Pascal Siakam's epic game-winner sparks joyful Pacers fan reactions
10/31/2024 12:04 AM
On Wednesday night, an Eastern Conference Finals rematch between the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics took place. But for most of the night, the Pacers dominated the proceedings and made it not much of a contest as the Celtics struggled to shoot the ball. However, the Celtics are the defending champion for a reason, and they stormed back from a deficit that grew to as large as 24 points to force overtime. But even though momentum wasn’t exactly on their side, the Pacers still came away with a 135-132 victory, thanks in large part to the heroics of Pascal Siakam.
With the game tied at 132 apiece, the Pacers went to the two-man game between Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton. This got the Celtics to switch Derrick White onto Siakam; while White is an incredible defender, Siakam has the height advantage over him, and he promptly utilized this by shooting over the top of White from beyond the arc, nailing a difficult three to give the Pacers a game-winning advantage.
PASCAL SIAKAM FROM RANGE FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/94FWHDGFLO
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 31, 2024
The Pacers’ near-choke job on the night was reminiscent of the way they let a few games get away from them during their tussle against the Celtics in last season’s Conference Finals. But Siakam made sure that they will not repeat the same mistakes, and fans are recognizing the growth of this Pacers squad.
“The fact that we blew a 21 point lead, and didn't go off the rails entirely is a ton of improvement, we didn't choke & Siakam was absolutely incredible tonight! This is the Pacers team that we saw last season! We finally beat Boston, that's such a great feeling for the boys,” X user @michael21201_ wrote.
“Thought pacers were gonna choke that but siakam came clutch thankfully ,” @Shahzeb____ added.
“we almost choked hard asf but siakam the greatest player ever so he saved us,” @ccrsonw furthered.
A 1-4 start to the season would not be disastrous in the grand scheme of things, but the Pacers would much rather not start the first five games of the season already three games below .500. And thanks to Siakam, they can at least breathe more easily — especially with a run of three more games against winning teams coming up.
Pacers manage escape act after running out of gas late in the fourth
With 4:47 left in the third quarter, the Pacers took a 24-point lead, 92-68, thanks to a Tyrese Haliburton bucket. But the Celtics did not plan to just give up without a fight. They outscored the Pacers, 18-8, to end the third, and entered the fourth facing a more manageable deficit of 14.
But at the 2:41 mark of the fourth, the Pacers were still up by 12, 122-110; alas, they had four turnovers on four consecutive possessions that allowed the Celtics to claw their way back into the game, and they did not help matters at all by sending them to the free-throw line. Courtesy of a Jayson Tatum three-pointer, the Celtics tied the game and eventually sent it to overtime.
In the end, all is well that ends well for the Pacers, and Pascal Siakam is the man to thank.
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