Siakam Voices Frustration as Pacers Slide to 6–24
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Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam delivered a blunt nine-minute postgame assessment on Tuesday after a 17-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks dropped the club to 6-24 and extended its skid to six games.
“We played with no force,” Siakam said, adding that the team looked “slow” and lacked both pace and determination. “It’s not fun to be around,” he continued, lamenting the absence of energy on the floor.
The comments echoed guard T.J. McConnell, who questioned the club’s effort following Saturday’s defeat to New Orleans. The mounting frustration comes just six months after Indiana fell one victory short of its first NBA championship.
The downturn began when Tyrese Haliburton suffered an Achilles tear in Game 7 of the Finals. A wave of injuries since October has kept the Pacers from fielding a stable rotation, prompting hardship signings for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Garrison Mathews, Gabe McGlothan and James Wiseman over the past six weeks.
Haliburton is projected to be fully recovered for the start of next season, and most of last year’s postseason roster remains intact. Indiana’s current position, however, points toward a high draft slot rather than a play-in push—an outlook that offers little comfort to Siakam.
“I hate losing,” the veteran said, noting that defeats affect his mood and on-court demeanor. He described extensive film study in search of solutions and urged every teammate to ask, “What can we do?”
With a play-in berth already slipping away, Siakam acknowledged that urgency has faded in the locker room. Still, he maintained that players—not draft odds—must decide how the rest of the season unfolds.
Source: HoopsRumors
