There was Pascal Siakam, a baller for only about a decade, the kid from Douala, Cameroon via God鈥檚 Academy in Lewisville, Texas, and New Mexico State and the second and last round of the NBA draft, out there among the likely Hall of Famers and deadeye shooters and giants of the game as the NBA Finals began in 海角社区官网on Thursday night.
It was an improbable spot for the improbable kid and no one could have been dead certain how he would handle it.
Well, he did it with a three-dribble, pull-up, mid-range jumper that was filthy. He did it by spinning into layups in his contortion-like manner, by getting ahead of defences to finish quick-strike possessions with easy layups, by getting on the glass and chasing shooters around on defence, and by doing things in Game 1 of the NBA Finals that he鈥檇 do on some Tuesday night in February against some road-weary inferior foe.
Siakam poured in 32 points 鈥 at one point making 11 straight field goals 鈥 as the Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors 118-109 in a delightful opening to the best-of-seven series.
鈥淚 thought he played with really good composure,鈥 海角社区官网coach Nick Nurse said. 鈥淗e got to his spots and got on balance and was patient, and when he needed to go quick and get around (his defender), he did as well.鈥
It was another transcendent performance in a season full of them as he set a new individual post-season scoring mark.
Siakam is no longer a surprise to anyone in the NBA, not after the wondrous regular season he had, one that will surely land him the league鈥檚 most improved player award late next month. And with the increased attention that comes with increased performance, Siakam has handled it at every step.
鈥淚’ve heard a lot of people ... say some things this year, and they keep saying, 鈥楢re you surprised?鈥 And he keeps saying, 鈥楴o, this is what I’ve always envisioned for myself,鈥欌 Nurse said. 鈥淪o I think that’s a powerful statement he makes as well. He believes in himself and he went to work at it.鈥
Nurse said before Game 1 that he wasn鈥檛 too worried about the stage being too big for the 25-year-old.
鈥淚 would imagine that they’re going to consider him our No. 2 option and they’re going to go at him and game-plan for him, and try to play him physical at the start,鈥 Nurse said. 鈥淎nd then there’s some of the teams that have used their bigs to guard him and dropped off him to make things indecisive for him (and eliminate driving space to the basket).
鈥淚’m not that worried about him. I think he plays with tremendous energy and that’s what this series is going to need.鈥
It鈥檚 what 海角社区官网needed in Game 1.
Read more:
鈥淪iakam was brilliant,鈥 Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. 鈥淗e was hitting shots from everywhere. He hit four threes. He had been struggling from the three-point line in the last couple series, so he got that to go.鈥
Siakam鈥檚 energy was significant and a huge plus, as was the contribution of other members of Toronto鈥檚 supporting cast.
Marc Gasol, left to operate freely from mid-range and fed the ball there by a swarmed Kawhi Leonard, had 20 points and seven rebounds. Fred VanVleet added 15 points and ran the team when Kyle Lowry had to sit for a large chunk of the fourth quarter with five fouls.
Those performances overcame a stellar 34-point night from Golden State鈥檚 Steph Curry and 21 from Klay Thompson. The Warriors looked a bit slow and a bit out of sorts at time, especially dealing with Toronto鈥檚 transition speed.
Get even more Raptors analysis in your inbox with Doug Smith鈥檚 email newsletter.
What the game provided, most of all, was fodder for coaches Nurse and Steve Kerr to gnaw on for the intervening 48 hours before Sunday鈥檚 Game 2.
The teams are such strangers to each other 鈥 neither was at full strength for either of the regular-season meetings, both of which occurred before 海角社区官网even acquired Marc Gasol 鈥 that they provided no really useful scouting moments.
鈥淪o this series, unlike the last few years (when the Warriors faced Cleveland for four consecutive years) will be against an unfamiliar foe,鈥 Kerr said before the game. 鈥淪ame goes for them, obviously we only see them twice a year. (With) Kawhi being brand new to this team, there鈥檚 very little history, real history, between the two teams as constituted.
鈥淪o I think what you鈥檒l see is, as the series goes on, each side will get more comfortable with the other, and there will be a feeling-out process to start the series.鈥
Have your say
It was the same for Nurse, who is still looking for at least a fourth guy off the bench to take some of the load off his starters.
Patrick McCaw, in his first game back after missing the entire conference final for a personal matter, played as the ninth man in the rotation but only for about five minutes over two short stretches.
鈥淎t this stage of the series, I鈥檓 going to throw at least eight or nine, maybe 10, guys out there and we鈥檒l see who takes to this series and who looks good and we鈥檒l see what this series calls for,鈥 Nurse said before the game.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation