It cost them game 4 or 5, whichever it was. Some of thats on him but most of it is the egalitarian offense. It happened again tonight. He also sat for too long during a run that basically turned the game.

Regardless (almost)Noone thought hes a #1 option. The disrespect came from the goons that said he wasn't even a #2. Now all of a sudden everyone acting like they never said that nonsense. But we were all here.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

[YogurtProducer]

16 points in a game 7 and I’m hearing all excuses as to why he didn’t show up.

Lol the dude was a big reason why they even made the finals, and why they even made game 7. The Pacers were struggling to get over half court at times and were struggling to even get the ball to Siakam anywhere near where he could be effective.

What pathetic analysis man. Honestly.

Lmao at being everyone else’s fault on the team but Siakam that he only got 13 FGA’s up.

I mean yes - when your starting PG goes down, and the backups turn it over 7 times in 28 minutes there is a significant issue on the behalf of his teammates.

Siakam was a -4 last night. They got outscored by 8 in the 12 minutes he sat, but they really actually stuck in the game when he was on the floor.

Did Siakam play "well"? Not overly.

Did Siakam also get absolutely no assistance from his teammates? Absolutely.

Your schtick is old man. You are just a hater who literally is gloating over a down game in GAME 7 OF THE FINALS. It is honestly just weird as all hell to be talking **** now. Where were you after game 7 in the ECF? Logged into your main?

And FWIW - Siakam FGA's by game in the finals - 15/11/14/15/15/14/13 -

[YogurtProducer]

Some folks compared Siakam to Kevin Garnett couple weeks ago lmaooo

What did Garnett do before he was a third option defensive specialist with the Celtics?

Obviously Garnett was a great player and better than Pascal, but he gets mythologized too much. He had significant limitations as a half-court scorer. More than the current version of Pascal to be honest. But he’s better than Siakam in terms of overall impact for sure.

Garnett scored 17 points in a Finals Game 7 loss, I know that much. Also got bullied by Pau Gasol in that game.

Siakam isn't KG, but he led a team to being one average half away from the greatest upset in our lifetimes as NBA fans. That's an accomplishment.

but but but he only shots 13 times

[canada_dry]

16 points in a game 7 and I’m hearing all excuses as to why he didn’t show up.

Lol the dude was a big reason why they even made the finals, and why they even made game 7. The Pacers were struggling to get over half court at times and were struggling to even get the ball to Siakam anywhere near where he could be effective.

What pathetic analysis man. Honestly.

Lmao at being everyone else’s fault on the team but Siakam that he only got 13 FGA’s up.

Kinda because of the analysis he put forward about having difficulty even getting the ball past halfcourt let alone getting him the ball? That seems like it would directly correlate to 13 shots...

He stood around on the perimeter a lot too. That's true. But that's been all year and that's the system. I've always thought they don't involve him enough despite him being their best scorer. Not go be confused with best player or offensive engine of course.

Its kinda just how Carlisle runs things. Even haliburton gets off ball a lot. Just look at siakams shot attempts through the finals each game. 13 doesn't really stand out as particularly low.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

[Scase]

Odd long rest they gave him. But yeah, they will have to look to feature him more next season with Halliburton out now. I’m not sure they have a real strategy in place when Halliburton doesn’t play.

I'm not sure why it's being called such a long rest, he only rested 6 and a half minutes in the entire 2nd half, and 11min the entire game lol. They subbed him out at 7:13 in the 3rd, then back in at 1:56, he was sitting for like 5min people are making it sound like he was out the entire 3rd quarter or something lol

[bballsparkin]

The Pacers are nothing without Hali. To the casual fan who only boxscore watches, they don't notice his impact.

Yeah it's no coincidence that Hali gets hurt and then their Bigs have off games.

I think people are being a little tough on TJ too. He's an energy sparkplug off the bench kind of player. Without Hali he was asked to do more than what he is capable of in a big game like that.

[Scase]

Lol the dude was a big reason why they even made the finals, and why they even made game 7. The Pacers were struggling to get over half court at times and were struggling to even get the ball to Siakam anywhere near where he could be effective.

What pathetic analysis man. Honestly.

Lmao at being everyone else’s fault on the team but Siakam that he only got 13 FGA’s up.

Kinda because of the analysis he put forward about having difficulty even getting the ball past halfcourt let alone getting him the ball? That seems like it would directly correlate to 13 shots...

He stood around on the perimeter a lot too. That's true. But that's been all year and that's the system. I've always thought they don't involve him enough despite him being their best scorer. Not go be confused with best player or offensive engine of course.

Its kinda just how Carlisle runs things. Even haliburton gets off ball a lot. Just look at siakams shot attempts through the finals each game. 13 doesn't really stand out as particularly low.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

This is a fair assessment, he averaged 13.8 FGA over the playoffs. What doesn't make sense is everyone complaining that he got froze out of game 7, this is inline with everything else in the playoffs. He just happened to be the least efficient player that took double digit FGAs that game. He's just not a first option, I don't get why people are acting like this is news.

The OKC defence also put the clamps on him, he was shooting 53.7% FG and 46.3% from 3 in the previous 3 series, in the finals he was 45.4% and 35.7%. And that was largely WITH Hali.

[kalel123]

He's really good...just not THAT good.

Like when we gave him the MAX, you thought maybe, he's not a "max" player yet, but if he takes that next little step, he would be. And given his development since coming into the league, it seemed plausible. However, he just leveled off as a non-starting all-star type guy.

He got to where he needed to be in 2019-2020 to make max money and I think that was the goal. I don't think he really feels the need to go that extra crazy mile it probably takes to be truly elite.

I don't think it works quite like that. Most people can't decide they are just going to work that much harder and be that guy on a contender. Pretty sure he's maxed out his potential, it's just that that was as a second option on a contender, which is still damn good and super crazy impressive if you think about where he came from. And yes, second options on a contender still get max money or very close to it.