James Harden is known best for his offense, but his interior defense gave Toronto star Pascal Siakam problems in a Rockets win at Toronto.
Each NBA season, Rockets star James Harden is a Most Valuable Player (MVP) frontrunner primarily because of his offense. To that point, in Houston’s 14-7 start to the 2019-20 season, he’s again leading the league in scoring at a historic 38.7 points per game.
But in Thursday’s statement win on the road over the defending NBA champion Raptors (15-6), his defense was nearly as valuable.
According to NBA.com’s tracking data, star Toronto forward Pascal Siakam shot just 2-of-8 (25%) when guarded by Harden on 17.7 partial possessions. Both makes were on three-pointers, where the 6-foot-5 Harden lacked the length to disrupt the 6-foot-9 Siakam at all times.
But on the interior, Harden used his strength to keep Siakam off balance in the low post, and he also proved adept at deflecting the ball without fouling. To that point, Siakam did not make a single shot inside the arc when defended by Harden, and he also committed two turnovers.
Pascal Siakam vs. James Harden last night.
Predictably easy from the outside, even with the misses.
For the game, Harden set a new season high with five steals.
”He gets overlooked, but he’s one of our better defenders,” Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni said postgame of Harden, who has a uniquely strong and thick physique for an NBA guard.
“A post defender, he’s one of the best in the league,” D’Antoni added. “And then when he’s on somebody he wants to stop — he carries such a burden sometimes [that] he has lapses, as anybody who gets tired would. But he’s a very good defender. He did it. He took the challenge.”
In 21 games to date, Siakam is averaging 25.0 points per game on 46.4% shooting this season. But thanks in large part to Harden’s defense, the 25-year-old rising star shot just 9-of-22 (40.9%) from the field against the Rockets, and that lower efficiency proved critical in Houston’s 10-point win.
For the season overall, Harden ranks second in the NBA at 0.29 points allowed per possession when defending in the low post. Opponents are shooting just 14.8% against Harden in those settings.
Harden’s especially strong defense against Siakam Thursday may also have been an unintended consequence of the unique defense utilized by the Raptors and head coach Nick Nurse.
Toronto limited Harden to a season-low 11 shot attempts by aggressively forcing the ball out of his hands with early traps and double teams, sometimes nearly at halfcourt. The tradeoff was forcing other Rockets to beat them in four-on-three scenarios, which role players such as Ben McLemore (28 points, eight three-pointers), P.J. Tucker (18 points, five three-pointers) and Danuel House Jr. (16 points) took advantage of.
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But Nurse’s strategy may have also backfired in the sense that it allowed Harden to conserve more energy than usual for his defense.
“I asked him, I said, ‘How [much] do you want to play the first quarter,” D’Antoni said of Harden, via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “He said, ‘Coach, I haven’t done anything. I’m just standing there.’ He was fine. He didn’t get tired at all.”
It’s yet another variable that opposing coaches must consider as they determine just how viable the recent wave of double-teams being sent Harden’s way is over the long run. Quality shooting by role players made the Raptors pay the price on one end, and the extra energy conserved by Harden may have helped the Rockets on the other end, as well.
@HoustonRockets did a great job against Nick Nurse’s doubling defense on Harden. Harden beats it with the pass. They repeatedly hit the foul line area and play 4 on 3 with the Raptors in rotation. Great job by Mike D’Antoni. pic.twitter.com/81QAqo7RdO
Toronto Raptors big men Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam react to the struggles of Joel Embiid.
Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid is one of the best players in the league regardless of his position, but on Monday night he hit an all-time low as he went scoreless while shooting 0-for-11 on the night in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. He also committed four turnovers and five fouls in an overall tough night for him.
His play contributed to the Sixers going scoreless in the final four minutes of the game missing their final eight shots and committing three turnovers as a team. That poor play allowed Toronto to go on a 13-2 run led by Pascal Siakam to end the game and win it for the Raptors who were missing a multitude of players.
