Title: 10 storylines to watch with the Raptors, Eastern Conference down the stretch
Date: February 23, 2022
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: In my latest at Sportsnet, I outlined the key Raptors storylines I’ll be watching in the season’s home stretch.
Shake off your malaise, get the last of your beach pictures up on Instagram, and lock back in. The second half of the NBA season begins Thursday, with the Toronto Raptors back at it Friday in Charlotte (7 p.m., on Sportsnet 590 The Fan).
It’s been a long week-plus of inactivity, so if I may don my oversized William Lou cap for a moment, here are 10 things I’m paying attention to over the final 25 games of the season, here and around the Eastern Conference.
Pascal Siakam chasing the rare no-All-Star, All-NBA feat
Siakam shook any residual rust off quickly when he returned to the Raptors in November. You can chop his season into smaller samples to help illustrate your point about his candidacy as a top-20 player in the NBA this year, if you want. You don’t need to, though, because even his full-season numbers at this point are pretty staggering: 21.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.3 steals per-game, with a 56.4 per cent true-shooting mark on 25.2 per cent usage and career-bests in rebounding and assists on a per-possession basis.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 