Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam helped breathe life into his team’s NBA Finals hopes with a fiercely productive Game 6 performance, but not before grabbing headlines for an odd moment during the pregame huddle.
As the camera zoomed in on him, Siakam appeared to roll his eyes back into his head, prompting fans and commentators to joke that he looked “possessed.”
After smashing a 10891 win over Oklahoma City, the threetime AllStar addressed the moment with humor and honesty.
In the win that evened the series, Siakam contributed 16 points, hauled in 13 rebounds and added 3 assists, putting the Pacers on the brink of their first-ever NBA championship.
Teammates Tyrese Haliburton and Obi Toppin added key support, dropping 14 and 20 points, respectively. It was Siakam‘s odd stare-down moment in the tunnel that really lit social media on fire, unleashing a tidal wave of memes and jokes.
“They said I was a demon?” Siakam laughed when asked about fans describing his look.
“I wish I had a 30 point game or something so then I could’ve been like, ‘Yeah, the spirit took over.'”
“I tried to close my eyes, I’m thinking that I’m closing but I’m not closing them. Sometimes, I have to remind myself… it used to happen a lot more and I had to remind myself every time, ‘Close your eyes. Close your eyes.'”
Despite the jokes, it was clear Siakam‘s eyes, open or not so open, were more a signal of laser focus than any supernatural ritual.
According to a Sports Illustrated breakdown, fans noticed him in the tunnel just before tip-off, with his eyes rolled back as if summoning some inner power.
And boy, did it pay off: Indiana jumped to a 64-42 halftime lead and never looked back, led by that no look pass from Haliburton that resulted in a thunderous slam dunk by Siakam.
How the pregame spark turned into in-game fireworks
Siakam‘s playful deflection couldn’t mask the reality: he was locked in. And his performance showed it. Pacers came out firing with intensity, hitting their stride as the game highlighted his full-court impact.
With a booming dunk off Haliburton‘s breakaway feed and a clutch buzzer-beating midrange jumper, he whipped the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse into a frenzy.
Looking ahead to Game 7
Now comes the ultimate test. Indiana will head to Oklahoma City for Game 7, a winner-takes-all scenario that could grant them franchise immortality.
Siakam‘s at his best when the stakes are highest. If he brings the same energy-and maybe a repeat of that “demon” stare-Indiana just might capture its first NBA title.
Across the six games thus far, Siakam has averaged 19.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4 assists, plus 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per outing-a stat line that firmly places him in MVP conversation if the Pacers close it out.
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