Pascal Siakam Returns to Starting Lineup for Raptors

Pascal Siakam has served his one-game sentence and will be back in the starting lineup tonight as the Toronto Raptors get set to take on the New Orleans Pelicans.

Now the Raptors will hope the message was sent. There’s a way to play Toronto Raptors basketball and walking off the court after fouling out is clearly not that.

“Just a certain way we want to do things and everybody’s got to be a part of that,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.

Now the question is how will Siakam bounce back after his one-game absence? He has been in an extended rut dating back to the start of the pandemic and has worsened to start this season. He’s shooting just 39% to start this season and is 1-for-9 in the fourth quarter through three games.

If Siakam is going to refind the success that earned his second-team all-NBA honours before the pandemic it’s going to start with attacking the rim and getting back to his old aggressive self. To Nurse, that means driving to the hoop with strength and not hoping for a foul call.

“I think that he gets a lot of his specialness in this league from his speed, playing hard, playing with a joy for the game,” Nurse said. “I think defensively he’s a hell of a player when he puts his mind to it.”

Nurse said he’s spoken to Siakam since the decision was made to bench him for the Toronto’s Thursday night game against New York. Though he wouldn’t describe exactly what caused the benching, he said the organization is trying to work out some early season issues.

“It’s just something we’re trying to work out here a little bit and work it out early in the season and not let it prolong,” He said. “There’s certain standards we want to set and he just needs to get on board with those. And he can do it, geez, he can do it, it’s just maybe the first part of the process, but he can do it.”

Siakam will presumably take back his starting spot with Norman Powell returning to the bench.