Toronto Raptors survive overtime to get Opening Night win; 3 takeaways

1. Pascal Siakam looks comfortable as Batman, with multiple Robins

Starting the takeaways from Tuesday night’s game with any storyline other than Pascal Siakam almost feels uncivilized.

Signing a four-year, $130 million contract extension mere days before the season opener would surely put just about any player in good spirits. But it feels almost overzealous to have expected Siakam to come out of the gates with this level of comfort.

Fouling out with the game hanging in the balance wasn’t ideal, but when on the court, Siakam produced arguably the best game of opening night.

Siakam left no stone unturned with the 34-point performance. He got downhill and willed himself into nearly a dozen free throw attempts, he showed off the 3-point game, hitting 2-of-5 from deep and even played the role of “garbage man,” turning offensive rebounds into quick buckets.

Perhaps more inspiring than any was how Siakam found those answers during the game’s most critical points; think back to both the first half, when the Pelicans ran off multiple double-digit leads and then late in the fourth, when the Toronto Raptors lagged behind by a few possessions, in need of both buckets and stops.

In those moments, we found a common theme. Right after missed shots, Siakam corralled rebounds and effectively made himself a terror in the open floor. From there, the result was all too familiar.

Needless to say, it absolutely helps in having a teammate (Fred VanVleet) who can match you point-for-point. Yet even then, the imprints of Siakam’s gravity and vision helped produce a steady dose of those clean looks (see in particular plays at 1:00 and 3:22).

Not that it’s a surprise, but Siakam absolutely looks to be the engine that drives this team. And while it’s unrealistic to expect the likes of VanVleet and Kyle Lowry to perform at this level on every given night, it does give hope that even within that Kawhi Leonard-sized gap the Raptors will have to replace, they’ll be at least mostly alright.

But back to Siakam: he nearly made history by halftime. He’d already become the first player in Raptors history to score at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a season opener. His final line finished at 34 points, 18 rebounds and five assists. That hadn’t been done since Charles Barkley did it during his 1992-93 Most Valuable Player campaign.

In a way, it almost feels like less of a surprise, when considering his body of work. We knew coming in that Siakam’s shot attempts, usage and even creation would be on the uptick. The hype was so real, that ESPN’s The Jump predicted that he’d become an All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive recipient in the same season.

The potential has always been there.  A season ago, he finished fourth on the team in drives. This season, with that added defensive attention, it was worth wondering if he’d take the next step as a facilitator as well.

With one Kawhi Leonard-esque game in the history books, the league’s reigning Most Improved Player passed phase one as a scorer, rebounder, defender and facilitator. It’s safe to say, the torched was passed — and Siakam did what he does best with passes: score big on them.