Haliburton and Kawhi miracles just two of many crazy shots Pascal Siakam's been part of
Pascal Siakam has a pretty good basketball resume: Champion; Eastern Conference Final MVP; Two-time All-NBA; Most Improved Player. But he's also been on the court for some historic, and pretty rare moments.
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Other than legendary clutch dagger wielder Robert Horry, it's hard to come up with a player who has been on the floor for as many massive shots as Siakam over his time in the league.
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When Tyrese Haliburton's long two-pointer fell in Game 1 Thursday just ahead of the buzzer, giving Indiana its first lead of the game and the win, it was an all-time experience for just about everyone. Just not Siakam.
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After all, he had an on-court view for an even bigger shot six years ago, one of the biggest in NBA history.
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That would be Kawhi Leonard's buzzer-beater over an outstretched Joel Embiid, which rattled around four times before dropping and eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers. It was one of the few series-enders at the buzzer in league history and helped propel the Raptors to the championship.
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It's hard for that one to be topped and the only way Haliburton's dagger in Game 1 has a chance to do so would be for the Pacers to go on to win as well. Either way, Siakam's the only player that was there for both of them.
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Of course Siakam was also there for Haliburton's other three shots in these playoffs that either won or forced overtime, as well as his layup to knock out the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Haliburton also sank the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the second round after another huge comeback, forced overtime in stunning fashion in the conference finals against the New York Knicks and eliminated Milwaukee in Round 1 with a layup.
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Incredibly, Siakam has also been out there for two other classics, even if they weren't quite as important in the long run:
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A year before Kawhi's heroics, long-time Toronto tormentor LeBron James made it look easy, dropping a running, one-handed shot at the buzzer to put Cleveland up 3-0 in a series where the Raptors had homecourt advantage.
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