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Game Preview
After a gutting out an undermanned win on Thursday night in Sacramento, the Pacers (24-17) are hoping to get some reinforcements on Friday night in Portland, when they take on the Trail Blazers (11-29) on the second night of a back-to-back.
Two-time All-Star forward Pascal Siakam is expected to join the team in Portland and could make his Pacers debut on Friday after being acquired from Toronto on Wednesday night and making a stop in Indianapolis on Thursday for a physical and an evening workout at the Ascension St. Vincent Center.
Pacers fans will be eager to see Siakam in action. The 29-year-old forward from Cameroon is one of the league's top two-way forwards and averaged 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 39 games this season in Toronto. Over his last 10 games, Siakam has averaged 24.7 points while shooting 57.2 percent from the field and 51.3 percent from 3-point range.
Siakam should fit in very well with the Pacers. At 6-8 with a 7-3 wingspan, he is a skilled athlete who can thrive in transition in Indiana's up-tempo offensive attack, share playmaking responsibilities with All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, and guard multiple positions on the defensive end.
"Everybody is fighting to get a long wing that can defend and knock down threes," Haliburton said at Thursday's shootaround in Sacramento. "He can do all that and more. We’ve got a player that every team in the NBA wants."
Haliburton has missed the past five games with a left hamstring strain, but is nearing a return to the court himself. He told reporters on Thursday that he could potentially play on this road trip, which wraps up on Sunday in Phoenix after Friday night's game.
But even without Haliburton, Siakam, and other frequent starters Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith on Thursday, the Pacers came away with an impressive 126-121 victory in Sacramento.
Bennedict Mathurin scored a team-high 25 points, T.J. McConnell (20 points and 10 assists) and Jalen Smith (17 points and 13 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles, and rookie forward Jarace Walker posted his first double-digit scoring game of his career with 15 points off the bench.
The Pacers are now 3-2 over the last five games without Haliburton. They are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, but just a game out of fourth.
Indiana will be out for revenge on Friday after the Trail Blazers came into Gainbridge Fieldhouse and knocked off the Pacers on Nov. 27.
The Blazers are in a rebuilding phase after trading away seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard in the offseason. Portland has dropped seven of its last nine contests, but is coming off a dramatic 105-103 win over Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Jerami Grant scored 30 points for the Blazers in that win, but Anfernee Simons was the hero of the night, tallying 20 points including the game-winning floater with 0.2 seconds remaining.
The 24-year-old Simons leads Portland in scoring at 22.9 points per game and also dishes out 4.9 assists per contest. Grant is close behind at 21.4 points per contest and is shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range. Former number-one pick Deandre Ayton — acquired from Phoenix in the Lillard trade — is averaging a double-double in the post at 13.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.
Projected Starters
Pacers: G - T.J. McConnell, G - Bennedict Mathurin, F - Buddy Hield, F - Jalen Smith, C - Myles Turner
Trail Blazers: G - Malcolm Brogdon, G - Anfernee Simons, F - Jerami Grant, F - Jabari Walker, C - Deandre Ayton
Injury Report
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton - questionable (left hamstring strain), Isaiah Jackson - questionable (head), Andrew Nembhard - questionable (thoracic spine sprain), Aaron Nesmith - questionable (left tibialis anterior strain), Pascal Siakam - TBA
Trail Blazers: Deandre Ayton - probable (right knee tendinitis), Moses Brown - out (left wrist fracture), Shaedon Sharpe - out (lower abdominal strain), Robert Williams III - out (right knee ligament tear)
Last Meeting
Nov. 27, 2023: Jerami Grant scored 17 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter to lead Portland to a 114-110 win over the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Grant went 12-for-18 from the field, former Pacer Malcolm Brogdon added 24 points and seven assists, and Deandre Ayton finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers.
Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 33 points and nine assists, going 11-for-17 from the field and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. But the rest of the Pacers shot just 43.6 percent on the night. Myles Turner, Bruce Brown, and Bennedict Mathurin were the only other Pacers to reach double figures, finishing with 11 points apiece.
Noteworthy
TV: Bally Sports Indiana - Chris Denari (play-by-play), Quinn Buckner (analyst), Jeremiah Johnson (sideline reporter/host)
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan - Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Eddie Gill (analyst), Pat Boylan (studio host)
Tickets
After a six-game road trip, the Pacers will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host Nikola Jokic and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>
Game Preview
After a gutting out an undermanned win on Thursday night in Sacramento, the Pacers (24-17) are hoping to get some reinforcements on Friday night in Portland, when they take on the Trail Blazers (11-29) on the second night of a back-to-back.
