Pascal Siakam Leads Raptors to Thrilling Victory Over Pacers

The Toronto Raptors rode a stellar performance from Pascal Siakam to a nail-biting victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday

The Toronto Raptors might want to take a page out of the Indiana Pacers playbook.

As you may recall, the Pacers were once among the NBA’s middling franchises not too long ago. They had a first-year head coach experiment gone wrong and with too much roster overlap, they decided to make a move. Out went All-Star center Domantas Sabonis and in came Tyrese Haliburton. 

It wasn’t pretty immediately. Indiana first had to embark on two losing seasons but suddenly this Pacers team has the makings of something special. They’re an offensive juggernaut with Haliburton leading the way and even in a 132-131 loss to Toronto on Wednesday night, it’s clear they’re on the right path forward. 

For Toronto, things are a little murkier. 

Yes, Pascal Siakam is still a star. He showed as much with a 36-point showing against the Pacers. But it’s also clear the Raptors are, well, middling. They’re a team that can get blown out by the Orlando Magic one night and then look like some offensive superpower the following night. 

For Toronto, the future is Barnes. He was the one with the ball in his hands and the game on the line Wednesday. When the Raptors bluffed a handoff to Siakam late in the fourth, Barnes called his own number, beating Myles Turner to the hoop for the and-1 finish that gave the Raptors the lead.

The Pacers didn’t make it easy. Haliburton put Indiana up with less than a minute to go with a smooth floater the moment OG Anunoby took one misstep in the wrong direction. He then pulled the Pacers within one with a pair of free throws, but Indiana couldn’t nail the last-second would-be game-winner. 

Toronto wouldn’t have been in the position to even keep it close if not for Siakam. He was seemingly everywhere for the Raptors and when the Pacers decided to smother him, he found the kick-out pass to Anunoby in the corner to give Toronto a late lead. He again recaptured that lead with 36 seconds to go at the free throw line before Barnes took over. 

It was miraculous that the Raptors kept up with Indiana considering how high-powered this Pacers attack can be and the type of performance Toronto turned in Tuesday night against the Orlando Magic.

Haliburton is simply a wizard with the ball. His behind-the-back and over-the-head passes are a thing of beauty. He can throw alley-oop passes and find rolling big men from every angle thanks to his 6-foot-5 frame and if you sag off him for even a split second, he’s more than capable of nailing threes from 30-plus feet. 

Toronto had no answers for the Pacers in the first half. Heild looked like the type of shooter the Raptors are thirsting for, connecting on five of his six three-point attempts, and scoring 19 of his 31 points before halftime. Haliburton chipped in another three three-pointers, part of a 33-point effort. He even made Anunoby look foolish a handful of times with his spin-around step-back jumper he somehow nailed with ease. 

Fortunately for the Raptors, Indiana’s lackluster defense meant the Pacers had no answers for Toronto either. Siakam got into the paint all night long, picking apart mismatches against virtually every Pacers defender with 19 points before the break.

After a lackluster start from Toronto, it was the bench unit led by Malachi Flynn that recaptured the lead for the Raptors. He went on a personal 8-2 run, opening the second quarter with a pair of three-pointers, and then found Barnes for a kick-out three in the corner that put the Raptors ahead. 

For Flynn, Wednesday was his best and most impactful game of the season. He kept Toronto going offensively with bench units, even beating Jalen Smith after an in-bounds pass with a quick drive to the hoop early in the fourth in a 14-point performance for the fourth-year guard. 

Siakam was relentless in attacking the hoop in the second half and was unstoppable once he got going. If the Pacers got too close to the hoop, he’d settle for a mid-range jumper. When Indiana played up on him or was too slow to defend, he beat his man to the bucket. 

Barnes seemed to only really get going late in the second half when Siakam found him for a kick-out pass behind the arc that allowed Toronto to pull ahead by three late in the third. That sparked the third-year forward who had eight of his 20 points in the fourth.

What the Raptors showed Wednesday is what’s going to frustrate Toronto fans all season. They’re painfully inconsistent and will oscillate between maddening blowout losses and lows like the Orlando loss and highs like a thrilling victory over Indiana. 

But even after the exciting ones, the path forward can’t be changed and sometimes it takes a step back to take a step forward. The Pacers did it and now they’re on the way to being contenders. It might be time Toronto considered doing the same.

Up Next: Chicago Bulls

The Raptors will return home in search of their first in-season tournament victory when they take on the Chicago Bulls at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday