Toronto @ Oklahoma City preview
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Last Meeting ( Dec 8, 2021 ) Oklahoma City 110, Toronto 109
Pascal Siakam isn't an All-Star this season.
But with the All-Star break closing in, there are few players in the NBA who are playing at the level the Toronto Raptors star has reached lately.
The Raptors come into Wednesday's game against the host Oklahoma City Thunder on a six-game winning streak, and Siakam is a big reason why.
During the winning streak, Siakam is averaging 24 points, 11 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
He's shooting just above his season average overall, at 49.5 percent, but much better from behind the 3-point line at 47.4 percent. Siakam was shooting 33.3 percent from beyond the arc before the streak.
Siakam has flourished just as his time spent playing point guard has expanded.
"Being on the ball most of the time helps me with my rhythm, to be honest, not feeling like you're just out there. Being involved in the offense," Siakam said. "I get some type of joy from understanding the plays and talking to Fred (VanVleet) and seeing what he sees out there and understanding the game in a different way instead of me trying to score every time."
Siakam is earning more time on the ball.
"I think the biggest thing is it doesn't look like he's confused. He looks confident," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "He's gonna run the play and make sure everyone's organized and get it started. There's no hesitancy. There's a lot of confidence there, and that's really important in that role."
Now, Siakam faces a team he's had plenty of success against.
In nine career games against the Thunder, Siakam is shooting 62.5 percent -- nearly 7 percent better than against any other opponent.
In the first meeting between the teams this season, Siakam was 10 of 15 from the floor and had 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Raptors, however, let a 13-point second-half lead slip away as visiting Oklahoma City won, 110-109.
Two of the contributors in that contest for the Thunder -- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Mike Muscala -- won't be playing Wednesday night.
Both are out for significant periods of time with right ankle injuries.
The Thunder have dropped back-to-back games and 14 of their last 18 games.
One positive for Oklahoma City lately has been the play of Darius Bazley.
Bazley fell out of the starting lineup in mid-December after struggling for an extended period and has been up and down since.
But the last six games have been the most consistent stretch of the season for the third-year forward.
Bazley is averaging 14 points and 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals and shooting 46.8 percent over that span.
He's coming off a season-high tying 20 points in Monday's 110-98 loss to Golden State.
"This is the best I've seen him at the balance of playing downhill with some force and also sometimes just breaking it off and getting it to a teammate and setting the pick and roll and getting someone else in an advantage or try to create some action with someone else," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "Early, I think he was probably over-aggressive and then he swung the other way and he was facilitating a little too much. He seems to be easing into a nice balance of those things."
--Field Level Media