By the Numbers: Barnes, Siakam driving Raptors’ win streak

Don’t look now, but the Toronto Raptors might be starting to turn things around.

After losing five of six and reaching a season-low seven games under .500 (16-23) upon losing to the New York Knicks at home last Friday, the Raptors have rallied for three straight wins and suddenly sit on the cusp of the play-in bracket in the Eastern Conference. Amazingly, the streak is Toronto’s longest win streak of the season.

The Raps have pulled even with the 10th-seeded Chicago Bulls and sit just a half game back of the Atlanta Hawks for ninth. The Miami Heat (23-20) and Indiana Pacers (23-19) have a bit of a cushion on Toronto, but the Pacers just lost star point guard Tyrese Haliburton to a knee injury and are currently +3000 at FanDuel to make the postseason while Toronto’s odds sit at -250 as of Friday.

A win over the Portland Trail Blazers last Sunday and back-to-back victories over the lowly Charlotte Hornets – all at home – may not be enough to convince skeptics of a turnaround just yet, and Scottie Barnes agrees the team needs to keep its foot on the gas.

"We’ve just got to keep going. Don’t settle for less. Take it one game at a time right now," said Barnes after Thursday’s win. "Stay hungry. That’s what the team mindset is right now, stay hungry.
"Keep getting wins right now. Just stay hungry, for real.”

Barnes had one of his best games of the season Thursday, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and nine assists, one off his season high. The Florida State product was also a team-best plus-15 and was the only Raptor to finish with a plus-minus above 10.

The assists numbers are indicative of an improved offensive stretch for last year’s Rookie of the Year winner. Barnes has 16 assists and zero turnovers over his past two games and is one of only two players to have that many helpers without a turnover over a two-game stretch, the others being Haliburton and Memphis Grizzlies backup PG Tyus Jones.

Barnes also became the ninth player in franchise history to record at least 10 career games with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists and is the youngest since Chris Bosh in 2006.

Over his past 10 games, Barnes is averaging 16.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting a hair over 48 per cent from the field.

As impressive as Barnes was, Pascal Siakam drove the bus for the Raptors Thursday, finishing with a game-high 35 points on 84.6 per cent shooting. Siakam finished 11-of-13 from the field and his 13 shots were the fewest field goals attempted in a 35-point game in Raptors history.

"There’s a lot of film watching and just trying to see how I can exploit the defence," said Siakam. "I think most of the time, for me, I always wanted to be quicker and just finish.

"But sometimes, it’s taking what the defence is giving you and being more calm."

Thursday was his team-leading seventh 30-point showing of the season and the 50th of his career.

Siakam is fourth on the Raps’ all-time list with games of 30 or more points, trailing Bosh (60) Vince Carter (91) and DeMar DeRozan (96). The team is 39-11 when Siakam goes off for that many, the best winning percentage of anyone in that group.