Pascal Siakam’s post dominance leads Raptors in win vs. Thunder

Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors came into their road showdown against Josh Giddey and the Oklahoma City Thunder having won six straight games, giving Fred VanVleet and the rest of the squad all of the confidence in the world. However, considering OKC’s win in Toronto earlier in the year, they are not to be taken lightly.

Toronto decided to hand Siakam the ball, set him up in the middle of the paint, and let him go to work. Against a smaller, younger Oklahoma City team, a player of Siakam’s quality getting off to a hot start could’ve been enough to hand Toronto a comprehensive victory.

Siakam did just that, recording 27 points on 13-17 shooting and 16 rebounds in 40 minutes of play. Just for good measure, he threw in five assists, a steal, and a block. Toronto pulled out a 117-98 win on the road to push their streak to seven straight victories.

The rest of the league is finally waking up and realizing what a uniquely impactful season Siakam is having. The Thunder are bad right now, make no mistake, but Siakam’s gaudy numbers are emblematic of an All-Star level player flexing his muscles and helping his team make a playoff push.

The Toronto Raptors leaned on Pascal Siakam once again.

While the Thunder didn’t have the most robust interior rotation tonight, as the absence of standout rookie Jeremiah Robinson-Earl left Derrick Favors and the gangly Aleksej Pokusevski to fill in, that shouldn’t be used to diminish was Siakam did tonight. He was the main reason Toronto was as dominant as they were in the first half.

While Siakam is taking fewer 3-point attempts this season when compared to the last two seasons, he’s making more shots inside the arc than at any point in his career while shooting at a higher percentage than he did during his All-Star season. He’s been everything Toronto could’ve asked for in a center.

Toronto didn’t win this game solely on Siakam’s back. All five starters were in double figures, VanVleet was getting some Three-Point Contest practice in by nailing six of his 12 shots from deep, and OG Anunoby ended up recording a double-double. Still, it was Pascal’s nifty interior scoring that sealed the deal.

The decision to put LaMelo Ball in the All-Star game over Siakam caused plenty of consternation among the Raptors’ fanbase, and No. 43 has decided to make Adam Silver look even more foolish with each passing game. Most importantly, Siakam’s breakout is coming within the contest of a long winning streak for Toronto.

Siakam’s rebounds, assists, and steals per game averages are the best he’s ever produced in his career and 2019-20 was the only year in which he’s had a better scoring average.