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Pascal Siakam Continues All-Star Caliber Stretch in Victory Over Bucks
The Toronto Raptors All-Star voting campaign has been a little strange this season. They're pushing hard to get Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby into the All-Star game. Vote Pascal, Fred, and OG, the ads say on billboards around the city and popup ads throughout Raptors games. All three? Really?
C'mon now.
Siakam and Anunoby have played 22 and 20 games this season, respectively. Neither of them will make the game. That much is a certainty. But even without an All-Star game nomination this season, Siakam's recent stretch has thrust him right back in the conversation as an All-Star caliber player.
Just look at what he did Wednesday night against the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks. The 27-year-old former All-Star mixed in a little bit of everything for the Raptors. A five-assist first half gave way to some three-level scoring from Siakam in the second half. He nailed three-pointers off the catch, pull-up jumpers, and his trademarked spin move at the rim, leading the Raptors to a 117-111 come-from-behind victory in Milwaukee.
It certainly wasn't easy. Just when Toronto looked like it had things clinched, up double digits in the fourth, Khris Middleton got back to work. He and Jrue Holiday cut the Raptors lead down to three as Toronto's offense went silent. But a pair of free throws from Anunoby iced the game for the Raptors.
"It’s a good win, on the back end of a back-to-back," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "Again, it’s just wanting to see some progress with this group and figure some things out. I think the thing we figured out tonight was we didn’t have our best juices flowing, just no other way to say it than that, but it’s a long game and you hang in there and you figure out a way to get ‘em flowing."
Health has been the big difference for Siakam recently. He's finally getting used to his reconstructed left shoulder, and with a more well-rounded roster around him, he's improved his playmaking and reinvigorated his rebounding intensity. Coming into Wednesday, he'd averaged 22.8 points and 12.8 rebounds since returning from COVID-19 with double-doubles in each of his last three outings.
"He's playing at a super high level," Nurse said. "I think his passing, his rebounding has been good, he only got five tonight but it's been really good... I just think he's making a lot of good plays. Finished a couple of big baskets tonight as well. So yeah, he's definitely playing at that level."
After falling behind 14 points in a lackadaisical first half, Toronto's starters clamped down in the second. Siakam repeatedly attacked the heart of the Bucks defense, getting to the line or laying it in like his pre-pandemic self for a game-high 33 points, five rebounds, and six assists.
First Half Woes
The Bucks picked apart Toronto's zone defense in the first half, moving the ball around the perimeter and taking advantage whenever the Raptors sent two defenders to contest a shot. Milwaukee shot 13-for-21 behind the arc before halftime, letting their secondary players flourish with all the attention Toronto was paying to Middleton and Holiday. DeMarcus Cousins, in particular, killed the Raptors early, nailing a pair of three-pointers for 15 points in the first half.
"I think the first half, when you start not doing some things well and most of it just usually stems from a readiness standpoint," Nurse said. "We just weren’t running back hard enough to get set, weren’t quite getting out to shooters, we were kinda there but not quite the way the game plan was set up."
Up Next: Utah Jazz
The Raptors will have the day off Thursday before returning home to take on the Utah Jazz on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.
