Pacers star Pascal Siakam reveals truth behind scary NBA finals ritual after fans accused him of 'devil magic'
Pacers star Pascal Siakam has lifted the lid on his disturbing pregame ritual ahead of Indiana 's win over the Thunder in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
Siakam helped the Pacers set up a mouthwatering Game 7 showdown with Oklahoma City with an emphatic 108-91 win in Indiana on Thursday night.
Before the game, however, as the Pacers huddled together, cameras caught the Cameroonian forward looking towards the ceiling with his eyes completely rolled back.
Only the whites of his eyes were visible and the clip soon went viral, with fans even joking that 'devil magic' was responsible for the Pacers' series-saving win.
After the game, Siakam was shown the footage. He burst into laughter and said: 'They said I was a demon?'
'I wish I had a 30-point game or something so then I could've been like: "Yeah, the spirit took over!"
'They said I was a demon. I wish I had a 30 point game or something so then I could've been like yeah, the spirit took over.'
— Pascal Siakam
(h/t @NoContext_NBA_) pic.twitter.com/AFufQh6g3l
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 20, 2025
'I tried to close my eyes. I'm thinking that I'm closing them, but I'm not closing them... sometimes, I have to remind myself.'
He continued: 'It used to happen a lot more, and I had to remind myself every time, "Close your eyes. Close your eyes."'
The clip sent social media into a frenzy, with one fan writing: 'Everybody [is] praying and he [is] turning into the exorcist.' Another asked: 'And you're gonna tell me they don't [do] devil magic?'
Siakam put up 16 points and 13 rebounds in a dominant victory for the Pacers.
Star man Tyrese Haliburton scored 14 points for the Pacers, who started slowly and then turned things into a blowout.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on hand with 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters from the game when they trailed by 30 going into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16.
Indiana missed its first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly.
After the slow start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. An Indiana team that hadn't led by more than 10 points at any time in the first five games - and that double-digit lead was brief - led by 28 early in the third quarter.
The margin eventually got to 31, which was Oklahoma City's second-biggest deficit of the season.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Shedeur Sanders' speeding violations get shock response from ex-Browns coach Eric Mangini
Two egregious speeding violations and a missed court appearance aren't exactly helping rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders' case for a roster spot on the 2025 Cleveland Browns. But as one former Cleveland head coach sees it, things could be much, much worse. 'I don't love it from a fifth-round draft pick,' Eric Mangini said of Deion during a recent appearance on FS1's 'The Herd' with Colin Cowherd. 'I don't love that it's happened multiple times.' Mangini, 54, then suggested the 23-year-old Sanders is struggling without the presence of his father and long-time football coach, Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. 'I do think this is the first time he's away from his dad and there's going to be some growing pains,' Mangini said of the younger Sanders, who played for the famed 'Coach Prime' at Dallas' Trinity Christian high school, Jackson State and Colorado. Without the elder Sanders' watchful eye, Shedeur has been ticketed within the last few weeks for driving 91mph in a 65mph zone and 101mph in a 60mph zone, the latter of which led to the revelation of the former as well as a missed court appearance. The Browns have said they are handling the situation internally and Shedeur will take care of the tickets, all of which is fine by Mangini. When Cowherd criticized Shedeur's maturity, Mangini dismissed the separate speeding tickets as 'growing pains.' "This is like any kid who's away from home for the first time. There's gonna be a couple hiccups here and there." Eric Mangini and @colincowherd disagree on how big of a deal to make of Shedeur Sanders' speeding ticket. — Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 20, 2025 'Would I sell my stock on it like you are? Not because of a couple of speeding tickets,' Mangini said. 'Especially in the light of the problems the Browns quarterback room has had to deal with legally in the last few years — this is nothing.' Mangini didn't specify which Browns quarterback he was referring to, but it the likely signal caller is injured Deshaun Watson, who has settled nearly two dozen sexual misconduct lawsuits in recent years. Shedeur did not back away from his mistake when speaking to reporters at Browns minicamp. 'I've made some wrong choices personally, I can own up to them,' Sanders said. 'I made some not great choices. I learn from them. I learned.' Sanders recently completed his first minicamp with the Browns and is now off until July 18, when rookies are required to report to Cleveland's 2025 training camp. He recently signed a four-year, $4.6 million deal that included his $447,000 signing bonus – which represents the only guaranteed portion of the deal. That's significant, because if Sanders is facing a crowded depth chart at quarterback as he attempts to make the Browns as a rookie. The team currently has veteran Joe Flacco, journeyman backup Kenny Pickett and injured former starter Deshaun Watson, not to mention Shedeur's fellow rookie, Dillon Gabriel.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Food Network star Anne Burrell's friend on the private pain she hid from the world before tragic death at 55
