Portland's Jerami Grant, Malcolm Brogdon burn Pacers in Pascal Siakam's debut

PORTLAND, Ore. -- All-Star forward Pascal Siakam made his Pacers debut and All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton returned after missing 10 days with a strained hamstring, but the Pacers lost to the Trail Blazers for the second time this season 118-115 at the Moda Center.

The Pacers fell to 24-18. The Blazers improved to 12-29.

Here are four observations.

Pascal Siakam had good moments, but was outplayed by Jerami Grant

In his first game with the Pacers, two-time All-NBA wing Pascal Siakam gave a taste of every skill that made him such a coveted trade target.

The 6-8, 230-pounder scored at all three levels. He hit 3s, pull-ups and layups, getting to the rim both off the dribble and through post-ups. He showed off his skills as a creator, and he showed the value of his length on the defensive end. He scored 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting including 1 of 3 from 3-point range. He dished out three assists and grabbed six rebounds, a steal and a block.

"I liked him on both ends," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "... He's a unique guy because you put him in an NBA game and he's going to find a way to get his average everything and you won't even have to run a play for him. He just has a knack. That's why I wasn't worried about him fitting in on short notice. He does need to learn significant other parts of our system both sides of the ball and we'll work on that tomorrow and the next day."

However, he wasn't as productive as the man he started the game guarding.

Siakam was clearly determined to guard Blazers forward Jerami Grant as he brought constant physicality to the matchup, sometimes practically bear-hugging him away from the ball. However, Grant -- who might be the top trade target among forwards now that Siakam is off the market -- seemed specifically motivated to outplay Siakam and he did. Grant scored 37 points on 14 of 28 shooting and dished out three assists. He had 20 in the first half alone on 8 of 14 shooting to help the Blazers build an 11-point halftime lead.

"Grant got going and we just didn't do a good enough job on him," Carlisle said. "We probably should have double-teamed him earlier. ... He makes difficult shots. Some of the shots you wouldn't go and double-team."

Pacers fall in love with 3s, struggle to score in the paint

The Pacers pulled off arguably their most improbable win of the season on Thursday night in Sacramento by relentlessly attacking the rim, scoring 62 points in the paint against the Kings. Though the Pacers are known for wide-open uptempo play, the basis of that approach is the ability to get the ball to the rim in a number of ways, and they entered Friday night's action leading the NBA in points in the paint with 57.3 per game.

On Friday, however, the Blazers lured the Pacers away from that approach by walling off the paint and making their drives difficult while also giving them space to shoot from the outside. They were extremely productive from the 3-point line, and made their first four from beyond the arc. But as a result, the paint was largely neglected and when they did try to go there, they found significant resistance from the Blazers' long-armed frontcourt.

Portland outscored Indiana 66-26 in the paint. For much of the game, the Pacers had attempted more 3-pointers than 2s and they finished 20 of 47 from beyond the 3-point arc and 19 of 44 inside of it. Portland, meanwhile, only attempted 12 3-pointers and made four of them.

"I think we could have gotten to the point more and made life easier for ourselves," forward Aaron Nesmith said. "We did settle a little bit with some early 3s. Like you said, we made them, but we could have made our life easier down low and in the paint."

The Blazers blocked 11 Pacers shots and the Pacers were only rewarded so much by the officials when they tried to go to the rim. Portland was called for just 21 fouls and the Pacers shot 25 free throws to the Blazers' 35.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle didn't want to get deep enough into that discussion to chance drawing a fine, but he did mention it.

"The foul discrepancy is something that I don't want to make a big deal out of, but it's there," Carlisle said. "It's 26-21. It's a big deal. It's a big difference in the game. You always want the whistle blowing the same amount at your end as it is in theirs."

The 3-ball did keep the Pacers in the game. Buddy Hield scored 18 points, making six 3-pointers. Myles Turner scored 29 with six 3-pointers and Nesmith had 12 with three 3-pointers, but they also get better looks when they had paint touches or a paint presence.

"It's a matter of playing with a level of presence at both ends," Carlisle said. "When the other team is shooting well over 50%, which they were in the first half, it's hard to get momentum downhill with a bunch of aggressive young guys that are sitting down and guarding. When we got the ball into the paint, our numbers were much better than we didn't, but that's any game in the NBA any day of the week."

Tyrese Haliburton starts slow but gets rolling

All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton's return to action after missing a week and a half with a strained hamstring included a slow start from a scoring perspective, but he still managed yet another double double.

Haliburton scored just four points in the first half, hitting one of the three field goals he attempted, but he still managed six assists. In the second half, however, he scored 17 points and had 11 assists to finish with 21 on 6 of 14 shooting and 17 assists.

"It was good to come out here and compete with the guys," Haliburton said. "Obviously you don't get the win, but I thought we showed flashes of good stuff."

Malcolm Brogdon burns his former team

While Grant was causing problems for the Pacers' forwards, their own former point guard Malcolm Brogdon was causing problems for their guards. The Pacers are obviously pleased with the return they got for trading Brogdon to Boston in July of 2022 for Aaron Nesmith and others, and the move was made for the purpose of clearing the way for Haliburton to take over at point guard. Still, Brogdon reminded them that they gave up a good player.

Brogdon was able to score at all three levels regardless of who was on him, shooting 9 of 18 from the floor and, 2 of 4 from 3-point range and 10 of 10 from the line. Brogdon also managed six assists and seven rebounds and a block and a steal on the defensive end, running a Blazers offense that shot 50% from the floor.

"He drove the ball," Carlisle said. "That's the thing he's really special at is getting to the edge and turning the corner and getting to the free throw line. He was able to do that."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Blazers: Grant, Brogdon burn Pacers in Siakam’s debut