Raptors not concerned about Siakam's play

The Raptors and coach Nick Nurse aren't concerned about Pascal Siakam's recent play after an inefficient start to the playoffs against Brooklyn

If there was any concern about Pascal Siakam's play entering the postseason, the Toronto Raptors' Game 1 against the Brooklyn Nets certainly didn't put those worries to rest.

Siakam came into this year's playoffs in a bit of a rut. He averaged 16.9 points on just over 39% shooting in the NBA bubble, a sizeable drop off from the 23.6 points on nearly 46% shooting he averaged pre-pandemic.

It wasn't any cause for concern within the organization, but Monday's blowout victory over the Nets didn't necessarily put that narrative to rest.

Siakam went 4-for-13 from the field and 1-for-4 from deep against Brooklyn for 18 points. It's hard to complain about a double-double considering Siakam recorded 11 rebounds, but it wasn't a particularly efficient game from the Raptors' 26-year-old forward.

“The tempo he is playing at I’m not crazy about,” Nurse told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix. “He’s got opportunities right when he gets the ball and he’s hesitant to play on the catch. He’s letting the defense reload on him. He’s got to get back to being more of a fast-type player. He’s overanalyzing a little bit. Which is OK—there are times when he has got to analyze what’s happening, with where is the double coming from, where is the help coming from. I think if he wants to get easier chances, he has to play faster.”

Still, there's no concern for Nurse right now.

“There are some opportunities there for him that we hope to get going,” Nurse said. “But we’re not really that worried about it. It’s not like he has to score … and he had enough opportunities within the flow of the game yesterday that he probably didn’t take advantage of. I don’t want to make too big a deal about it.”

For Fred VanVleet any questions about Siakam's recent struggles or ability to be the team's top scoring option are borderline offensive.

"I think our record’s 8-1, man, to be honest with you, I’m tired of answering that question, no disrespect to you or anybody else but Pascal’s good," VanVleet said Monday. "I think we’ve got a great team of guys who are not really worried about the bottom line, not worried about what the stat line looks like after the game, just about getting wins and losses." 

As long as the Raptors keep winning, it's tough to question what's working, but if things turn, the team's concern level might be heightened.