Raptors big man Marc Gasol was the primary defender on Embiid and he forced him into nine of the 11 misses and three of his turnovers. Gasol spoke on how he frustrated Embiid:
They have a few plays that they run for him to allow him to separate from you. I didn’t help much off those plays because it’s set up to allow him to roll and that’s the game plan we had. The coaches did a great job preparing us for the game plan.
Gasol has always been a great defender in his career even winning a Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 while with the Memphis Grizzlies and he was a key reason for the Raptors knocking off the Sixers in the 2019 playoffs.
Siakam, another key reason, had praise for Gasol and how he handled himself against the Sixers superstar as he said:
Marc is a big body, he’s smart, he has being doing it for a while. He kind of understands how to guard, and positioning. Obviously, we’re helping but I think initially, his presence is a problem for a lot of people. When we are connected as a team on defence we can do a lot of things out there.
The Sixers will meet the Raptors again eventually and they could meet again in the playoffs. It will be up to them to take the experiences from this loss and continue to learn and grow together as a group.
Embiid especially will have to figure out how best to handle the Raptors as he stated:
They are a deep team. They’ve got guys that can do a lot of things on the basketball court. They’re well coached. They did
their job and they made sure to stick with the plan they had, especially taking me out of the game. That’s also on me to try and figure out and take advantage of it. Defensively they are everywhere. They are so long and they make sure to pack the paint, and tonight we didn’t make shots. When you’re not making shots and you play against a team like that, it’s really hard. We still came pretty close, but we have to get better, especially me.
Philadelphia will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they host the Sacramento Kings. [lawrence-related id=20103,20093,20085]
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. Which stars have stood out thus far?
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who are in the mix for the 2019-20 MVP award due to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Leonard hasn’t been super effective in the three games that he’s played since returning from a left knee contusion. The Clippers managed to win all three contests (over the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans), but Leonard seems a bit limited. Sure, Kawhi at 70-80 percent is better than most players at 100 percent, but we dropped him down our rankings a bit as he gets back to full strength. It’s worth noting that Leonard has been much less efficient than usual this season, which is something that the 28-year-old will surely work on. He’s shooting just 43.5 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from three-point range – both of which would easily be career-lows for Leonard. He’s only appeared in 12 games, though, so perhaps it’s just a small sample size. Fortunately for the Clippers (and basketball fans in general), Leonard and Paul George are finally playing together and it’s been fun to watch. So far, L.A. is undefeated when they have their two stars in the lineup at the same time.
Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls was a perfect example of how adding Carmelo Anthony may help the Blazers win some additional games this season. Lillard scored just 13 points on 40.0 percent shooting from the field and 25.0 percent from three, but Portland still won because Anthony had 25 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the field and 57.1 percent from three. Lillard has been outstanding for the Blazers this year, but one player can only do so much. If Anthony continues to score this efficiently, it’ll be difficult for defenses to shut down Carmelo, Lillard and CJ McCollum. Lillard recently missed a game due to back spasms (insert joke about Dame carrying the Blazers on his back) and the point guard said that the issue is going to linger for a bit, so that may be why he’s struggling as of late. On the season, Lillard ranks fifth in Offensive Box Plus/Minus (6.9), seventh in Win Shares (2.4), seventh in Value Over Replacement Player (1.1) and 10th in Player Efficiency Rating (25.0).
This is Butler’s first time cracking our MVP rankings this season, but he’s been playing well all year for the Heat. Butler’s decision to leave the Philadelphia 76ers for Miami was one of the biggest surprises of this past offseason, but the 30-year-old forward has fit in perfectly with the Heat’s culture. With Butler leading the way on the perimeter, Miami currently has the second-best defense in the NBA (allowing just 100 points per 100 possessions). This has helped the Heat get off to a 12-4 start, which is the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Over the weekend, Butler returned to Philadelphia to face off against the Sixers for the first time since his departure and while he would’ve loved to have a monster showing and get the win, he finished with just 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while shooting 30.8 percent from the field (including 0-2 from three) in a losing effort. Still, Butler is having a strong campaign and he has the Heat near the top of the East, which is why he’s in our Top 10 this week.
Siakam has emerged as an elite scorer this season, while continuing to play the strong defense that we’ve seen from him in the past. At the moment, Siakam is ranked ninth among all players in Defensive Win Shares (0.9), 16th in Win Shares (1.8) and 18th in Value Over Replacement Player (.7). Interestingly, Siakam’s stats (25.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.3 threes, 0.8 steals, 47.4 FG%, 37.4 3P%) are actually very similar to the numbers of his former teammate Kawhi Leonard (25.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.8 threes, 2.1 steals, 43.5 FG%, 30.0 3P%). Everyone expected the 25-year-old to take on a bigger role this season and show some progress in Leonard’s absence, but this kind of leap is just incredible. He’s becoming one of the game’s elite two-way players and he seems poised for superstardom. Not bad for someone who didn’t play organized basketball for the first time until he was nearly 18 years old!
Towns continues to shoot the ball extremely well, making 44.4 percent of his three-pointers on 9.0 attempts per game. He’s more than doubled his number of three-pointers per game this season, which has made him an even scarier offensive weapon for Minnesota. Believe it or not, Towns’ 57 three-pointers is third-best in the NBA behind only James Harden (79) and Devonte’ Graham (60). The 24-year-old’s game perfectly fits in the modern NBA. Between Towns’ strong play and Andrew Wiggins’drastic improvement, it’s possible that the Wolves could shock everyone and sneak into the playoffs for just the second time in 16 years. After winning three-straight games (including an impressive victory over the Miami Heat), Minnesota has the seventh-best record in the Western Conference at 9-8.
The Lakers’ roster features 11 new players (including Davis), but you’d never know it from watching this team play. Rather than struggling out of the gate as they try to develop chemistry and get everyone on the same page, L.A. opened their season by winning 15 of their first 17 games. Davis and LeBron James have been a terrific one-two punch out of the gate, bringing the best out of each other. Davis may not be posting the jaw-dropping stat lines we got used to seeing from him with the New Orleans Pelicans, but that’s because he has a better supporting cast now and the Lakers aren’t asking him to carry the team on his own. Still, he’s been a dominant rim protector (leading the league in blocks) and he’s capable of scoring from anywhere on the court (averaging a career-high 1.2 threes per game). It may be tough for Davis to win MVP because he’s playing alongside James (and vice versa, perhaps), but there’s no question that he’s having a terrific season. It’ll be interesting to see how this Lakers team looks at midseason once they’re even more cohesive (and once their schedule gets a bit more difficult).
Last week, we praised Harden’s offensive output and moved him up our rankings because the Rockets held the second-best record in the league and were in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. Unfortunately, Houston went on to drop their next three games to tough teams (the Denver Nuggets, L.A. Clippers and Dallas Mavericks). Harden continues to score at will, despite constantly being double-teamed by opponents. He recently voiced his displeasure with the constant double-teaming, telling reporters: “The whole season, they’re running doubles teams at me. I’ve never seen that in an NBA game where you’ve got really good defenders and someone else running at the top of the key. Y’all let me know the last time you’ve seen that.” He uses this to his advantage at times, drawing contact from both defenders and getting to the foul line (which he’s doing more often than anyone since prime Wilt Chamberlain). With the Rockets’ current losing streak, Harden dropped one spot this week, but there’s no question that he’ll be in the mix for this award come the end of the season as long as he stays healthy.
