It’s still early but Pascal Siakam made an MVP type performance in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Raptors power forward finished with 32 points as Toronto defeated the Golden State Warriors 118-109 to take a 1-0 lead.
Some of Siakam’s stats were just mind-boggling. Siakam went 14-17 from the field, including a stretch where he hit his first 12 shots in the second half and the only shot he missed in the second half was from a lay up with less than a minute to go where he got his own rebound and tipped in the shot.
Siakam heats up for 14 3rd quarter PTS in Game 1! #WeTheNorth
🇺🇸: ABC 🇨🇦: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/wYGi8ZCTis
— NBA (@NBA) May 31, 2019
Even though Steph Curry got 34 points and was a perfect 14-14 from the free throw line, it wasn’t enough to beat Siakam and the Raptors. Four other Raptor players ended with double digit points including Kawhi Leonard (23 points), Marc Gasol (20 points), Fred VanVleet (15 points, and Danny Green (11 points).
For a team who was playing their first NBA Finals game, and against the defending back-to-back champions, the pressure didn’t get to the Raptors. Despite 538 giving the Raptors a slight edge, many figured the Warriors would win since before the season started and just assume they would come back tonight to take the lead. Now that hasn’t happened and Andre Iguodala got hurt right before the end of the game, we may have a series.
