The New York Knicks fell into a deep, surprising 2-0 hole against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, and it was partly due to the hard work and skill of Pascal Siakam.

Siakam had a career-high night and helped his team score a huge win.

He had a lot of motivation, including his desire to play well against his former teammate.

Speaking to ESPN after the game, Siakam talked about battling OG Anunoby, who used to play with him during their time together with the Toronto Raptors.

“It’s amazing that we’re both in a position where we get to compete at this level coming from Toronto,” Siakam said of Anunoby. “It just gives you extra motivation. You just choose to compete at a higher level. I know how hard a competitor he is.”

Anunoby was in charge of shutting Siakam down for most of the night, but he didn’t have a lot of success.

Siakam was 4-of-6 from the floor when guarded by Anunoby.

Just a few nights before in Game 1, he was 0-of-3 when Anunoby was on top of him.

Siakam and Anunoby enjoyed their time with the Raptors, especially when they won a championship in 2019.

Since then, their careers have gone in different and exciting directions.

They have both moved to teams that have been slowly building something special, and now they are fighting in the Eastern Conference Finals while the Raptors are far from competing at that level.

But only one of these former teammates can go all the way to the NBA Finals, and, right now, Siakam seems to have the advantage.

He loves playing against his former teammate, but he loves beating him even more.

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