Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Pascal Siakam & Fred VanVleet Star, But Late Gaffes Cost Raptors
So much of this season has felt like a referendum on Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet.
There have been plenty of speedbumps this season for the Toronto Raptors' stars. The two make will be the most expensive players in Toronto's core going forward and if the Raptors are going to succeed in the future Siakam and VanVleet are going to have to play at an All-Star caliber level. While those elite skills are certainly in there for both of them, they've been buried underneath an incomplete Raptors roster, COVID-19 issues, and some plain old bad luck. Tuesday night, however, even in a 105-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the two showed just how talented they can be.
For Siakam, it was the second straight big-time performance in L.A. He followed up a 39-point performance on Sunday night against the Lakers with a 24-point night. The difference this time was how he got his points. Instead of using that short-range floater that he showed off against Anthony Davis and Rudy Gobert the past few nights, the 27-year-old got back to his old attacking ways, speeding downhill right at the Clippers' bigs.
"He was doing it when I was there, in that second half of that season for us. Being aggressive for us, attacking the rim, making shots," Kawhi Leonard said of Pascal Siakam. "He's a two-way player"
What's more impressive is how he was able to attack even without the kind of spacing Kyle Lowry and OG Anunoby normally provide. With those two out with injuries, Toronto was forced to go with Stanley Johnson and Yuta Watanabe in the starting lineup. That gave L.A. an opportunity to help off Toronto's wings, collapsing around Siakam who the Clippers still couldn't stop.
Eight of Siakam's points came right off beautiful finds from VanVleet who was equally stellar on Tuesday. Whatever hip and COVID-19 ailments that have been plaguing VanVleet lately were nowhere to be found against L.A. Instead, VanVleet caught fire for 27 points and 13 assists.
"Think he played very, very, very well," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "His assist numbers, if he banged in a couple of those threes late we would throw him in the great game category, but he played really well and I loved his explosiveness in getting to the rim."
VanVleet masterfully orchestrated with pick-and-roll repeatedly with Khem Birch, either finding Birch at the rim or using that attention to find kick-out opportunities for others.
"He's just more aggressive on the floor. He always had game," Leonard said of VanVleet. "He's just getting more of an opportunity now."
Unfortunately for Toronto, a late gaffe from Siakam and some missed shots from VanVleet spoiled what was otherwise a really impressive showing from the two.
Rookie guard Jalen Harris led all Raptors off the bench with a career-high 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting. His second-half minutes certainly showed he's earning some leash and impressing the coaching staff these days.
"He obviously stepped in and made some shots and I thought he looked confident out there, just kind of out there with the ball and moving around, etc," Nurse said. "He played good and I can’t think of any real mistakes he made so when you make all your shots and I can’t remember any other mistakes, you must have had a pretty good night."
Toronto wrapped up its West Coast trip 1-3 having played some really high-level basketball.
"Played pretty good, not a lot to show for it," Nurse said. "I think we played all, 15 of 16 pretty good quarters."
Up Next: Washington Wizards
Having finished the West Coast trip, the Raptors will head back to Tampa for a crucial game against the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.
"I would say that’s probably our last chance saloon a little bit," Nurse said. "I think them getting that one against us would be awful tough for us to recover from. We get it, it puts us in there legitimately."