A friend of Food Network star Anne Burrell has hinted at the anguish she secretly battled years before her shocking death this Tuesday aged 55. The Worst Cooks in America host was 'unresponsive' when law enforcement responded to a call around 7:50am on June 17, after her husband Stuart Claxton discovered her unconscious on the shower floor. The New York Fire Department confirmed to Daily Mail that they were responding to a report of a cardiac arrest, but her cause of death is still being investigated by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Law enforcement sources have revealed a large quantity of 'unknown pills' was found near where she died, TMZ reports. Now her pal Duff Goldman, whose Baltimore bakery Charm City Cakes was featured on the Food Network, has shared a testimonial to Burrell. 'I've written and re-written this post so many times in the past 24 hours and I just don't know what to say,' he posted on Instagram alongside a photo of him with her. 'Anne and I became friends in probably 2006. She was going through some stuff and I had heard that she was feeling it so on a trip to NYC from Baltimore I had made her a cake that said 'Don't let the b******s win.' She never did,' he shared, without disclosing the nature of the problem that caused her private pain. In 2006, Burrell's media career was on the rise - she had made her TV debut the previous year as a sous chef on Iron Chef America, working under Mario Batali, and was two years away from getting her own show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. However Goldman has now revealed that even while she publicly began to blossom as a TV personality, she was battling personal issues behind the scenes. 'We had a complex relationship and I remember the last conversation we had before our paths drifted was a pretty feisty debate about the merits of catfish. I believe the words 'trash fish,' 'tastes like mud,' and 'cake boy' were used, haha,' he shared. 'Anne and I always had a spirited and somewhat acerbic back and forth. I really never knew why our paths drifted but I always hoped that wherever she was, Anne was doing well and was finding some happiness.' While he was attending a New York City gala 'a year or two ago' with his wife Johnna Colbry and their daughter Josephine, four, Goldman saw Burrell again. Goldman explained that he 'took Josephine out to the lobby to give her a break from sitting at a table listening to speeches. We were playing with the marble columns and as we rounded one we saw Anne.' He recalled: 'Now, at this point we hadn't spoken in years, and I won't go into what we talked about but I will say that that conversation left my heart lifted and full of light, for it truly seemed to me that Anne really had found a measure of happiness and love.' Goldman opined: 'Life is tough, and we have to be tough to get through it. Anne was as tough as they come, but when you got past the armor there was a depth of compassion and kindness that was absolutely beautiful.' He gushed: 'My heart sings when I think of the love and tranquility that it seems Anne had found recently, and her genuine smile for my daughter and me in that lobby are what makes this tragedy just a little more bearable. 'Anne, wherever you are I hope they have slow moving rivers because when I get there, we'll get a couple of rods, a pint of chicken livers, and a sixer and I'll teach you how to catch and cook the best catfish you ever had. Rest up, chef.' Goldman's tribute comes after another one of Burrell's friends, chef Elizabeth Falkner, claimed that the late Food Network star was in 'pretty decent shape' when she last saw her on June 9 at dinner in New York City. In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail, Falkner, 59, revealed, 'I think Anne looks like she's in pretty decent shape these days, so it's kind of surprising to me.' Not being able to comment specifically on any health issues, if any, she might've battled before her death, she did find her passing 'so sudden and shocking.' 'I know it is very personal to me what happened, and I can't believe somebody even younger than me has just passed away. It's close to home for all of us,' she said. 'The culinary family is like family, so this hurts a lot of us. We just all feel it.' The shock comes from seeing her a few days ago at an intimate dinner she hosted - which she of course was the chef for the 'fun night' - at Soho House on June 9. 'I've seen [her] over all these years, not just on television competitions and shows, but at different parties and events and stuff, and we've always been friendly. 'But just in the last month we've been texting. I said, "Come to my dinner at Soho House, it'll be great to see you." And she brought her husband and we just had such a good time,' she shared about how the famous chefs reconnected. 