Oklahoma City Thunder 103, Indiana Pacers 91
Q. Obviously Tyrese goes down, what were your emotions in that moment and what did it take to stay in the moment and keep through it at that point?
PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, it was tough. Obviously just off the bat, wishing him well. Just hope for the best.
But I'm just -- I'm proud of that kid, you know. He went through so much during the year. A lot of criticism. It's a lot for a young kid to go through, and like he had a lot of stress, a lot of -- and he just kept fighting. He kept fighting every single day. He kept just working.
And he did some incredible things, like this whole playoff run and this year, and yeah, like I'm just super proud of him. Obviously, it hurts because we couldn't get it done, and I wanted it so bad for him just because I know that he gave us everything, you know, everything he had. It just hurts that he couldn't see it through with us.
But just incredibly proud of him, and everything he's accomplished. And I know, you know, there's more. There's more coming.
Yeah, it's just a tough situation. But we are all behind him. He was in the locker room, like talking to everyone, and just how selfless he is. Like he's going through some tough times and he looked out for us and he wanted to be there for us. It just shows his character and who he is as a player, and one of the big reasons I'm here and he made it kind of super fun for me to be here.
It's just, you know, like a couple years ago, I think basketball was just -- yeah, it was kind of dark for me. It was just not fun at all. And I got traded here, and you know, these guys, they just gave me a boost and starting with Ty, obviously but just playing with these guys has been so incredible but just found my joy for the game and just playing with so much swagger and happiness and that's all I want to do as a player. I lost that for a while and it's so incredible that I came to a team like these guys, Chad [Buchanan], KP (Kevin Pritchard), Herb Simon, the whole ownership group, coaches, Rick.
Like I didn't believe this was possible because of the situation I was in and to see how amazing we did this year and all the things we accomplished. Obviously, there's no moral victory because we want to win, and we thought we did a lot to put ourselves in position to win, and obviously it sucks that we didn't do that. But I'm super proud of that.
And I know I'm not answering your question. It's just I really do love these guys, and I'm super appreciative of the opportunity to be here. Kind of gave me my -- that joy for the game again, and I'm just super grateful for that.
Q. I know you were touching on how personal this season was for you. Do you realize how special it was and what it meant to the state of Indiana and really, the whole NBA? I think you had a lot of folks on board being the underdog and getting this deep into the NBA Finals.
PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, I think we did it the right way, man. That's something that I can proudly say. There's no shortcuts. We've said all year, like we're not a sexy team. We're not a team everyone wants to watch. And for a while, Indy was just like, hey, nobody cares. And we made people care, and that's something to be proud of.
I hope, you know, the fans -- I just want to say, so incredible. The support all year has been amazing. Just to see how the city was so alive, and we feel blessed that we were the people that gave them that.
You know, we're sorry. Like we wanted to do it for Indy. We wanted it more than anything, just for the city, for the state just because they deserve it. These guys sleep, breathe basketball, and it was refreshing for me like to be in that environment and see how much basketball means to a group of people.
Yeah, I'm super grateful, and I hope, you know, you guys can see that we fought hard. And we're sorry we couldn't get it done. But you know, we'll continue to fight.
Q. You touched a little bit on the fans, but it was such an incredible run and you inspired the whole city. What is your message to the fans?
PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, again, thank you so much to the fans. Some of those games, I had flashbacks, just how amazing the crowd was, and we couldn't do it without them.
Every time we were out there and the game felt like, you know it, was getting away, we kept battling because we wanted to make Indiana proud and we wanted to make our fans proud. We tried our best. But at the end of the day, you know, you win some, you lose some, and we've just got to be strong and keep going.
I told everyone, I love every single one of these guys, and I wouldn't do it with anybody else. I'm super proud. So proud of the team. You know, it's hard to look forward into the future after you lose like this.
Yeah, I'm super, super proud of my team, and again, I wouldn't go to battle with anybody else.
Q. The entire country of China was amazed how you came together. Nobody watched the Pacers before and now they started to watch the Pacers. What does it mean to you to demonstrate great basketball, not just to the state of Indiana but around the world?
PASCAL SIAKAM: I think that's amazing, and obviously -- I think because of the way we do it, it's not the most popular way in the NBA where, you know, it's all about stars, and the team concept can get kind of put to the side. We showed that you can be a team and go out there and fight, and everyone play together, and you have an opportunity to win.
Obviously, we didn't do it. We didn't finish it. Again, it's no moral victory. But I can say that, you know, like we are happy that there's some people that can look at us and be like, yeah, we like that team, and we hope that can set a trend for the days coming forward.
And yeah, again, shout out China.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports