The Toronto Raptors defeated the Phoenix Suns in their first appearance after the All-Star break, 118-101. It was the 41st win of the season for the champions, and the most deserved player for this one was beyond question Pascal Siakam.
The Most Improved Player of the past season dropped 37 points and had 12 rebounds, tearing apart the Suns’ defense. The Cameroonian player was unstoppable on both sides of the court. Siakam delivered 17 points in the opening period, hitting almost every shot he had.
Phoenix’s head coach Monty Williams stated that his team didn’t expect Siakam to shoot the ball that well, and that they planed a bit different defense for the Raptors’ forward.
“The first half, he was lights out,” Williams said. “He hadn’t shot the ball like that in a while, so we weren’t planning on him making those shots.”
Hosts opened the game well, with Siakam behind the wheel, and they gained an 8-point lead, 31-23, but the second period was when they knocked out the visitors from Arizona. Toronto won that sequence 36-20. After that, it was more or less routine for the home team to close this event.
“When you’re making shots, it feels good and everything looks good,” said Siakam, “I just feel energized.”
Phoenix bounced back a little bit in the third, but there was no way for them to make some miraculous come back and take this match. The only notable situation was once they got down to eight points, 98-90, but Nick Nurse’s guys reacted quickly and once again went to a safe distance.
Among the Suns, Devin Booker scored 21 points, with 8 assists and 5 boards. He was just one of five from downtown, and in general, Phoenix was very bad for three, hitting only six times in 34 attempts. DeAndre Ayton had 17 points and 10 boards, while Ricky Rubio added 13 and 9 dimes.
“That’s not the team we are,” stated Booker following the event.
Siakam was five-for-nine from behind the arc, and also added 3 blocks. His shooting for two was 7-for-10, and according to Nurse’s words at the press, the team is about to exploit his offense even more in the upcoming period.
“I think in general, we want to continue to give him as many reps as possible in a lot of different scenarios,” Nurse said. “So, I guess his teammates are going to have to be accepting of that.”
All four starters besides him had a double-digit number of points. Ibaka scored 16, VanVleet 14 with both seven rebounds and assists, while Lowry added 13 and 10 assists. Anunoby had 12.
Up next, the Raptors have three more games at home before heading on a five-game tour through the West. The first one is against the Pacers on Sunday, then come the Bucks on Tuesday, and finally the Hornets on Friday. On the other side, the Suns head for Chicago for a second of back-to-back games. After this one,
