The Larry O’Brien gold ball holders:
With the OKC Thunder having boasted so much talent over the years and repeatedly coming up short it kind of hurts to witness the Raptors claim the gold ball in one season with a bonafide superstar.
It’s not like the Raptors weren’t on the best run in franchise history over the past six years albeit Kawhi Leonard definitely pushed them over the top.
Still, in games, Leonard didn’t play the Raptors registered a 17-5 record and notably many of those contests were the second night of back to back series often on the road. Those two latter factors seem to be getting ignored by pundits who are convinced the Raptors won’t be a factor this season.
Granted losing Kawhi and Danny Green hurts but Pascal Siakam will look to take another leap this season. Additionally, OG Anunoby lost big sections of his year due to personal matters (his father died) mixed in with injury (ruptured appendix). Both should take steps this year and the Raptors love nothing more than being underestimated.
OKC got a view of why Siakam took home the Most Improved Player in their two meetings this past season.
| Rk | Date | Tm | MP | FGA | FG% | 2PA | 2P% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019-03-20 | TOR | @ | W | 43 | 21 | .667 | 17 | .765 | 4 | .250 | 4 | 1.000 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 33 |
| 2 | 2019-03-22 | TOR | L | 36 | 14 | .643 | 11 | .636 | 3 | .667 | 5 | 1.000 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 25 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/12/2019.
Siakam averaged 29 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block in the two outings while he had one strong perimeter performance (66.7 percent) and one subpar performance (25.0 percent).
For years the two games these teams play are always entertaining and competitive. Factor in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander grew up less than an hour from Toronto and Luguentz Dort (should he play) is also Canadian.
And, of course, Serge Ibaka is always excited to play his former team.
The teams will play the typical two games of opposite conferences squads this season.
- December 29 at 6:00 p.m. CT at Scotiabank Arena
- January 15 at 7:00 p.m. CT at Chesapeake
Last season the teams played twice splitting the series.
- March 20 at home in an overtime loss: 123-114
- March 22 on the road in a win: 116-109