Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby instrumental in Raptors win vs. Mavericks

Amit Mann recaps the Raptors 127-116 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby both had their season highs, while Scottie Barnes paced a bench unit in the 2nd quarter that helped Toronto find their defensive intensity.

Video Transcript

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AMIT MANN: Hello, and welcome, welcome, welcome to the "Raptors Over Everything" podcast. Like and subscribe on YouTube and on the podcast feed, rate, review, subscribe. It's all very much appreciated. Here to give you the lowdown on what went down between the Raptors and Dallas Mavericks.

The Raptors win, 127-116. Key stats from the game. The Raptors outscored the Mavericks 72 to 40 in the paint. Their half court offense executed at a rate of 100 points per 100 half-court plays. And Pascal Siakam records his 14th 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists game. The most in Raptors franchise history. He had a terrific game.

Let's get down to the details. So, defensively, for the Raptors, I mean, it comes down to can you limit the 3-point shooting of the Dallas Mavericks? Like, they are second in 3-point percentage. They take the most. They're fifth in scoring and their half court offense executes at the second best rate in the NBA.

So all those things combined, you got to limit the 3-point shooting, and a lot of that comes down to Luka Doncic, as we all know. And man, he's incredible. Like, sometimes I forget how good he is if you take a little stretch without watching him play NBA games, especially but man, oh man, he plays at his own pace, he's a high-octane creator. Just straight up, like, wizardry with the ball and the way he manipulates defenses, he warps defenses with his ball handling.

He's always able to back down defenders. And it doesn't really matter who it is, he's just able to get it done against damn near anyone. And OG Anunoby, he obviously did a great job, but the Raptors, I mean, they're having a hell of a time trying to contain Luka Doncic, especially with Dwight Powell, not that Dwight Powell is this unreal screen assister, but when it comes down to it, Luka, he's just so good at understanding angles.

And the Raptors, they were throwing all kinds of different defenses at him. They were doubling on ball screens. They're high hedging, they were switching Jakob Poeltl on to him. They were high tagging, they were low tagging, and early on, Luka was getting what he wanted, and it just kept on happening over, and over, and over.

Even there was a possession where it seemed like-- and this was happening a little bit early on in the game-- is that the Raptors, it seemed like they weren't clear on how they wanted to approach the pick-and-roll. And there was a case where it was a very high pick-and-roll, like, Luka's just crossing half court, and there's a high ball screen, and Jakob is doing a tag, but he's trying to make sure that he doesn't turn the corner, but he's also not sure at the same time it seems like if he's just straight up switching on to him.

And so it was the most methodical turning of the corner I've ever seen. But hey, I mean, the Raptors, they got it done over the course of the game. And as we've seen in other cases with Luka Doncic, like, if you just got to wear him out, you got to tire him out. And with the Raptors, they're able to throw so many bodies at him.

We saw Pascal Siakam on him. We saw Scottie Barnes on him. We saw Dennis Schroder get switched on to him a couple times. And all of those players present different kinds of challenges.

Like, Dennis Schroder is going to get into your dribble, and he's going to make you work, and he's going to move his feet, and that's again, taxing. Then OG, I mean, we'll get to OG a second, but he just keeps on doing the thing. What an exceptional defender.

But overall, I mean, the Mavericks, they shoot 41% from 3. And they averaged 39% on the season. And 41 attempts from 3. And they have 84 field goals. They put them up, man. And all the players, mostly, I mean, everyone who shot them did a pretty good job.

Like, Derrick Jones, three or five. Grant Williams, two of five. Kyrie was three of seven. And Luka was probably the lone player on a high volume that didn't shoot very well. He was 2 of 10.

A lot of those shots were pretty deep and a lot of them were late in the game when they were trying to rally, but they weren't going down for him. And after that first quarter where it seemed like the Mavericks, like, they were just hitting everything. It was pretty crazy, actually.

