Indiana Pacers frontcourt partners Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner were nominees for the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Month award for February of 2024.
The honor, which — as the name suggests — is designed to name the best player in each conference for a given month, ultimately went to Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. Tatum averaged 27.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game in February while the Celtics went 9-1. Luka Doncic took home the hardware in the Western Conference.
Beyond Siakam and Turner, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, and Franz Wagner were finalists in the East.
The Pacers went 7-5 in February after a slow start to the month. They have played poorly in March so far, but that stretch of down play came after February ended. Indiana was good enough last month to have Player of the Month finalists.
Siakam averaged 21.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game in February, his first full month with the Pacers. He shot over 38% from deep and was overall an excellent offensive player between his efficiency and shot creation.
As the month went on, Siakam appeared to get more and more comfortable with the Pacers. He even drew praise from his former head coach, Nick Nurse, early in February when the Philadelphia 76ers were in town.
"He was such an interesting prospect when he arrived. Just so full of energy and speed and running the floor and an awesome love of the game," Nurse shared.
Turner, meanwhile, averaged 17.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per outing in February. Due to injury, he missed two games, but his play inside the arc on offense was great in the month, near its peak.
The veteran big man had his best game of the season last month against the Dallas Mavericks, scoring 33 points in a win. He and Siakam are growing as a frontcourt partnership.
This is the second-straight month that Turner and Siakam have been finalists for player of the month honors. They were also both nominees for player of the week in the middle of February.
The Pacers have been struggling of late, but Turner and Siakam have largely been good enough during this down stretch. Indiana will hope those two can maintain their level to help get the team out of its funk.
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