The Bucks have now won 13 of their last 14 games (including eight-straight), climbing to No. 1 in the Eastern Conference standings. Not only have they lost just one game in the month of November, they’re winning convincingly – as evidenced by their +9.3 average point differential, the highest in the NBA. That’s in large part due to Antetokounmpo, who continues to dominate on both ends of the floor. On Monday, he had perhaps his best outing of the season in a win over the Utah Jazz, finishing with 50 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 threes, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. The Jazz entered the game with the NBA’s top-ranked defense (allowing just 99.3 points per 100 possessions), yet Giannis did whatever he wanted against them. Antetokounmpo became just the second player in NBA history to hit all of those statistical marks in a single game, joining Michael Jordan (who did it against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989-90).
Recently, a courtside fan captured a funny interaction between James and a referee, with James saying, “I know you’ve been reading and they’re saying that I haven’t been playing defense these last couple of years, but it’s a new year!” Well, this season, it seems that James’ main focuses are defending and facilitating. His much-improved defense is perhaps the starkest difference between 2018-19 and this year. James ranks fifth in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares (+1.0) and 20th in Defensive Rating (101.9), and his effort on that end of the floor has been significantly better. Perhaps Anthony Davis deserves credit for this, as he’s been saying since the offseason that he was going to hold LeBron accountable and push him to play at an All-Defensive-Team level like he’s capable of doing. After Monday’s games, the Lakers actually have the best defense in the NBA (allowing just 99.7 points per 100 possessions). As for LeBron’s playmaking, he leads the league in assists per game (10.8) and assist percentage (50.7) by wide margins. In fact, he’s been involved in 49.0 percent of the Lakers’ points, which is easily the highest percentage among all NBA players this season. Los Angeles has won eight-straight and sit at 15-2, which is the NBA’s best record.
Early in the season, people were praising Doncic’s game while wondering when the sophomore would come back down to the Earth. Well, rather than regressing, Luka has only gotten better and he’s even closer to averaging 30-10-10. Doncic currently leads all NBA players in Win Shares (3.6), Box Plus/Minus (14.2), Value Over Replacement Player (2.2) and Player Efficiency Rating (33.3). In fact, his 33.3 PER puts him on pace for the best single-season efficiency rating of all-time. He makes the game look incredibly easy, destroying teams offensively. Not only does he have the league’s second-best scoring average (30.6), he ranks second in the NBA in assists per game (9.8) and assist percentage (48.9), showing just how many buckets he’s creating for himself and others. Doncic secured this week’s top spot after delivering an MVP-like performance in Dallas’ win over James Harden and the Houston Rockets, finishing with 41 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 threes, 2 steals and 1 block. And his production is translating into victories for the Mavs, as they’ve now won five-straight games. Dallas is 11-5, which is the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. Right now, Doncic may be the frontrunner for the Most Valuable Player award and the Most Improved Player award.
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives their Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. Check out this week’s rankings.
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who are in the mix for the 2019-20 MVP award due to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Siakam is making the Raptors look smart for giving him that four-year, $130 million extension. This is Siakam’s first appearance in our Top 10, but he’s been playing well all season. Even if he doesn’t receive significant MVP love this year because there are so many great candidates, it’s possible that he could become the first player in NBA history to win the Most Improved Player award twice. One could make the argument that his growth over the last year (+8.8 ppg, +1.7 rpg, +1.1 apg) is just as impressive as his sophomore-to-junior leap (+9.6 ppg, +2.4 rpg, +1.1 apg). Regardless of whether he wins MIP for a second-straight year, he’s made huge strides this season. Becoming a team’s No. 1 option and a 25-point-per-game scorer is extremely hard, but Siakam has made it look easy. The 25-year-old has essentially filled the Kawhi Leonard role in this offense and it’s been amazing to watch his development in recent years. He has the Raptors sitting at 9-4, which is the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Leonard dropped down our list over the last week because he’s missed three-straight games due to a left-knee contusion that he suffered in the Clippers’ loss to the Houston Rockets last Wednesday. Leonard has been terrific on both ends of the floor when he’s suited up, but he’s now missed five of a possible 14 games this season. As we wrote in this space last week, voters tend to reward players who haven’t missed significant time when considering Most Valuable Player. The last 15 MVP winners have missed an average of 3.93 games in the season in which they won the award (with no individual missing more than 10 games). The Clippers are likely going to be cautious with Leonard moving forward to ensure that he’ll be at 100 percent for their playoff run (like the Toronto Raptors’ approach that worked so well last year). Also, when two MVP candidates have teamed up in the past (like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry on the Golden State Warriors), voters weren’t sure what to do and they basically canceled each other out. It’s possible that could happen with Leonard and 2018-19 MVP finalist Paul George, who returned recently.
