Story by
Kendrick Perkins reveals why Pacers’ Pascal Siakam, not Tyrese Haliburton, deserved ECF MVP
- Story by
- Kendrick Perkins reveals why Pacers’ Pascal Siakam, not Tyrese Haliburton, deserved ECF MVP
The post Kendrick Perkins reveals why Pacers' Pascal Siakam, not Tyrese Haliburton, deserved ECF MVP appeared first on ClutchPoints .
Despite the Indiana Pacers advancing to the NBA Finals after beating the New York Knicks to win the Eastern Conference, part of the conversation has surrounded the winner of the series MVP. As Pacers star Pascal Siakam won the Larry Bird Trophy over teammate Tyrese Haliburton , one person who gave their opinion on the matter was Kendrick Perkins .
Advertisement
On ESPN's "NBA Today," Perkins would be asked about the 5-4 vote that led to Siakam being awarded the ECF MVP and if it was correct that he won over Haliburton. He would agree with the decision, saying he was consistent in the series where Haliburton's drop-off was noticeable.
"I believe so," Perkins said. "I tweeted it out before they announced it, that I thought that Pascal Siakam should have been the MVP, and he was, I mean, he was consistent throughout the Eastern Conference [Finals]. We saw that drop off with Tyrese Halliburton between game for game, but it wasn't that for Pascal Siakam . Andrea talked about, you know, Halliburton taking over that fourth quarter in the highlights. But there is no fourth quarter without Pascal Siakam doing what he did in the first, second, and third quarter."
Pacers ' Pascal Siakam winning ECF MVP is "well deserved"
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
While some weren't surprised to see the Pacers forward in Siakam winning over Haliburton, the statistics do back up the results, as he averaged close to 25 points per game against the Knicks in the series. This includes scoring 39 in Game and 31 in the final outing where Indiana eliminated New York, with Perkins saying it was "well deserved."
Advertisement
"I think when they get down to the half course sets," Perkins said. "He was the one that got them through, he was the mismatch that the Knicks couldn't figure out. It couldn't, it didn't matter, if you put a smaller guy on them. He was taking them to that elbow mid-post area. If you put a bigger guy on him, he was out-sprinting Karl-Anthony Towns , getting out in transition on makes and misses. So he was the guy, well deserved. I thought it was close, but I would have given it to Pascal Siakam as well."
At any rate, both Siakam and Haliburton are surely more focused on winning the franchise's first NBA title, as Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals is on Thursday.
