Pascal Siakam made his highly anticipated return to Toronto.
The Raptors traded him to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 17 and officially entered a rebuild.
As soon as the Raptors traded the two-time All-Star, his return to Toronto on Feb. 14 was circled on everyone’s calendar.
Before the game, Siakam received a great ovation from the Raptors faithful.
The former Raptor reflected on the moment via TSN’s Josh Lewenberg:
“I tried to stay focused on the game as much as I could, but it’s just hard, just coming in here and seeing so many faces and reflecting on everything…just to see the reception and people being so genuinely happy for me, I think for me that was the most important thing. I got so many messaged form people, just genuine love and that means everything. To see that whole section with my jersey, that almost got me right there. I couldn’t really ever dream of that. It mean a lot, so I appreciate everyone for everything. I’m humbled. So, thank you. Thanks for everything.”
Siakam led the Pacers to a hard fought victory over the Raptors. He led all Pacers scorers with 23 points and hit the dagger for Indiana. He also put up 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Meanwhile, the current face of the Raptors franchise Scottie Barnes had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists.
The duel between the former teammates was special to watch.
After the game, Siakam weighed in on matching up with Barnes:
“Obviously we know how talented he is. I’m super proud of him…To be out there matched up against him, I know he’s going to compete, he knows I’m going to compete. Yeah, it was great. It’s weird but it was good.”
In this game Raptors fans got a look at the past and present of the franchise.
Raptors head into their All-Star break
The Raptors will be off for eight days as they head into their All-Star break.
However, Barnes will be busy this weekend. He is set to make his first All-Star Game appearance on Feb. 18 in Indiana.
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