Home and ‘hungry,’ Pacers seeking series lead over Bucks

Pascal Siakam’s blistering start to the postseason has enabled the upstart Indiana Pacers to wrest home-court advantage from the Milwaukee Bucks.Siakam will look to remain hot on Friday when the sixth-seeded Pacers welcome the third-seeded Bucks to Indianapolis for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.Siakam followed up his 36-point, 13-rebound performance in the Pacers’ 109-94 setback in the series opener on Sunday with 37 points, 11 boards and six assists in Indiana’s 125-108 triumph on Tuesday. He is the first NBA player to open the playoffs with consecutive performances of at least 35 points and 10 rebounds since Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain in 1967.”We’ve got to be the hungry team,” Siakam said. “We’ve got to be the team that’s coming in and wanting to show something. That’s the attitude that we’ve got to have against those guys, because they’ve done it before.”Siakam has done it before, too. He was a member of the 2019 Toronto Raptors’ title-winning team.”His experience in the playoffs is so valuable,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Siakam. “He’s not a guy that’s going to get rattled by anything. Never has once since January, since we got him. He’s a guy that people confide in and look up to.”Myles Turner collected 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks to help even the series.”I’m just excited to get back to Gainbridge (Fieldhouse),” Turner said. “It’s going to be a (heck) of an environment in there. I’ve been waiting a long time to give the home fans what they deserve. And I’m just really, really excited for that environment.”Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard will look to continue his trend of strong starts on Friday. He scored all 35 of his points in the first half in the series opener before scoring 26 of his 34 points over the first two quarters on Tuesday.

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