There are two minutes remaining in a great, then miserable, third quarter for the Toronto Raptors. The Cleveland Cavaliers have to this point been their victim of the evening, pounded for the first 30 minutes of the night by shooting, defense, passing, and everything in between. Donovan Mitchell is bottled and stoppered by O.G. Anunoby. Fred VanVleet is drilling jumper after jumper. Life is pina-colada-on-vacation-with-shades-and-a-Grisham good.
Then a crack shows in the walls Toronto has built around the Land. A leak, dribbling, but one the Raptors must address. The Cavaliers beat the Raptors to a few offensive rebounds and eke out some triples as a result. Robin Lopez takes a charge on Pascal Siakam then banks in a circus fadeaway on the next possession. An O.G. Anunoby turnover in a crowd leads to a Cleveland layup, a Raptors timeout, and Fred VanVleet travel on the ensuing play. The water line is creeping higher.
Then Siakam happens.
He grabs a rebound and pushes in transition, eventually isolating on the wing against a hapless Caris LeVert. The baseline is open, with all other eight players on the other side of the court. The weakside defenders dart into the lane, and out, in, out, like a Zelda puzzle on repeat, waiting to be solved. Siakam spins, seeing how the weak side reacts, then backs back out to the wing. It’s a reset, but he can make choices now with awareness on his side. The defense again has to dart out to avoid a three-in-the-key call. Then Siakam attacks again, spins again, but this time is past LeVert. The defense rushes inward to stop him, so he eurosteps into the middle of the key, his sweet spot, and drops in a molasses push shot.
Siakam is the answer. What was the question?
Siakam doesn’t open the game looking to score. He throws seven assists in the first half, leveraging the attention sure to come his way after his 52 points at Madison Square Garden. At one point, he throws a Magic Johnson, under-the-arm dumpoff pass from the post through two defenders for a layup; he has defenders swerving more than Vivian Flores.
And, of course, the scoring. He ends the first quarter with a roughly-40-foot heave that has no doubt. He hits hooks and floaters, jumpers and layups. His hat is deep and full of magic. He’s got rabbits and handkerchiefs. No player in the NBA can do more in smaller spaces.
There is no game on Toronto’s calendar in which Siakam cannot be the best player. Perhaps Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokic can outplay him, but it’s not a given. As for stars — and they are legitimate stars — like Mitchell, Darius Garland, or Jarrett Allen? Siakam has now faced the Cavaliers thrice this season, and he’s been the best player on the court in all three. He’s as dependable as Spoon.
Later, the Cavaliers claw their way back, again, in the fourth. Mitchell and Allen score some points, and the Raptors commit two almost-shot-clock violations on consecutive possessions. Then Malachi Flynn hits a triple, Siakam blocks a shot in the halfcourt, and Anunoby makes an easy layup in transition. Siakam hits a midrange killer on the ensuing trip.
There’s a story about Bill Murray — there’s always a story about Bill Murray — once stepping behind an untended bar and deciding to tend it himself. No matter the order, Murray slid a shot of tequila to his patrons. According to lore, he even said, “a shot of tequila” every time. Ordered a beer? “Shot of tequila.” Whiskey? “Shot of tequila.”
Siakam channels the lore of Bill Murray against the Cavaliers. The Raptors’ shotmaking dries up? Siakam scores. The Raptors’ ball and man movement dries up? Siakam scores. The Raptors’ defense lets a slinky-in-a-human-body Mitchell quiver and quake his way to points? Siakam scores.
Siakam is the answer. What was the question?
Singular moments can outweigh and outpower long swathes of time. Call it the ripple effect on drugs, or the division between chronological human experience and simultaneous reality, or destiny, or whatever you want.
But for a short yet definitive stretch, the Raptors were a bad team. They are no longer. Siakam is the star around which a solar system can revolve, a player of a caliber for which franchises tank. Finding purpose and satisfaction in life is hard, but in a competitive environment like the NBA, it’s simple; Siakam is the reason, no matter which direction the Raptors choose to pivot. When it rains, it pours, sure; but when the sun shines, all the birds sing, and all is right in the world. VanVleet and Anunoby combine for 11 triples. Barnes scores 25 points, pounding the paint over and again. It is the crystalized version of success for the Raptors, a night of which Plato would dream. The Raptors lost six in a row. Does that really matter after Siakam drops 52 points in the Garden then commands every second against a great Cavaliers team? Yes, six games are more than two. But singular moments can mean more.
Now the Raptors will have a chance to push for a three-game winning streak, their longest of the season, to see if the magic is sustainable. Some things disappear when the sun comes up. Perhaps the Raptors will, or perhaps they won’t. To this point, Siakam’s superstardom has decidedly not.
Ultimately, Siakam doesn’t need to be Toronto’s only answer against Cleveland. With only a few minutes left, and the Cavaliers still charging, Siakam misses a few shots in a row. Toronto’s offense grinds to static, wrench-in-the-gears, isolations. Siakam misses a stepback then airballs an awkward, running shot on the next possession.
It is Scottie Barnes who saves the day, catching Siakam’s airball and gently caressing the rim with a dunk in the same fluid motion. Siakam, of course, sticks his midrange stepback on the next possession. For all intents and purposes then the game is over, the Raptors 3-0 against a possible first-round opponent (if all goes well for the remainder of the season) in Cleveland.
Siakam and teammates are the answer. What was the question?
