Pascal Siakam has seen the NBA on the road before, but Mexico City is giving him a different kind of buzz.
The Pacers forward said Friday that Indiana’s trip to Arena CDMX has a playoff edge to it as the team gets ready for Saturday’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets. Siakam had been to Mexico before, but this is his first time in Mexico City, where the Pacers practiced Friday morning.
“I think we’ve gone to Paris before, since I’ve been with the Pacers, so I feel like we had that experience before and we know how much of a distraction it can be,” Siakam said. “But also, this just kind of feels a little bit like playoffs, which we’ve been a part of. So I think guys should be kind of used to that, and obviously enjoying the city, embracing the culture, but also knowing that we have a job to do.”
Indiana’s visit comes with some familiar international baggage. Saturday’s game will be only the third regular-season game the Pacers have played outside the United States or Canada. The first two came in Paris in January 2025, when San Antonio won the opener 140-110 on Jan. 23 before Indiana answered two days later with a 136-98 win behind 28 points from Tyrese Haliburton and 23 from Siakam.
A few months after that trip, Siakam was named Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Conference finals, and Indiana went on to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
The Pacers are also trying to piece things together early in the season while dealing with injuries. Indiana had only six players available for Monday’s 108-104 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Ivica Zubac and Obi Toppin returned two nights later in Memphis, Kelly Oubre Jr. and T.J. McConnell are questionable for Saturday, and Haliburton remained home to rehab a left hamstring strain.
“It’s been tough for us,” Siakam explained. “Obviously we had a lot of injuries, and it happens in the league all over the place, but it’s kind of hard when you have to deal with them super early on in the season.
But at least it’s right now, and we can get guys back and get healthy. We started getting guys back already, so we just want to continue to have guys back and play at full strength.”
Siakam has been one of the steady pieces through the uneven start. He’s averaging 21.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists through eight games.
On Wednesday against Memphis, he scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, in Indiana’s 107-103 win that snapped a five-game losing streak. Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers with 22, and Siakam’s 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left in the first quarter put Indiana ahead 32-24.
The Pacers then closed strong, outscoring Memphis 27-21 in the fourth. Siakam sat out Monday’s Atlanta game on the second night of a back-to-back.
He is now 20 points away from 13,000 for his career, which would make him the 235th player in NBA history to reach that mark, according to the team’s game notes.
Rick Carlisle made it clear how much Siakam means to Indiana’s group.
“We love Pascal,” Carlisle said. “Pascal’s a great player, a big part of what we do.
He’s an All-Star. He’s an All-NBA player.
And he’s been very consistent for us.”
Siakam’s perspective also comes from a longer NBA journey that started in Cameroon and has stretched into his 11th season. He won the 2019 NBA title with the Toronto Raptors, the league’s only current franchise outside the United States, before Indiana acquired him in January 2024. On Friday, he pointed to that path when talking about young players in Mexico.
“It’s just to keep going,” Siakam said. “Obviously it doesn’t matter where you’re from.
I think as long as you have the passion and the love for the game and you have the work ethic, everything can happen. You just gotta believe in yourself and just work as hard as you can, no matter where you’re from.”
Saturday’s game also carries a strong international flavor. Seven of the league’s 125 international players are part of the matchup, according to NBA.com. Denver’s group includes Nikola Jokić of Serbia and Canadians Jamal Murray and Ryan Nembhard, Andrew Nembhard’s younger brother.
Indiana’s game preview lists Braden Smith, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Zubac as the rest of the starting lineup for Saturday. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET.
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For a Pacers group trying to keep its rhythm while juggling injuries, Haliburtons absence changes everything from pace to late-game organization. Indiana has had to keep moving without him while also monitoring the rest of the roster, and the latest update only adds to the sense that the team is still waiting for its full identity to come together. [Read more 🡒]
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Now comes a different kind of stage for Indiana, which is set to play its first game in Mexico against the Denver Nuggets. Carlisle has been reflective about the path that brought him here, praising the organizations and players he has worked with along the way, but he also sounds energized by what this Pacers group is building. For a team still shaping its identity, an international showcase offers more than a novelty trip. It is another chance to see how far that identity can travel. [Read more 🡒]