Toronto Raptors: Top five performances from a perfect week 14

1. Pascal Siakam

Opponent: San Antonio Spurs

Stat line: 35 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal

This was a tough game to watch, let alone play in. Just a couple of hours before tipoff it was confirmed that Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Maria died in a brutal helicopter crash. The players were clearly emotional and no one wanted to play, but as they say, the show must go on.

Pascal Siakam seemed to have channelled his inner mamba mentality for this game as he got off to a red hot start unlike any we have seen from him before. He scored 25 points in the quarter to go along with two rebounds and two assists as the Raptors were rolling up by 16 points. The strong start allowed the Raptors to take it a little easy in the second quarter as Siakam only tallied five points and a rebound as the lead was still at 12 heading into halftime.

Knowing the Spurs and what happened the last time the Raptors had a big lead, this game was not over by a long shot. The Spurs managed to trim the lead in the third quarter all the way to one point as Siakam was only able to tally two points and two rebounds. With the Raptors in scramble mode after a huge run by the Spurs, it took a team performance to rally this team back and get the win. Siakam was only able to score another three points with two rebounds and an assist but it proved to be enough as the team narrowly got the win and secured another perfect week.

This was a game that nobody was in the mood to play. Still, for Siakam to produce that type of performance under such sad circumstances is huge. If the Raptors continue to play at this level who knows when this win streak will end.