Watch Warriors @ Raptors Game 2 in the early hours of Monday morning (1am) live on Sky Sports Arena
Friday 31 May 2019 07:28, UK
Pascal Siakam hailed the Raptors fans after scoring a career-playoff-high 32 points to lead Toronto to a 118-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
While Golden State's sharp-shooting duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson failed to find their usual groove in opening game of the series, Siakam starred with his team-high points tally built on an ultra-efficient 14-of-17 shooting performance.
The third-year forward stuffed the stat sheet with eight rebounds, five assists, one steal and a pair of blocks and hit two of his three attempts from three-point range.
The Raptors led by 10 points at half-time and Siakam, who two years ago was playing in the NBA's development league, did his part to prevent the Warriors from closing the gap as he went a perfect 6-for-6 shooting in the third quarter.
With 6:11 left in the fourth quarter he soared above the rim to reject a Draymond Green lay-up and maintain the Raptors' double-digit lead.
"It just proves that if you put the work in, and it's something that it's so cliche most of the time, but that's the story of my life," said Siakam, whose total points were the most in an NBA Finals game by an NBA G League alumni.
"Just going out there every single night, working hard to get to this level, and knowing that I have so much to learn and I have so much room to improve and grow.
"I think we did pretty good job at home. The fans are amazing, man. coming out for warmup to the end of the game, it was just the support and then going crazy. I've never seen anything like that.
"We know we're playing an amazing team. We won Game 1. We were very aggressive on defense, and [tried to]make it tough for the players to find open shots. But we know they're going to come out [in Game 2] and make adjustments and we've got to be ready for that."
Raptors veteran center Marc Gasol praised Siakam's performance. "He does a great job of attacking those gaps, using his body, attacking the angles that the defense is giving you," he said.
"I just like when he plays that aggressive. I think having a mindset of going for it and knowing that it's going to be okay, your team-mates have your back, your team-mates believe in you, that's all that matters and he knows that."
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse who, before Game 1, had reflected on the dramatic improvement Siakam has made this season, echoed his player's appreciation of the Raptors' passionate fanbase.
"The fans obviously were great, they were loud, they were excited," he said. "I think they were into it and that's the way it should be, man. That's what home court is, and our fans deserve a bunch of credit for being a big part of that."
Game 2 takes place in Toronto in the early hours of Monday morning (1am) live on Sky Sports Arena