The big news in the NBA over the last week was the Trail Blazers’ decision to sign free agent Carmelo Anthony. After sustaining numerous injuries and getting off to a slow start (5-9, which is the third-worst record in the Western Conference), Portland is hoping that Anthony can help revitalize this team. Last time Anthony was in the NBA, he averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 threes while shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from three-point range in 10 games with the Houston Rockets. It remains to be seen how much this addition will impact Lillard and CJ McCollum, who are Portland’s top options on offense. Lillard is averaging career-highs across the board, but he’s received little help from his supporting cast, which is why the Blazers are struggling so much.
Not only has Towns been filling the stat sheet, he’s been extraordinarily efficient in the process. He’s shooting 51.2 percent from the field on 17.9 field goal attempts and he’s making 43.5 percent of his threes on 9.0 attempts. Only James Harden (4.9) is making more threes per game than Towns (3.9), and the big man’s three-point percentage is 6.5 percentage points higher than Harden’s. Also, Towns currently ranks fourth in Box Plus/Minus (+10.1), fourth in PER (30.4) and fifth in Value Over Replacement Player (1.2). With Towns making his presence felt all over the court and Andrew Wiggins playing the best basketball of his career, the Timberwolves are now 8-6 and holding the Western Conference’s eighth seed, putting them just 3.5 games back from the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.
It didn’t take long for Davis and LeBron James long to develop chemistry, as they’ve been a terrific one-two punch for the Lakers thus far. As our Bryan Kalbroskynoted, James is passing the ball to Davis 25.2 times per 36 minutes, which is more than he dished to any other past teammate, including Dwyane Wade, Kyrie Irving, Chris Bosh and Kevin Love. It’s clear that James trusts his big man and if they’re playing this well with very little time spent getting acclimated to each other (and their many new teammates), it’ll be interesting to see how well they’ll be playing together toward the end of the season when they’ve learned each other’s tendencies more. Davis is leading the NBA in blocks per game and he’s swatted 24 shots in his last seven games.
Kyrie Irving who? When news broke over the summer that Irving (and Al Horford) planned to leave Boston via free agency, it seemed like the Celtics were going to take a significant step back. It would’ve been understandable if they shifted their focus to developing Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Co. Instead, the Celtics found a terrific replacement for Irving in Kemba Walker. The 29-year-old is posting impressive numbers and he has Boston sitting at No. 1 in the Eastern Conference standings with an 11-2 record (which is also tied for the best record in the entire NBA). It seems that Walker brings production similar to that of Irving without the behind-the-scenes drama and chemistry issues that hurt the Celtics last year. If Boston can keep this up and sit atop the East, Walker would get some MVP consideration (and deservedly so) and Brad Stevens would likely get some Coach of the Year love. And as Walker gets more comfortable with his new team, his play should only improve. With that said, there seems to be a significant gap between the Top-4 players on this list and everyone else.
