For the sake of awards, accolades, and garnering the attention of the NBA landscape, it's extremely good that Pascal Siakam put up his second triple-double of the season. That quiet excellence is, of course, a massive part of his game and any superstar's. No MVP chants followed him off the floor, he quietly grabbed his points in isolation where no one could stop him, and grabbed his assists, largely as a guy who makes reads in transition. Hell, his 10th rebound was added while he wasn't on the court and after he had already checked out, everything was quiet. The loud, fantastical part of last night's game was the emergence of everyone and everything for the second game in a row.
"Our guys took the scouting report and the preparation very seriously, which is what they needed to do." Said Nurse after the win. "They went out there and executed -- really played hard defensively. I thought it made it tough, created a lot of turnovers. (We) Turned a lot of those into easy baskets."
For those who watched last night's game, or plan on watching it today -- you will be tuning into/have seen the NBA's most dominant transition game of the season. The Raptors managed to skirt halfcourt offense on 30-percent of their plays, and that is the largest share any team has had so far this season. Whether it was off live rebounds or steals, the Raptors pushed pace early and often. It fueled everything for them, as they nearly reached the franchise record in points (144) and were still a meaningful amount from the largest win differential (53).
