Kyrie Irving Praises New Raptors Chemistry as Pascal Siakam Shines: 'They Play with an Edge'

Maybe Pascal Siakam was right.

It was just last week that he scoffed when asked about his willingness to stick this new Toronto Raptors offense. He’d struggled to find his rhythm within the new system through the first seven games as his points, shot attempts, and field goal percentage all fell to alarming levels.

“What do you want me to do,” he said at the time. “We have to continue to work hard.”

Finally, on Wednesday, Siakam broke out with his best game of this young season. He looked like his old self against the Dallas Mavericks, getting into the paint with ease, nailing mid-range jumpers, and leading the Raptors to a 127-116 victory thanks to a 31-point outburst from the All-Star forward.

“I always trust who I am as a player. My instincts are good. I always play the game the right way,” Siakam told reporters post-game. “But at the same time, for me to get to where I am today a lot of things happen, and there's always that reminder that it’s always been a journey for me. Things have never been easy for me, and I feel it separates me from a lot of other people. I'm resilient. That's one thing I know about myself. And when things are muddy and cloudy I like that as a person just because I knew that like, I'm never going to give up and there's always going to be a process and I'm going to want to get better.”

The Raptors had warned that this season would be a process. Nobody had championship expectations for this year, frankly, a second-round playoff berth seems awfully unlikely. Instead, Toronto has been focused on trying to see how this group fits within the new offensive and defensive systems.

“I think everything is new,” Siakam told reporters. “Like I’ve been saying, I’m just trying to figure it out, understand everyone’s tendencies, the coaching staff, some of the things that we want to do as a team. And (for) me, it’s just playing the right way. At the same time, I know who I am as a player. I know the things I do well, and, I always say, I just have to go out there to play my game and be me. And I think for other teams, games like this, it’s gonna be a problem.”

He opened the game with a pair of spin moves, beating Grant Williams going both directions to get Toronto going. When Dallas adjusted, he backed down Richaun Holmes and beat him with a turnaround layup in classic Siakam form. Then came Tim Hardaway Jr.’s turn in the Siakam spin cycle late in the second quarter.

Even on a night in which Scottie Barnes didn’t have his jump shot going, Toronto still found ways to get Barnes involved in helping Siakam. Even if the two aren’t the most complementary players for one another, their games can still mesh in some ways. Toronto saw that early in the third when Barnes got the ball at the free-throw line and waited for Siakam to cut to the hoop. When he did, Barnes lofted a quick pass over Dwight Powell and right to Siakam who finished for a layup.

“I’ve played against the Raptors and this team, this core group that they have for a few years just being in the Eastern Conference and just knowing what to expect from them and tonight, you can see that they’re developing that chemistry and that trust with their coach, their new coach, their new system,” said Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving. “They play with an edge.”

That chemistry is only going to grow as experience within the system develops and if Barnes can continue his ascent with Siakam rediscovering his groove, maybe this Raptors season can be a whole lot more exciting than it looked just a week or so ago.