On March 28, Beijing time, the Raptors went through an overtime to narrowly beat the Celtics in the East before the game 115-112 at home. Siakam, the replacement for Kawhi Leonard, has efficiently obtained 40+13 statistics, which is the key to the Raptors' upset and top spot in the East, and he is leading the team to rise.
On the night when Van Vliet felt cold and only 14 points, Siakam carried the team, he played 47 minutes, hit 17 of 29 shots, shot 58.6% from the field, hit 6 from eight free throws, got 40 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and the plus-minus of the highest +9 among the starters of the two teams also proved Siakam's contribution to the team's victory.
This is the first time this season that Siakam has scored 40+ in a single game in the regular season, with 17 sports goals to tie the highest single game of his NBA career; it is also the fourth time in Siakam's NBA career that he has scored 40+ points and 10+ rebounds in the regular season, second only to Chris Bosh in Raptors history. It is worth mentioning that "Canadian Flyer" Vince Carter has only played such a performance in 2 regular season games during his time with the Raptors, and Leonard, the only FMVP winner in raptors history, has only played 40+ points and 10+ rebounds in the regular season during the Raptors.
In the last 10 regular season games, Siakam averaged 38.1 minutes per game, averaging 27.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game with 54.9 percent shooting and 47.4 percent three-point shooting, making him one of only four players in the league to average 27+ points, 8+ rebounds and 5+ assists per game, the other three being LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.
What's more, Siakam led the Raptors to eight of their last 10 games, and the Suns, who have only 9-1 of the 30 teams in the league in the same period, have a better record than the Raptors. You know, the Suns locked in the number one spot in the league's regular season record early this season. So far this season, the Raptors are sixth in the East with a record of 43 wins and 32 losses, which is tied with the fifth-place Bulls in the East, four wins ahead of the championship-winning favorite Nets, and can almost lock up playoff qualification in advance.
Last season, the Raptors ranked fourth from the bottom in the East with a regular season record of 27 wins and 45 losses, which was the only time in the past 10 years that the Raptors had a single-season regular season winning rate of less than 40.0%, and before the start of the season, the Raptors sent away the meritorious player Kyle Lowry, and there was no heavy reinforcement, but the rebuilt Raptors have won 15 more regular season games than last season without the end of the season so far! With VanVleet magically absent as the season progresses, Siakam carries the Raptors forward, and he is leading the rebuilding Raptors to the rise!