Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from 2018-19 season opener

2. Siakam starts, Ibaka joins Bench Mob

Last night, Pascal Siakam was named a starter in a season opener for the first time since his rookie season in the 2016-17. That team seems like forever ago, where he started 38 games due to a lack of depth at power forward.

This time around, Siakam got the start because of the hype over his highly anticipated offseason development in his game. Siakam didn’t not disappoint, having the toughest defensive assignment against Kevin Love, and outshining him in every way when he was on the floor.

Siakam was able to contribute 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, as well as two assists, two rebounds, and the aforementioned momentous block in the fourth quarter — all in 20 minutes of action. He was simply a beast out there on the court, and it will be wildly entertaining to see how he produces during the course of the season.

With Siakam in the starting lineup, that leaves Serge Ibaka being “relegated” to the bench even though he played his regular amount of 27 minutes. Ibaka was horrendous offensively, unbearable to watch every time the ball touched his hands. His nine points, seven rebounds, one assist, two steals, and three blocks look great at first glance, especially the defensive statistics, but he shot just 2-for-10 from floor.

Playing in what may be his new position as the pace-and-space modern center, Ibaka got out-muscled on the glass almost every time by unproven NBA talents and Tristan Thompson. He was cringeworthy when posting up on offense, and when he was on the floor the Raptors were outscored by six points per 100 possessions.

However, the newly appointed and ninth head coach in the franchise, Nick Nurse, had a good reason to play him all those minutes, especially in the closeout unit: defense.

The Bench Mob was at full swing again to start the season, and Ibaka, regardless of his offensive shortcomings in this game, was an absolute beast as a rim protector. We haven’t seen an Ibaka this active on the defensive end since his prime seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He had not one, but three massive highlight blocks, giving Cavs rookie Colin Sexton a lesson in NBA basketball.

“I-Block-A” was on full display this game, and the team needs him to be this kind of defensive stalwart for the rest of the season to make what was the NBA’s best second unit continue its dominance. Look for Ibaka to make better decisions on the offensive side of floor, and the leaders of this team, VanVleet with the Bench Mob unit or Lowry with the closing unit, to make sure of it.