
1. Siakam’s decline in 3-point shooting percentage
Pascal Siakam started the season shooting lights out. In his first 27 games, Siakam shot the three at a 40 percent rate. This made Siakam a threat from anywhere on the floor and made defending him all but easy. However, after falling to injury in late December, Siakam was always unable to find his rhythm back from three. That’s where the decline would get greater as the season went on.
- Return from injury until season shutdown: 33 percent from three in 26 games
- Bubble regular season: 36 percent from three in 7 games
- Bubble playoffs: 18.9 percent from three in 11 games
And if you want a real scare, his percentage in the Boston Celtics series was 12.5 percent on almost five attempted threes per game. This ranked among one of the worst shooting percentages in a playoffs series on high volume.
Siakam’s decline from three translated to his overall game. Scoring became much more difficult and defenders gave him space on the perimeter forcing him to shoot, and making it harder to score at the rim.
We know Siakam can shoot, we’ve seen him do it and it has managed to put him in the MVP conversation early in the season. Yes, his decline was scary and would make for a good blockbuster Halloween film, but knowing Siakam’s work rate and his will to improve every year, there is no doubt that this film will have no sequel.