TORONTO — Pascal Siakam wasn't fazed when he learned he'd be filling in for injured floor general Fred VanVleet.
Instead, he saw opportunity.
Siakam was just shy of a triple-double in an excellent night at point guard, Toronto got off to a hot start, and the short-handed Raptors beat the Charlotte Hornets 125-113 on Tuesday.
"I've been preaching just trying to be an overall player and I feel like I can do that most nights, just being the best player out there and making my teammates better," Siakam said.
With VanVleet sitting out with a sore right knee, Siakam had 24 points, matched his career high of 12 assists and grabbed nine rebounds.