RAPTORS BLOG: Surging Siakam brings self-help to an offence that needs it

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Pascal Siakam has had some encouraging performances for the Raptors recently and his outing in a win over Washington Sunday was one of them.

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In a game where two of the team’s most dangerous scorers, Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr., combined to shoot 6-for-20, Siakam got whatever he wanted against the Wizards, shooting 10-for-21 and getting to the free throw line 12 times (the 10th-most free throw attempts by a Raptor in the last three seasons). Half of those free throws came nearly immediately, as Siakam went at the visitors right after the ball tipped, making a point of doing so.

Siakam got baskets from just about every area and he did it without any fast-break buckets and with only one three-point attempt.

Siakam feasted in the paint and in the mid-range and, most importantly, he did a lot of it by creating for himself. Only four of his 10 made shots were assisted.

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While Scottie Barnes will get there, right now Siakam and maybe VanVleet and Trent are the Raptors most likely to efficiently create for themselves. He has the size, speed and athleticism to punish opponents, as long as he’s not trying to force things too much, which is probably his biggest weakness. When Siakam finds the balance between still being decisive, but not trying to do too much, too quickly, he’s an all-star level player, simple as that.

And he’s the go-to scorer on a team that doesn’t have a ton of creators.

— Toronto’s bench needed a breakout and got it. Chris Boucher is starting to bounce back after a rough first month. He was active, energetic and made a difference. Considering how good Washington’s bench has been, led by perennial sixth man of the year candidate Montrezl Harrell, this was an impressive performance.

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So too was what Dalano Banton provided. He made some excellent finds and continues to grow as a point guard (Banton followed it up with a huge performance on Monday for Raptors 905).

— While blocks and steals often look flashy, you don’t always need a lot of either to play solid defence. The Raptors had posted some huge steals and blocks games recently, but only rejected one Washington shot and had three steals, half of the team’s previous low for steals all season (six against Boston). But yet they held another opponent under 100 points and to 41.1% shooting. Steals and blocks are great for fantasy basketball, but they aren’t actually always the sign of good team defence.

THREE STARS

1 Pascal Siakam

2 Kantavious Caldwell-Pope

3 Chris Boucher