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UNHAPPY RETURN: Siakam finally back with the Raptors, but Durant steals the show in Nets win

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.The Raptors got their big gunner back on Saturday, but Pascal Siakam wasn’t quite ready to take on one of the league’s biggest.

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More precisely, the Raptors weren’t ready for Kevin Durant.

Playing in his first game in Toronto since he tore his Achilles tendon here during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Siakam started slow but quickly found his rhythm and touch finishing with a game- high 31 points in a 116-103 Nets win.

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It was the second consecutive home loss for the Raptors who had won five on the road, falling to 6-5 while Brooklyn improved to 7-3.

The Siakam return, nearly six months after shoulder surgery, was about what one would expect from a guy itching to get back on the court after all that time missed.
Siakam was his old self at times, driving into the paint and spinning off his defender only to kiss one off the glass for a score. But his return also came with the expected uncertainty for a somewhat new group that, outside of Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby, had not played much with Siakam before.

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Nets’ Kevin Durant puts up a shot over Scottie Barnes of the Raptors during the first half at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 7, 2021 in Toronto. COLE BURSTON/GETTY IMAGES
Nets’ Kevin Durant puts up a shot over Scottie Barnes of the Raptors during the first half at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 7, 2021 in Toronto. COLE BURSTON/GETTY IMAGES

Missing initially was the flow that group has shown the past handful of games without Siakam in the lineup.

VanVleet, who scored 21, admits it will take a little time, but he’s fully confident any cost will be worth it.

“I thought he looked good,” VanVleet said of Siakam. “He’s going to keep finding his feet, his legs, but for the first game, I thought he looked pretty good.

“It’s good to have him out there. You kind of forget how much he can do and what he brings to the table. So obviously, he’s our franchise player and this thing is not going to go anywhere without him, so it’s a good start.

“We didn’t get the win, but it was nice just to have him back out there.”

VanVleet clearly hasn’t forgotten the beating his good friend took on social media through his pandemic and injury hurdles. He called out those individuals when a media member marvelled at what it was like to see Siakam operate live once again.

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“I think it’s just a reminder for the idiots on Twitter, who have gotten to beat him for the past two years,” VanVleet said. “Like, you have to have some knowledge and some feel and you see him out there and you say: “Well, damn.’”

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For Siakam himself, the moment got a little bigger than he wanted, but in the end, other than a win, he got what he needed to get out of his long-awaited return.

“It’s a big moment, and I tried hard not to make it a big thing,” he said. “Today, I was laughing on Open Gym because I was telling them I don’t want to make it a big deal, and then (the film crew) comes to my house and filmed me going all the way to the arena, and it’s like yeah. So I tried not to, but I know how important it is, and obviously I’m super happy and super excited to be back in Toronto.

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“It’s been so long, playing in this arena, and just playing with my teammates and seeing the fans, so yeah, it was a great moment.”

Raptors head coach Nick Nurse pointed to the beginning of the third quarter as the turning point in the game. After the Raptors had closed out the second quarter with a nice run to push their lead to seven, the Nets came out in the third and scored the first nine to take back the momentum.

Worse, while the Nets were scoring at will in those first minutes of the second half, the Raptors were missing open looks from three or lay-ins at the rim.

“I think we came out and got two wide-open threes and one wide-open dunk,” Nurse said. “And we came away empty-handed. I think if you’re creating those kind of opportunities, you’ve got to come away with something. We probably should have been up about 12 rather than them up one at the end of that run.”
The only reveal left for the Siakam return was how he’d fit him back into the lineup.

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Turns out it was right back with the starters, with Precious Achiuwa going to the bench — the Raptors going small with Siakam, OG Anunoby and Scottie Barnes in the front court. Siakam played only 10 minutes in the first half and 25 overall.

The Raptors got Siakam back, but lost Khem Birch to a knee injury. Birch hurt the knee either late in the loss to the Cavaliers on Friday or during Saturday’s practice. An MRI on it came back negative. Losing him was also a blow to their defensive cohesion and it showed.

Without Birch, the Raptors leaned heavily on Achiuwa, who still played a bench-high 27 minutes, contributing 13 points and eight rebounds in his best game in weeks.

Besides VanVleet, five other Raptors got into double figures scoring-wise, but nothing close to the 28 Harden had behind Durant’s 31.

mganter@postmedia.com

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