The Toronto Raptors pulled out their best win of the season in a triple-overtime thriller over the Miami Heat on Saturday and it couldn't have been done without Pascal Siakam's presence.
Siakam continued his scorching hot recent stretch of play, filling up the box score with a double-double of 21 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and four steals.
Yes, you read that correctly – four blocks and four steals.
Even if he wasn't the leading scorer or didn't knock down the clutch buckets that made headlines, Siakam's role in the victory was integral, allowing head coach Nick Nurse to ride with a small-ball lineup despite going up against one of the best bigs in the NBA in Bam Adebayo.
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Siakam held his own in the paint, grinding on the defensive end over a team-high 58 (!) minutes. He doesn't have much of a history of being a rim protector, but that would be hard to believe if you watched the win over Miami.
Take this play late in the fourth quarter for example. The Raptors were desperately clinging on to a two-point lead and Jimmy Butler – who was getting to the rim whenever he wanted to all night – attacked the basket with a chance to tie the game. Siakam rotated over as the last line of help and stayed in his lane of verticality to meet Butler at the rim. Butler hustled for the offensive rebound and went up for a putback, but Siakam swatted his second attempt.
He had another rim-protecting block in the second overtime, too. This time, it was to keep the game within one possession to allow the Raptors to keep fighting.
Siakam is defending at the highest level we've ever seen from him. It's one of his biggest developments over his recent tear, with his passing being a close second.
Since the new year, Siakam has turned his game up to another level.
According to NBA stats, in the month of January, the Raptors' net rating is 6.6 with Siakam on the floor. That doesn't seem like a major difference until you see their -14.3 net rating when Siakam is not on the floor. That 20.9 points per 100 possessions difference tells you all you need to know about the impact he is making on this team right now.
He's averaging 22.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.7 blocks per game while shooting an efficient 47.4 percent from the field and a blistering 41.0 percent from 3-point range, and his teammate Fred VanVleet wanted to make sure he's getting the respect he deserves following Saturday's win.
"He's been at an all-NBA level for a while now," VanVleet stated, according to TSN's Josh Lewenberg. "He carries a huge load for our franchise and he takes a lot of heat when he doesn't play well.
"That's the way it goes, but he's been playing at a really high level on both ends of the floor."
Siakam has been the recipient of a lot of criticism when the Raptors aren't playing well, and it doesn't feel like that same energy is met when he's anchoring the team the way he has over the last month.
He may have come on too late to receive All-Star consideration, but if Siakam continues to play at this level, All-NBA consideration isn't out of the question, just as VanVleet said.
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