Pascal Siakam's playoff experience very important for a successful Pacers playoff run
Siakam was acquired back in January for oddly enough the only two former NBA champions on the Pacers' roster in Jordan Nwora and Bruce Brown who won with the Bucks and Nuggets respectively. Trading championship-experienced role players for a championship-experienced star is a sort of win-win trade but it means there are some things to be learned.
This is the first playoff berth of Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin (injured), and Ben Sheppard. Other players like Jalen Smith, Obi Toppin, and Aaron Nesmith have playoff experience but only Nesmith has played at least 20 games and only averaged 6.4 minutes a game with the Celtics. Siakam has played 53 playoff games, averaging 15.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists. During his title run, he played 24 games and had averages of 19 points and 7.1 rebounds.
This will be his first playoff series as a member of the Indiana Pacers, and he will have to accommodate and mentor the younger players who have little to no playoff experience.
The Pacers need Siakam to be at his best against the Bucks
The trio of Haliburton, Myles Turner, and Siakam will have some tough matchups on their hands as Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis all have a high amount of playoff experience as Lopez and Portis who will be matching up with Siakam and Turner both have rings and Lillard has made countless clutch shots in his playoff experience. That is where Siakam comes in to match up his experience versus theirs.
Siakam has been the Pacers' leading scorer since he joined the team and will hope to continue to push his efforts on both the offensive and defensive end to try and put the Bucks away early. The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the Cavaliers/Magic matchup.
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If Siakam can keep his scoring up and play solid defense, there is no reason why the Pacers can't beat the Bucks and move on to the next round. They are now favored to do so. He is going to be a big key in this series.