If there was any doubt about Pascal Siakam’s ever-growing role with the Raptors, they were further erased Tuesday night.
Siakam, who has morphed from an intriguing yet skinny post player into a multi-positional NBA threat, had been sharing backup point guard duties with Scottie Barnes for a handful of games.
And with Barnes out, there was every reason to suspect some of Siakam’s ballhandling load might have gone to someone like Dalano Banton or Malachi Flynn, point guards by trade who could have filled in a few minutes.
But, no. With coach Nick Nurse refusing to give into conventional wisdom and looking to exploit matchups at every turn, it was Siakam who backed up Fred VanVleet in a 99-95 loss to the Phoenix Suns at the Scotiabank Arena.