"If there's a team that can do it, it's us": Siakam confident in shorthanded Raptors
Don’t tell Pascal Siakam that the Raptors can’t come back in their playoff series.
Toronto dropped a 131-111 series opener on Saturday in Philadelphia against the 76ers, but the loss was almost secondary to the myriad of absences that popped up for the Raptors.
With Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr., and Thaddeus Young all looking like they’ll be out of tonight’s lineup due to injuries and illness, Toronto has their backs against the wall to claw back in the series.
While injury problems and bouts of COVID-19 ran rampant through Toronto’s roster this season, the team was still able to pull off a 48-34 record despite uncertain expectations coming into the season.
“I think that we’ve been through adversity as a team,” Siakam told reporters at Monday morning’s shootaround. “We’ve definitely shown that we can bounce back, and I think that again we can figure it out, and I feel like if there’s a team that can do it, it’s us.”
Siakam led the way with 24 points for the Raptors on Saturday night but was outshone by Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, who put up a playoff career-high 38 points in a dominant win. With three key players out of the lineup, Siakam realizes he’ll likely be tasked with even more to try to grind out a win.
“I think everyone’s roles kind of go up a little bit,” Siakam added. “There’s somebody that’s going to be there for whoever’s not playing [for us]. So I think that everyone has to step up; we all gotta step up. Those guys are a big part of our team.”
Toronto is set to host its first playoff game since the 2019 NBA Finals on Wednesday but has its own hostile crowd to visit tonight at the Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. The Raptors finished with a 24-17 road record this season, including winning both regular season games in Philadelphia before dropping Saturday’s contest.
“We’ve always proven that [we’re competitive] on the road,” Siakam said. “We can find ways to win like we’ve done multiple times.”
Tipoff for Game 2 is set for 7:30 ET, with the game being broadcast on Sportsnet.