Siakam is earning respect, playing time with his hustle
TORONTO — Late in the third quarter Sunday night, Pascal Siakam chased down Washington’s Mike Scott, gobbling up the distance with each giant stride.
Siakam reared up behind the surprised Scott, smacking the ball against the glass so hard, it bounced out to nearly the top of the key and into the hands of Jakob Poeltl.
The spirited play earned “block of the night” on NBA.com — and praise from Siakam’s Toronto Raptors teammates.
The Raptors went on to beat the Wizards 100-91 for their sixth victory in seven National Basketball Association games, and Siakam, who never takes his foot off the gas, was a big reason why.
Siakam had a team-high nine rebounds, plus two blocks and two steals, but it’s the intangibles he brings — the non-stop hustle — that the Raptors love.
“That rundown block that he got was just all heart, hustle, toughness and persistence,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “I’ve said this for the last few weeks that he’s playing as well as anybody right now, just with his speed, his heart and his attention to detail.”
The Raptors drafted the 23year-old from Cameroon 27th overall in 2016. He started 34 consecutive games early last season after a pre-season injury to Jared Sullinger, but he eventually fell out of the rotation. He starred for Raptors 905, Toronto’s G-League affiliate, and earned MVP honours at the G-League final after leading the squad to its first league title.
Parked at the end of the bench through this season’s first three games, he was pressed into action after injuries to Jonas Valanciunas and Lucas Nogueira, and now he’s back to earning big-time minutes. His 31 minutes logged Sunday were behind only DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.
Backup guard Fred VanVleet, who played alongside Siakam with the 905s last season, said it’s rare for a player with that kind of athleticism to go hard 100 per cent of the time. “That’s why he’s special,” VanVleet said. “There are a lot of athletes like him in the NBA, but there are very few that fly around on each possession. His conditioning is great. He doesn’t seem to ever get tired. He’s literally just outrunning people, outworking, flying around. He’s got great hands, great instincts.”
The six-foot-nine New Mexico State product showed off those hands Sunday — a pretty bit of tic-tac-toe passing from C.J. Miles to Siakam to Lucas Nogueira, who finished with an easy dunk.