The Raptors managed to get by without Pascal Siakam in a win over the Houston Rockets on Friday and now they’ll have to do it for a bit longer.
Siakam, who made second-team All-NBA last season, will miss the next three games before the all-star break, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Siakam will remain in the league’s health and safety protocol, according to the report.
First, best to Pascal, hopefully this is not an actual positive test and isn’t serious. The Raptors and the NBA will keep everything hush hush.
Siakam had been playing solid basketball following a tough start to the season, averaging 20.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists (the best passing month of his career) on 45% shooting and 37% work from beyond the three-point arc, along with strong defence.
The Raptors had recently gone small, forcing Siakam and OG Anunoby to guard bigger opponents and opted to start Chris Boucher in Siakam’s place against Houston.
If they continue to play Aron Baynes off the bench, where he has performed much better, Boucher could be the temporary Siakam replacement with the first group. Boucher didn’t shoot the ball well against the Rockets, but was his usual self defensively and on the boards.
It’s unclear when head coach Nick Nurse and the five members of his staff who missed the Rockets game because they were in the health and safety protocol, will be back.
Toronto hosts Chicago on Sunday, Dwane Casey and Detroit on Tuesday and is at Boston on Thursday before the break.
One takeaway from the game: Anunoby’s numbers (11 points, three rebounds) didn’t stand out (other than his career-high tying five assists), but it was a board Anunoby wasn’t even credited for that proved crucial. The late offensive rebound (which was credited to Lowry) essentially snuffed out any hopes – unlikely as they were – of the Rockets making a miracle comeback.
Toronto was up by six with 2:35 remaining when Boucher flung up a three-pointer that missed. Anunoby worked hard to beat three Rockets and tap the ball back to Lowry, who found Fred VanVleet for a dagger three-pointer.
Instead of Houston having a chance to move within three or four points, they had to call timeout and never got back within range.
Anunoby’s contributions often don’t show up on the boxscore, but make no mistake, he’s as valuable a “hidden gem” as you’ll find in the entire NBA.
THREE STARS
1 – Kyle Lowry
2 – Norman Powell
3 – Victor Oladipo
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