But after that first quarter, second quarter, the group of Chris Boucher, Scottie Barnes, Malachi Flynn, Otto Porter, Jr., and Gary Trent, Jr., they kind of found a groove. And yeah, some of the shots just weren't going in for the Dallas Mavericks. But all those guys, man, they were scrambling.

They were zoning up on the weak side, good reads on ex-outs. And there was a back-to-back possessions-- almost back-to-back, actually-- where Scottie Barnes blocked Kyrie at the rim. And then Chris Boucher, who was coming off a DNP, he had a huge block off-ball at the rim. He had a sensational, you know, first stint with the team, which again, we'll get to in a second.

But you factor all these things together, like, that's where things really started to pop for the Raptors, especially offensively too. It was that group. I mean, Chris Boucher and Gary Trent, Jr., they combined for 13 points in the second quarter. And between the second quarter and third quarter, the Raptors outscored the Mavericks by 17 points. That was pretty huge.

And there was a stretch, a key stretch, in that second quarter where a few screen assists helped the Raptors get a few buckets. And one of them was off an inbounds play, based on that inbounds play, and Scottie Barnes set a great screen for Gary Trent, Jr. And he curled around, and I forget who the big man, the back of big man, is for the Mavericks, but anyways, he's in drop. And so it was kind of a very easy pass for Malachi Flynn, right to the corner, the strong side corner, and Gary Trent Junior hits a 3.

And then after that, there's another play where, again, it was Gary Trent Junior ending up with the 3-pointer. And it was, one, a screen assist from Otto Porter Junior, who just like gave no space towards Kyrie Irving. And then it was into a DHO for Scottie Barnes. And as he's handing the ball to Gary Trent, he sets another bone-crushing screen, and Gary hit another shot. He had a terrific game.

We want to see efficiency from Gary. And I thought his first few shots were, eh, a little bit rushed, but then at the same time, he's a gunner. Man, like, he comes in and he's ready to shoot. And the same shots that I'm saying he missed, he's also hitting those same shots later on in the game.

And there was also a drive where he took Tim Hardaway off a switch right to the rim, which is really nice around the right-hand side of the basket. So good stuff from Gary in this game.

I mean, when you have Pop coming off your bench, it's always going to help, right? And Chris Boucher, as I mentioned, he had a very loud 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 block. I mentioned the block already. He had a few tap-outs. I think he had more than one. I felt like he had more than one offensive rebound.

Anyways, he got a foul call on another one. But anyways, he comes in, hadn't played the previous game, and he comes in, he hits a 3. He's feeling good. He's pumping his chest. He's screaming. He loses his gum in the process, funny stuff.

But then after that, like, he had a few plays where he's like attacking closeouts. He's attacking off from the corner. He's attacking off the wing, and he's getting buckets. Like, I mean, jeez, as I said, you get 26 points from Gary and Chris Boucher throughout this game, those are great numbers. Those are so very helpful.

And just to stick on that bench unit that was so, so helpful. So Malachi Flynn, let's talk about him for just a quick second. Like, he had 8 points and two 3's. The two 3's we'll get to right off the bat here.

He comes up from DHO with Pascal Siakam. He flares out to the wing and he hits a wing 3. Catch and shoot, pretty tough shot. The other one, Malachi relocates while OG Anunoby is driving. OG drives towards the middle, kicks it out, and Malachi hits a shot.

Like, this is good stuff. We want to see him gain his confidence and find a groove. And once again, we're seeing that aggression from him. He was talking a little bit of trash with Kyrie Irving. I'm not sure in what direction it was going, but he was talking to Kyrie Irving at the very least. And also he was pressuring the ball handles of a Tim Hardaway, Jr. And he almost poked the ball away from him a couple times. This is how Malachi is going to get minutes and he's going to be stable too.

And I said on the previous video that when Malachi is this in tune with his defense, he's picking up full court, he's applying ball pressure, just like a Dennis Schroder, he's pretty good. He's got at least a spot in the rotation. And the Raptors, considering their lack of guard depth, they're going to need that.