'It was just so sweet. So this is just really so sudden and shocking.' Burrell even texted her the following day on June 10 to let her know that she and her husband, Stuart Claxton, had a great time. 'She's like, "Thanks so much for inviting us. It was a truly lovely time and very delicious. Please send me some pics so I can post." 'And I said, "It was so great to see you, Anne."' The pals even made a pact to 'talk more often.' 'We were like, "Let's just make a point of talking and texting more often,"' Falkner shared, while noting that she is 'very grateful' to have had a special night with the beloved chef and other guests last week. 'I'm just bummed. I feel like [our friendship] just got cut really short fast,' she added. The Worst Cooks in America alum spoke highly about being a mother. 'When she came to the dinner at Soho House, she said that she was very much enjoying being a stepmother,' Falkner said, referring to the star's stepson Javier, 20. 'And her husband's so sweet. She just seemed to be in such a good place. That's the best way for me to describe it. Because being a chef and being a television personality is two major full-time jobs, but enjoying your life outside of that can be challenging. And I think she was definitely enjoying her life outside of that whole world of the networks and all that stuff.' Burrell spoke exclusively with Daily Mail back in April about marital bliss. Her and Stuart got married in 2021 after meeting on a dating app in 2018. 'October will be four years,' she said at the City Harvest gala. 'It seems like it's been four minutes. I don't know if it's a honeymoon [phase], but I feel like it's settled into married life days which I really enjoy.' Falkner, who appeared on cooking shows like Iron Chef and Top Chef, recalled meeting Burrell's husband before they got married in 2021. 'I randomly saw her in Rome outside of a restaurant, and I was like, "Oh my God, that's Anne Burrell walking by!" And we said hey and stuff,' Falkner revealed, noting that she and Stuart were on a 'pre-wedding trip.' Describing her passing 'really unfortunate,' 'so sad,' 'unexpected' and even 'tragic,' Falkner believes Burrell's death is a huge loss to the restaurant community since everyone involved is 'another kind of family.' Falkner, herself, said that being a chef is a 'highly stressful job,' but it was something that Burrell mastered throughout her career. 'The thing about Anne Burrell is she wasn't only a TV chef, she was a really good, really good cook, really good chef. She educated a lot of people,' the James Beard Foundation's board of trustees member told Daily Mail. 'I don't even know how she had the patience to do Worst Cooks in America, because I think that would be a challenging show to do patience wise. But she was the real deal. She could cook a lot. She had mad skills. It was always fun watching her cook. I told her I loved watching her on House of Knives.' She added, 'She's one of those people that's kind of intimidating and certainly hardcore as chefs can be. I mean, you kind of have to be that way. It's the only way to teach people how to deal with ingredients and not to mess it up all the time. But she was definitely very sweet... She had a certain kind of sparkle.'
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Rays score early and often in dominant win over Tigers
June 21 - Taylor Walls drove in two runs in Tampa Bay's four-run first inning as the Rays won a second series over a top club in a week, toppling the visiting Detroit Tigers 8-3 on Saturday afternoon. The shortstop's two-run single with two outs helped the Rays win for the second consecutive game against the Tigers, who entered the day 19 games over .500 with a .623 winning percentage. Tampa Bay, which tops baseball with a 22-8 mark dating back to May 20, swept three games from the then-best New York Mets last weekend in Queens. Danny Jansen, Junior Caminero and Christopher Morel each hit solo homers, while Yandy Diaz extended his hitting streak to 12 games in a 2-for-4 outing with a double and a run. In winning his second consecutive impressive start, Ryan Pepiot (5-6) yielded only one run on three hits in five innings. He fanned seven, walked two and hit two batters. Detroit's Jake Rogers (groundout), Jahmai Jones (double) and Dillon Dingler (sacrifice fly) drove in runs. Opener Brant Hurter (2-3) surrendered four unearned runs in two-thirds of the first inning before yielding to Sawyer Gipson-Long for 6 1/3 innings (four runs, six hits). The Rays sent nine men to the plate and scored four times in the first due to a passed ball on a strikeout of Brandon Lowe, who raced safely to first with one out rather than two. Hurter's wildness became his undoing after Jonathan Aranda's double, issuing two walks (a run-producing one by Josh Lowe), hitting Jose Caballero with a pitch for a 2-0 lead and allowing Walls' single. Brandon Lowe moved his hitting streak to 10 games with a RBI single to plate Diaz in the second, but Detroit answered with Rogers' groundout to make it 5-1. The home offense kept at it in the fourth as Jansen and Caminero belted solo homers off Gipson-Long for a 7-1 lead. In the seventh, Morel smashed a Statcast-projected 434-foot homer to left for a seven-run advantage. Pinch hitters Jones and Dingler had RBIs in the eighth for the final margin. --Field Level Media