Two-time All-Star forward Pascal Siakam is expected to join the team in Portland and could make his Pacers debut on Friday after being acquired from Toronto on Wednesday night and making a stop in Indianapolis on Thursday for a physical and an evening workout at the Ascension St. Vincent Center.
Pacers fans will be eager to see Siakam in action. The 29-year-old forward from Cameroon is one of the league's top two-way forwards and averaged 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 39 games this season in Toronto. Over his last 10 games, Siakam has averaged 24.7 points while shooting 57.2 percent from the field and 51.3 percent from 3-point range.
Siakam should fit in very well with the Pacers. At 6-8 with a 7-3 wingspan, he is a skilled athlete who can thrive in transition in Indiana's up-tempo offensive attack, share playmaking responsibilities with All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, and guard multiple positions on the defensive end.
"Everybody is fighting to get a long wing that can defend and knock down threes," Haliburton said at Thursday's shootaround in Sacramento. "He can do all that and more. We’ve got a player that every team in the NBA wants."
Haliburton has missed the past five games with a left hamstring strain, but is nearing a return to the court himself. He told reporters on Thursday that he could potentially play on this road trip, which wraps up on Sunday in Phoenix after Friday night's game.
But even without Haliburton, Siakam, and other frequent starters Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith on Thursday, the Pacers came away with an impressive 126-121 victory in Sacramento.
Bennedict Mathurin scored a team-high 25 points, T.J. McConnell (20 points and 10 assists) and Jalen Smith (17 points and 13 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles, and rookie forward Jarace Walker posted his first double-digit scoring game of his career with 15 points off the bench.
The Pacers are now 3-2 over the last five games without Haliburton. They are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, but just a game out of fourth.
Indiana will be out for revenge on Friday after the Trail Blazers came into Gainbridge Fieldhouse and knocked off the Pacers on Nov. 27.
The Blazers are in a rebuilding phase after trading away seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard in the offseason. Portland has dropped seven of its last nine contests, but is coming off a dramatic 105-103 win over Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Jerami Grant scored 30 points for the Blazers in that win, but Anfernee Simons was the hero of the night, tallying 20 points including the game-winning floater with 0.2 seconds remaining.
The 24-year-old Simons leads Portland in scoring at 22.9 points per game and also dishes out 4.9 assists per contest. Grant is close behind at 21.4 points per contest and is shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range. Former number-one pick Deandre Ayton — acquired from Phoenix in the Lillard trade — is averaging a double-double in the post at 13.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.
Projected Starters
Pacers: G - T.J. McConnell, G - Bennedict Mathurin, F - Buddy Hield, F - Jalen Smith, C - Myles Turner
Trail Blazers: G - Malcolm Brogdon, G - Anfernee Simons, F - Jerami Grant, F - Jabari Walker, C - Deandre Ayton
Injury Report
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton - questionable (left hamstring strain), Isaiah Jackson - questionable (head), Andrew Nembhard - questionable (thoracic spine sprain), Aaron Nesmith - questionable (left tibialis anterior strain), Pascal Siakam - TBA
Trail Blazers: Deandre Ayton - probable (right knee tendinitis), Moses Brown - out (left wrist fracture), Shaedon Sharpe - out (lower abdominal strain), Robert Williams III - out (right knee ligament tear)
Last Meeting
Nov. 27, 2023: Jerami Grant scored 17 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter to lead Portland to a 114-110 win over the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Grant went 12-for-18 from the field, former Pacer Malcolm Brogdon added 24 points and seven assists, and Deandre Ayton finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers.
Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 33 points and nine assists, going 11-for-17 from the field and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. But the rest of the Pacers shot just 43.6 percent on the night. Myles Turner, Bruce Brown, and Bennedict Mathurin were the only other Pacers to reach double figures, finishing with 11 points apiece.
Noteworthy
- The Pacers are 12-37 all-time in Portland and have dropped 13 of their last 14 road games against the Blazers. Indiana has won just won game at the Moda Center since 2007, a 111-87 win on Jan. 14, 2021, in a game that had no fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Indiana is just 1-6 on the season when playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
- Pacers center Myles Turner blocked his 1,200th career shot on Thursday, becoming the 63rd player in NBA history to reach that milestone. In his ninth season, Turner is chasing down Jermaine O'Neal's franchise record of 1,245 career blocks.
- Former Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon was traded to Portland from the Celtics in exchange for Jrue Holiday on Oct. 1. Brogdon started 146 games for the Pacers over three seasons from 2019-22 before being traded to Boston, where he was the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year last season.
TV: Bally Sports Indiana - Chris Denari (play-by-play), Quinn Buckner (analyst), Jeremiah Johnson (sideline reporter/host)
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan - Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Eddie Gill (analyst), Pat Boylan (studio host)
Tickets
After a six-game road trip, the Pacers will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host Nikola Jokic and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>
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