And now Otto Porter Junior, a quick example because I just keep on saying, every time he comes in, impact player, right? So I mentioned the screen assists already. He shot 0 of 3 today, 0 of 2 from 3. But it was this play where he subbed in for Jak in the third quarter.

And I think it provided more mobility against Luka in those pick-and-rolls because the Raptors, I mean, throughout the game, they were having issues, as does everyone, but what it was able to do was that because Otto's a bit more laterally mobile than Jak, now he's able to contain Luka a little bit. So now we're getting more of those east-west dribbles instead of north-south. And once that's happening, now that's allowing OG Anunoby, because he is so good coming around screens, just a bull going through those.

Then you're able to double Luka, and now you're just kind of nullifying his abilities. It was those kinds of possessions that happened in the third quarter. And I believe in the third quarter as well, it was around this stretch where the Raptors went on an 11-0 run between Pascal and OG hitting buckets alone.

These are the little things that Otto Porter Junior does for you. Get played 15 minutes today. He wasn't really required for much more than that. I imagine he'll probably stick around 15 to 20 minutes. Love it. Very good stuff from Otto.

Let's go to Pascal Siakam. So, obviously, I mean, 15 of 25, 31 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, as I said. He was getting on the offensive glass. He had eight baskets off of post-ups, OK? So this is an ongoing trend that I'm kind of seeing over the past few games where Pascal is doing more post-ups. And it felt like early on in the season that wasn't the ethos, that wasn't part of the ethos of this Darko Rajakovic offense.

So maybe they're having some conversations and maybe they're finding some understanding on how to get the best out of Pascal-- best of Pascal Siakam, and that is to get him on the block and let him do his thing. And in this particular game with Derrick Jones Junior, Grant Williams, and Tim Hardaway Junior, Pascal, all those guys are food for him. And he just kept on going at them over, and over, and over.

He was getting low post position. And he was just getting his buckets, man. Like, it's kind of that simple. We've seen Pascal Siakam do this countless times in the past. And if this contributes to him kind of finding a groove offensively, I love it. He didn't shoot well from 3 again.

And it's kind of something I'm watching for because he started the season OK, and now the numbers just like eh, eh, eh, going down. So he's 0 of 5 from 3 today. And I just hope that that's not the case going forward because he seems like he's willing to take them. And it'd be really nice if they continue to go in.

So that's kind of that on Pascal. He was passing the ball pretty well. A few cases where in his baskets where the Raptors had a really nice interior passing happening. So it was from, like, going to OG, and then Jak, and then Jak would find Pascal for like a short range pass around the basket and/or vice versa. Sometimes it was Pascal finding Jak.

And there was a sequence where Pascal is running in transition and he's like driving right towards the basket. He goes straight into a post-up, and then the Mavericks double him, and Jakob because he's so mobile, again, as a big man, as a center, he's running down the court, he's able to finish with a little floater at the rim. Good stuff. So I just want to see Pascal Siakam keep on doing this.

The Raptors, they look very different when he's scoring the ball as well. This was a game where Scottie Barnes, he didn't have his most impactful offensive game, to some degree, because he shot 4 of 15, but you look at his stat line, 14 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 6 offensive rebounds. The Raptors had 15 offensive rebounds overall.

He had a very impactful game, although it may not have been in the field goals made category. He was very good today. Didn't shoot the ball well from 3, but it's the little things that he keeps on doing, especially defensively. Just so active. So, so tenacious. And the intensity is definitely there.

It seems like he's getting a little bit more comfortable on zoning up the weak side, and especially with his X-out reads, like, he's making the right decision more often than not now. And it seemed like last season that wasn't always the case, but we're seeing it game by game. His attention to details and the focus possession by possession is definitely there.

And he is so, so imposing when you see him. When he's D'ing you up one-on-one, or if he is, like, closing out on you, and also he's pretty creative with when he's deciding to do a fly-by close-out. And other times he's able to just stop short, and now he's just guarding you straight up. These little things, right? It's just Scottie, like, kind of engaging that part of his mind possession by possession, and it's so crucial because that's where he is special.

He's such a special player. I'm just, I'm excited to see what he does going forward here. Let's start with OG Anunoby now. So what's cool about OG Anunoby, and this has been common from what I've noticed for most players, that he takes on, especially with some of the star quality, especially players that are taller than him, he's able to take that initial bump. So, like, a Nikola Jokic, a Joel Embiid, a Luka Doncic, as we saw tonight.

Some of those guys, like, once they just get that initial bump on you, we see Scottie do this all the time, he did it to, who was it, tonight it was Dereck Lively in the post. He just bumped him, and he created space, and then he just goes up. OG can take that with the best of them. And from there, like, he's so strong.

And they were working hard, the Mavericks were, to get OG off of Luka. And Luka is so good at making those mismatches happen, hunting down the person that he wants to attack, and it was happening a lot. And that's why the game went the way it did. Like, they scored 116 points. They were around their season average of points per 100 half-court plays.

But OG just kept on working. And seeing some of the drives pop, especially off the ball. He had a couple of really nice ones, and this coming off of Pascal Siakam passes, passes off of Scottie Barnes. There was one no look pass that Scottie made to OG in the corner, and he just drove that baseline and dunked it. That was beautiful.

I did get a little bit concerned at the end where he was driving towards the basket, he got fouled, but he landed really awkwardly. And you could see the Raptors bench going, like, whoa, whoa, whoa, because they got kind of concerned. And the fall, like, that is kind of the fall you see when players do something to their knee. But thankfully, he was just fine.

So another great game from OG Anunoby. Man, he just keeps on doing the thing. I love this play where the Raptors ran-- it was actually, I should mention that the Raptors, whether it was Jama, whether it was Darko, they had some great sideline and baseline out of bounds plays today. And also out of timeouts, they were executing off of them.

And if you recall at the beginning of training camp, there were a few quotes from Darko saying that he felt like all those players-- or plays are chances to score the ball. And this was a game where it kind of popped for them. There was a play where OG passed the ball to Jakob Poeltl at the nail, and he curled off of Jakob, and then Jakob does a quick little pivot to create a bit of a two-on-one, and then OG went up for a lob and dunked it. Those are all good things.

I just want to see more of that creative play-calling. So let's wrap up with Dennis, who had a pretty kind of a quiet 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block. It comes down to the same things that I keep on talking about with Dennis who shot 7 of 13, 1 of 4 from 3. When he's able to hit these pull-up mid-range 2's, it changes with the Raptors what their pick-and-roll looks like.

Jakob didn't score too much off of the pick-and-roll himself. But Dennis is, like, getting to that spot. He's snaking, he's getting the defender on his back, and he's able to take the bump from the defender on his back because he is so strong at his height, regardless. And then he's getting into a floater, then he's getting into his layup package. And the play, it was in the third quarter, I believe, when the Raptors were making a bit of a run.

And like, the paint was wide open. And as I mentioned-- I didn't actually mention this earlier, but Dereck Lively was not playing. He had a non-COVID illness. A big reason why the paint was so wide open for the Toronto Raptors, got to say that. 7' 1", 19-years-old, he's having a terrific season for the Mavericks. But that was a big reason why there was a lot of advantages for the Raptors in this one.

And that's why I'm not taking too much stock out of like a game from Pascal Siakam. Like, we want to see him put the ball in the hoop, obviously. But there was no secondary rim protection for the Mavericks, and so Pascal kind of popped. But not that he's not a great player, but you know what I mean.

But yeah, there was a play where it was like five outs, and then he just goes into a Hesi. And you could hear the whole bench go, yay, because they're all so excited. He goes right in for a layup. Just loving Dennis's game. I'm loving his control, his pace, his game management, as I said. Good stuff.

So the Raptors, yes, they win this game 127-116. We'll talk to you later. That was fun. Let's keep on stringing together these good games. All right, we'll talk to you later.

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