OG Anunoby referred to Pascal Siakam earlier this week as “one of my great friends in the league,” but as they say, with friends like this, who needs enemies?
Siakam has torched the Knicks — and his former Raptors teammate, specifically — in the first four games of the Eastern Conference finals, with 30 points in 35 minutes Tuesday night helping the Pacers grab a 3-1 series lead.
It marked the second game of at least 30 points against the Knicks for the three-time All-Star forward, who registered a team-high 39 in Indiana’s Game 2 victory at the Garden.
Entering Game 5 on Thursday night back at MSG, Siakam leads the Pacers with a scoring average of 25.8 points, and he’s connected on 54.1 percent of his field-goal attempts and 50 percent (6-for-12) from 3-point range, including 3-of-4 in Game 4.
He also has consistently gotten to the free-throw line, attempting a team-high 24 in the series, while converting 17 of them (.708).
“Oh yeah, Pascal is a great player,” Anunoby said between the two games in Indiana. “Just after that Game 2, just trying to make it as difficult as possible. Maybe not help as much in certain situations and not give him easy looks or their shots.
“Just try to make it as difficult as possible and force him into uncomfortable possessions. Pascal is one of my great friends in the league. We were very close as teammates. He’s a great player and a great person, but we’re competing right now.”
In 27:32 with Anunoby as his primary defender — by far the most minutes among the Knicks — Siakam has scored 27 points on 9-for-20 from the field.
the Knicks’ Game 4 loss to the Pacers. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Anunoby netted his series high Tuesday night with 22 points, along with three steals and two blocked shots, but he missed 6-of-7 tries from long range.
“The second half [of Game 3] wasn’t to our standards,” Siakam said, “and we came back with more energy and played Pacers basketball. We know we will give ourselves a chance every night if we play that way.”
The Pacers acquired the 31-year-old Siakam from Toronto in January of last season, sending out Bruce Brown, Kira Lewis, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks in a three-team trade with the Raptors and the Pelicans.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks in the 2025 NBA Playoffs
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Siakam added that Tyrese Haliburton “was everywhere” in posting a triple-double with 32 points, 15 assists and 12 boards with zero turnovers. He also joked that his All-Star teammate “stole a lot of my rebounds, but I’ll let that go,” after finishing the game with five for the third time in the four games.
After patiently answering several questions about Haliburton and the Game 4 contributions of teammates Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin, the 6-foot-8 Siakam finally took a question about his not-to-be-overlooked performance.
“You ain’t gotta ask about myself, man, it’s all about my team,” Siakam interjected. “Just taking what the defense gives us and again, trying to be aggressive. I know, like, the playoffs, this is a big moment for everyone, after the game, look at the boxscore, everyone is running to that, like, how many points did this person score?
“But that’s not us. It’s gonna be different people on different nights. It’s been that for the whole year and that’s all we really care about. Every time we come in here, and if we have a ‘W,’ I’m good. I’m sleeping well. So that’s my mindset going into this, and that’s been the mindset of our team, and it’s going to continue to be like that for us to be successful. It’s not a me thing, it’s an us thing, and I’m just glad to be able to help.”