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Pascal Siakam scored 15 points in Indiana’s loss on Tuesday night.
Just six months removed from taking the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in the NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers have just six wins through their first 30 games. Indiana’s losing streak was extended to six after dropping Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. After the game, Pascal Siakam expressed his frustrations with the team this season.
“Sometimes it looks like we don’t have any pace or any pep to anything we’re doing. It’s slow. There’s no energy. It’s not fun to be around,” Siakam said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star.
The 17-point loss on Tuesday marked the fifth double-digit loss in the last six games for Indiana. This season, the Pacers have lost by 10 or more points 16 times. Siakam’s frustrations are more than valid considering the Pacers were expected to be a competitive team this year, even without Tyrese Haliburton.
Losing Is Taking a Toll on Pascal Siakam
GettyPascal Siakam is the leading scorer for the Pacers this season.
Siakam is doing everything in his power to lead the Pacers to wins, but it has not been enough. He is averaging 23.8 points per game, which would be the second-highest in his career. The 31-year-old was held to just 15 points on Tuesday night, but he shot 60% from the field. To Milwaukee’s credit, they did a good job forcing Siakam’s teammates to beat them.
Those same teammates are the ones Siakam called out postgame.
“I don’t think we’re gonna get out of it until, when you lose and you go home and it really hurts you, it doesn’t matter. We’re just going to keep coming in here and doing the same thing and lose every night and it is what it is, right because who cares? We just lost another game,” Siakam told Dopirak.
The veteran forward did not directly call out his teammates, but his words should send a message to the locker room. When a team struggles as much as the Pacers are, it is easy for players to get complacent each night.
The Play-In game can still be achieved by the Pacers, but those hopes are slipping fast. Indiana sits 8.5 games back of 10th place, and the February 5th NBA trade deadline is approaching fast. Siakam still believes there is a chance for the team to turn the season around, but it has to happen quickly.
“I don’t know. The product is not good. We’re losing games. We gotta figure it out. We all have to ask ourselves, what can we do, and everyone has to come in wanting to win and wanting to make a change,” Siakam said in the same press conference.
The Tyrese Haliburton Effect 
GettyTyrese Haliburton continues to rehab his torn Achilles.
The Pacers were never going to be as good without Tyrese Haliburton. However, nobody expected them to be this bad. Haliburton is an All-Star and one of the best guards in the league when he is healthy. Still, Indiana’s struggles are worse than they could have imagined.
With Haliburton on the court last year, the Pacers averaged 117.2 points per game, 29.5 assists, and they shot 49.2% as a team. This season, Indiana has dropped to dead last in the NBA with 109.2 points per game and 23.3 assists, while shooting 42.9% as a team.
The Pacers have not been a terrible team defensively, but their scoring has taken a massive hit without Haliburton. It is clear to see the impact he makes on the team. Haliburton is making strides in his recovery, but he is not expected back this year.
Indiana will have to start playing with a sense of urgency moving forward, but things are not looking good for the reigning Eastern Conference champs.
Cam Zunkel Cam Zunkel has been a sports journalist since 2022. He covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Cam also covers multiple MLB teams for On SI – part of the Sports Illustrated Brand. He is a former collegiate baseball player with two stops in the independent Frontier League. More about Cam Zunkel
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