Raptors Clinch First Victory While Siakam Sits
Maybe an awful 2020 won't come to an end on such a bad note for the after all.
It may have looked bleak at some points for the Toronto Raptors. Starting the season 0-3 and then squandering a double-digit lead to the New York Knicks on Thursday was certainly concerning. But for the first time this year, the Raptors put together an impressive fourth quarter, putting away the Knicks late to clinch their first win of the season, 100-83.
It all came without Pascal Siakam who was benched Thursday night for disciplinary reasons. The decision to bench Siakam was reportedly made early in the day after the 27-year-old fouled out and walked off the court in Toronto's 100-93 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
"Well it was obviously a disappointing thing for an internal matter and that’s the decision we went with tonight," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "It’s an internal matter."
Nurse said the organization has a way it wants to play and everyone needs to be a part of that. When Siakam broke team policy he was benched for the game.
Without Siakam, Norman Powell stepped into the starting lineup and appeared to find his grove for the first time all year. He came out of the gate looking like his old self, attacking the hoop with the kind of aggression he's become known for. His impressive 17-point night continued a trend of Powell playing well as a starter. He averaged 18.7 points per game in 26 starts last season compared to 13.2 points per game in 26 games off the bench.
"Obviously it’s nice to start. I see myself as a starter in this league," Powell said. "Every time I get a chance to go out there and start it shows that I can fill that role and I try to take advantage of that. Obviously I’ve always been a team guy, to focus on what the team needs of me, in whatever role that is, and the last three games prior to this one I really looked at myself to see what I could do better."
While those stats can be a bit hard to read because starting usually means more minutes and therefore more opportunities to score, Nurse said the statistics certainly bear looking at and a lineup shuffle is worth considering.
"The only part that makes it tough is who goes out of the starting lineup," Nurse said. "I don't know maybe we'll get to a point where we move it around a little bit. I kind of had grand visions of that when I took the job, that we have like eight starters moving around a little bit. It's a little tough to do because I guess it's... I don't know maybe it's not as tough in the COVID era because I think guys really like to run out in front of 20,000 fans to hear their name in the starting lineup. That isn't necessarily the case anymore so we'll see."
Prior to the game Nurse said he was thinking about tinkering with his lineup against the Knicks and did he ever. Toronto went 10 deep until garbage time with Stanley Johnson, Alex Len, Terence Davis, and Stanley Johnson all seeing minutes while Matt Thomas and DeAndre' Bembry sat. Despite some hints that Malachi Flynn would see some playing time, Nurse continued to sit the Raptors rookie.
While the Raptors certainly looked as coherent as they have all season, they were certainly helped out by some woeful shooting from the Knicks who went 3-for-30 from behind the arc. Canadian RJ Barrett, in particular, struggled from deep, shooting 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
Alex Len Can Shoot?
When Alex Len spoke to the media for the first time in early December he said he'd proven he could shoot the 3. It was a strange comment coming from the 7-foot centre who averaged 0.3 3-pointers per game last season and shot 27.1% from behind the arc. Yet if Thursday night was indicative of his actual shooting ability, maybe he can.
"I was looking like crazy for a corner three-point shooter and I can’t believe I couldn’t find one and there it was tonight, Alex Len," Nurse joked. "He made some big shots for us tonight and I’m just glad he goes out there and competes, he looks like he’s getting more comfortable."
He nailed three 3-pointer in the game, coming off the bench in the second half to score 11 points for Toronto.
Up Next: New Orleans Pelicans
The Raptors will open the new year on January 2 when they hit the road to take on the New Orleans Pelicans at 7:30 p.m. It'll be a rematch of the season opener in which Toronto lost 113-99 to New Orleans.