Doncic is used to having unprecedented success for someone his age. Remember, he won the Euroleague MVP award at 19 years old prior to entering the NBA. Now, as a 20-year-old sophomore in the Association, his numbers aren’t too far off from what Russell Westbrook averaged back in 2016-17 when he won MVP (31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists and 1.6 steals). While posting triple-doubles no longer seems to draw the same jaw-dropping reaction since Westbrook normalized it, it’s unheard of for a 20-year-old to be having this kind of success. He had an MVP performance on Monday night, dropping 42 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds and 5 threes in a win over the San Antonio Spurs. Only two players in NBA history have posted a 40-point triple-double at age-20: Doncic and LeBron James. The sophomore is having a special campaign, his Mavericks are fifth in the West at 8-5 and he deserves to be high on this list as long as he keeps this up.
If the season ended today, Harden’s 39.2 scoring average would be the highest since Wilt Chamberlain posted 44.8 points per game in the 1962-63 season. In fact, Harden is on pace to join Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to average 39 or more points in a season. (Michael Jordan came close in 1986-87, but he finished the campaign averaging 37.1 points). Harden’s shooting percentages aren’t pretty – 42.5 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from deep – but when Houston is winning and he’s averaging nearly 40 points and eight assists per game, it feels like nitpicking to complain about his efficiency. Also, it’s worth noting that his True Shooting Percentage (.618) is actually up from last season. The Rockets have won eight-straight games and are 11-3, which is the second-best record in the Western Conference (and the third-best record in the NBA). If Harden continues at this pace, this season will go down as one of the most impressive offensive displays in league history.
At this point, James has the “best player on the best team” argument going for him. He’s filling the stat sheet on a nightly basis and it’s translating into wins for the Lakers, who are an NBA-best 11-2 (with a league-best +10.2 average point differential) thus far. Can the Lakers sustain this level of play? That remains to be seen, but James will have a strong case as long as they do. If James were to win his fifth MVP award this season, he’d become the second-oldest MVP in NBA history behind only Karl Malone (who was named Most Valuable Player in his age-35 season). Malone was 35 years and 284 days old at the end of the 1998-99 regular season. James is also in his age-35 season, but he would only be 35 years and 107 days old at the end of this regular season. Whether he ultimately wins the honor or not, nobody can deny how impressive it is for James to be producing like this at 35 years old.
Antetokounmpo is having another incredible season and while it may not feel like past years because his cheat-code dominance is no longer fresh and surprising, at the end of the day, he’s the reigning MVP and he has somehow managed to improve his stats across the board. He’s averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, three-pointers made, three-point percentage, Player Efficiency Rating, Box Plus/Minus, Defensive Rating and the list goes on and on. The advance stats love him too, as he leads all NBA players in Box Plus/Minus, Value Over Replacement Player and PER. He’s led the Bucks to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 10-3 (with an East-best +9.5 average point differential). He has the numbers, record and signature performances to potentially win back-to-back MVP awards. Also, he’s doing this without another star on his team, unlike LeBron James (who has Anthony Davis) and James Harden (who has Russell Westbrook). It remains to be seen if voters will take that into consideration, as they have in the past.
Pascal Siakam might be the Most Improved Player in the NBA….again
I wasn’t always completely sold on Pascal Siakam as the Raptors’ number one option on offense. Before you skewer me, it was a reasonable take! It’s not that Siakam was bad, it’s just that Kawhi Leonard was SO good.
It’s rare that we see a team lose what might be the best player in the league and still compete as a contender the very next season. We’ve seen it time and again — just look at the Warriors this year after losing Kevin Durant. We can even go back to the 2014 Miami Heat after they lost LeBron James. Those teams weren’t the same — in the Heat’s case, they’re only just now looking like a legit contender again.
The Raptors don’t have that problem. Why? Because of Siakam. He’s been special this year.
Siakam is Toronto’s new Kawhi Leonard
I don’t say that facetiously. It isn’t just the role he’s stepping into — it’s also the way he’s producing for the Raptors right now. Things get really interesting when digging into the numbers.
Siakam has basically been able to mirror Leonard’s production this season.
