Welcome to “One Play!” Throughout the 2022-23 NBA season, our TSN staff will break down certain possessions from certain games and peel back the curtains to reveal their bigger meaning.
Today, Raptors forward Pascal Siakam takes the spotlight.
Pascal Siakam revealed at Media Day that his goal is to be a top-five player in the NBA. That’s still quite ambitious, but he sure has opened some eyes with his play to start the season.
Siakam has scored at least 20 points in all four of Toronto’s games. He opened the season with a double-double. He then recorded a 37-point triple-double in a loss to the Nets. He didn’t shoot particularly well in the team’s back-to-back with the Heat, and yet he helped the Raptors split the series with a big fourth quarter on Monday.
The numbers are one thing, but it’s the way Siakam put his stamp on that game that stood out.
You know what that means — to the film room!
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The play:
Breakdown: Fred VanVleet brings the ball up for the Raptors with 1:12 remaining in a one-possession game.
On the court with VanVleet and Siakam are Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa. Anunoby and Achiuwa space the floor by standing side by side in the weakside corner. Trent seems to be confused about what the plan is, but he makes his way to the corner opposite Anunoby and Achiuwa as Siakam approaches VanVleet to set a screen.
Jimmy Butler starts the possession on Siakam but switches onto VanVleet, leaving the much smaller Gabe Vincent to defend Siakam. (It feels like the Heat could scale back how easily they concede switches sometimes, but that’s a conversation for another day.)
It looks like Siakam likes the matchup because he clearly tells Trent to clear out.
Vincent does a good job of making Siakam catch the ball further away than he wants and even manages to poke the ball away, but Siakam still has a few seconds to work with when he finally gains control and makes his move.
Siakam takes a couple of dribbles toward the basket, gives Vincent a chicken wing to create some space and rises up for a smooth midrange jumper.
Vincent gets a hand up, but there’s only so much he can do at his size.
“He’s an ultimate mismatch,” VanVleet said of Siakam after the game. “Anytime down the court, we can find a guy that he can get his shot off on. That little baseline going to his right, there’s not going to be many guys that can guard that. That’s a great bailout in the fourth quarter execution to be able to go to that.”
Why it matters: The Raptors ran the exact same play the next possession down, only this time the Heat defended it differently. Not only was Kyle Lowry the one guarding Siakam, but the Heat shrunk the floor by having Bam Adebayo stand underneath the basket and Butler help way off of VanVleet at the elbow.
Instead of forcing a shot, Siakam kicked it out to VanVleet.
Tyler Herro rotated over before VanVleet could get a shot off, but that opened up a pass to Trent in the corner, and he nailed a 3-pointer that served as the nail in the coffin.
While he wasn’t credited with the assist, that entire sequence started with Siakam looking to punish a mismatch, bending the defense and making the right pass at the right time to get the Heat in rotation.
Siakam was doing more of that stuff last season, but he’s kicked it up a notch to start this season. He looks more comfortable picking and choosing his spots on offense, and he’s becoming a more punishing scorer. He’s driving more than he ever has before, which is helping him get to the free-throw line at a rate comparable to the best scorers in the league. His passing is even crisper.
Siakam isn’t doing anything particularly complicated as a facilitator but he’s nailing the small things, like delivering the ball on the money to teammates when the defense collapses. There’s real heat on his passes, too.
Whether it’s kick-outs to shooters…
…or drop-offs to cutters…
…he’s thrown some lasers to start the season.
The result: Siakam is averaging career-highs of 26.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists through four games. The only other players currently posting those numbers are a pair of multi-time MVPs in LeBron James and Nikola Jokic.
The real test is if Siakam can maintain this level of production for an entire season, of course, but the seeds of his next leap are being planted.
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