Toronto Raptors: How Every Player Helped Win The NBA Championship

PASCAL SIAKAM

Spicy P’s storybook season ended in the best way possible. A year ago, no one could have guessed the impact he ended up having in the Raptors NBA championship.

One question just about every NBA fan had coming into this postseason was whether or not Pascal Siakam was going to translate his new found success to when it really matters. Well, it’s fair to say that’s been put to rest.

He was the Raptors second-leading scorer posting 19 points per game while grabbing just over seven rebounds. His consistency was as impressive as anything else. There were only three games where he had less than 10 points and other than that, he was producing at least 12-15 while grabbing boards and getting his teammates involved.

Siakam’s offense was more than enough to catch the eye of the opposition. For the majority of the playoffs, he was matched up with the other teams best/biggest defender. Against Orlando it was Jonathan Isaac, for most of the Philly series it was Embiid, he battled Antetokounmpo for the Milwaukee series and had the tough task of matching up with Draymond Green for most of the Finals.

That extra attention on Siakam had a positive effect on Kawhi getting him favorable matchups more often than not. With no small part to Siakam, that duo ended up with the second most points in the history of the NBA Playoffs per ESPN Stats & Info.

All this Siakam talk and there hasn’t been a mention of his energy yet. That’s how good he was. As per usual, Siakam was running up and down the floor playing 37 minutes a night. His energy on the defensive end translates into the Raptors getting out on the break, a place where Siakam excels more than most.

Pascal broke out of his shell even further during this playoff run and was a key piece in getting this team to where they are.

Signature moment: Game 1 of the NBA Finals