Only two players in NBA history have averaged at least 27 points and nine rebounds per game while shooting at least 35 percent from three on 50 attempts. They are Siakam and Larry Bird. That’s pretty good company if you ask me.
Obviously, he and Bird are two very different players from two very different eras. But it doesn’t matter — anytime you can be mentioned in the same breath as a Hall of Famer you’re absolutely doing something right.
He’s gotten to this point by completely changing his shot profile. He’s gone from feasting on the corners and in transition to being more of a shot creator who shoots deeper threes.
Here’s a heat map of his shot distribution from last season. The darkest spots are where he shot most from.
Now here’s the one from this season.
Big difference, right? Those darker spots are more spread out and wide ranging.
He’s creating a lot more off the dribble and taking more funky pull-up jumpers while creating separation.
Last season, that’s a Kawhi Leonard pull up. This year, it’s Siakam’s. He isn’t as good at it yet, but it’s become a legitimate tool in his tool box. Sometimes the threat of him taking these shots is just as important as his actual ability to hit them.
He’s also still a monster on the low block. He’s big enough to punish smaller guards who switch on to him and quick enough to get around burlier bigs trying to stonewall him. He scores 1.02 points per possession in the post per NBA.com’s player tracking tool.
He’s become a complete offensive player. He’s a solid shooter, a beast at the rim, a decent shot creator and a great passer at his position. The Raptors’ future is in good hands.
What Siakam is doing is incredibly rare
Let’s get a little perspective going here. Siakam has come a LONG way.
Pascal Siakam last season: 29% of 3-point attempts came from above the he break. He shot 27% on those.
Pascal Siakam this season: 75% of 3-point attempts have come from above the break. He's shooting 42% on those.
Two seasons ago, Pascal Siakam averaged 7 points per game
He went from being a role player on a playoff team that could never get over the hump two years ago to the second best player on a championship team last year. Now he’s the best player on a top seed in the conference. We rarely ever see that.
No player in NBA history has won the Most Improved Player award twice in their career. When you shatter expectations once, it’s hard repeat that. Yet, somehow, Siakam is doing it again.
I doubt he actually wins the award. He’ll be an All-Star this year and that’s more than enough recognition for the time being. But I can’t think of a player more worthy right now of MIP than the man who won it last year. That’s saying a lot.
The Raptors turned on the afterburners in the second half and showed their championship pedigree in the win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Anthony Davis had 27 points and four blocks while LeBron James recorded his fourth triple-double of the season with 13 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds but the defending champion Toronto Raptors snapped the Los Angeles Lakers seven-game win streak on Sunday, 111-102.
Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 24 points, including a couple of huge transition baskets in the final seconds of the game when the Lakers had cut the Raptors lead to just four points in the final two minutes to seal the game.
After the Lakers jumped out to an 11-point lead in early in the first quarter, the Raptors showed their mettle by coming back to slice the Laker lead to just one point heading into the quarter. Energy plays and big shots by the Raptors bench helped neutralize what had been an otherwise terrible quarter.
The Lakers starters again asserted their dominance towards the end of the first half, with James coming close to a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds at halftime while Anthony Davis and Avery Bradley each scored nine points as well. In addition to the play of the starters, Troy Daniels broke out of a shooting slump to score 11 points off the bench in the first half. With the strong finish, L.A. led by eight at halftime.
The two teams continued to play to a standstill the fourth quarter when the Raptors showed their championship pedigree, going on a 13-3 run to go up by 10 with just over nine minutes left in the games. In addition to the strong play of VanVleet and Siakam, the Raptors got a major lift off the bench from Chris Boucher who had 15 points, three blocks and two steals.
The normally great Lakers bench didn’t make the same impact they have over the course of their seven-game win streak, even against a slightly depleted Raptors group missing both starting point guard Kyle Lowry and power forward Serge Ibaka.
Up next for the Lakers will be an interesting test against a surprisingly strong Suns team in Phoenix on Tuesday night.
