Who can guard Pascal Siakam?
No, really. Who can guard Pascal Siakam?
Whoever it is, they definitely were not on the court for the Utah Jazz. Heading into the game, it became glaringly obvious that the Jazz just didn’t have someone who can go toe-to-toe with Siakam and guard him for the majority of the game.
That honour fell to Royce O’Neale and, well, he did the best he could. That led to Siakam finishing with 35 points, five rebounds, and five assists on 14-of-22 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point range.
Siakam caught on pretty early that O’Neale wouldn’t be able to contain him and was able to back him into the post with Marc Gasol lingering around the three-point line. Rudy Gobert was constantly caught in two minds over whether to make a play on Siakam and risk an open three or to let O’Neale handle him one-on-one.
Gobert chose wrong and Siakam feasted. It begs the question of who can guard him. At this point, it only seems like there is a handful of players in the NBA who can, and it certainly wasn’t anyone in a Jazz uniform. Not on Sunday night, at least.
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