(2-3) DETROIT PISTONS, 113 VS. (4-1) TORONTO RAPTORS, 125 SCOTIABANK ARENA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019
TORONTO RAPTORS QUOTES
NICK NURSE (HEAD COACH)
On a better offensive showing from start to finish tonight :
Yeah, I think we shot the ball pretty good, and got it to places, weren’t under a whole lot of duress most of the night, getting some quick actions going, and where we were going.
On how much does Pascal Siakam ease the load on the other guys when he gets going:
It certainly does, there’s not a lot of stuff for them to do other than to space and wait to see if something happens. Again, it’s good to give him some reps and let him use kind of inside-outside, the drive, the post-up, a little bit of everything there to continue multiple ways to score because he’s going to need all those ways.
Have you seen an eight- to ten-minute stretch from Pascal before where he just takes over?
Didn’t he just have one the other night, where we banged about five straight threes to start the game? He made a variety of shots against a bunch of different defenders, and it’s good. He’s turning into like a primetime scorer. That three ball is really going to take him a long way because if they have to press up on that, then he’s going to slither around them probably.
Overall, defensively, what did you think? It was okay. I think there were some things we were trying to do to certain guys. We were really trying to go at (Luke) Kennard, and we did a really good job on him. There were a few breakdowns. We were trying to do some stuff with (Derrick) Rose that we weren’t getting done very good, he’s pretty crafty. He kept going the other way then we wanted him to go most of the night where the help was supposed to be, he was rejecting a lot of that stuff and getting away from us a bit. Again, I thought we did a decent job, a decent job the rest of the way around.
PASCAL SIAKAM (30 points, five assists, five rebounds)
On turnovers so far this season: I kind of hoped that today was going to be a no turnover game. I was actually excited about it. I had the first turnover in the first half and in the second half it was an offensive foul or something. I wish I didn’t have those two but I think foul-wise I was in the game. It took me a little bit, I think my first foul I was standing straight up and down, I wasn’t ready to play defence. I’ve got to be more engaged playing defence and making sure that I don’t caught off guard with little fouls like that that can cost the game. I did a better job on the fouls but I wish I had no turnovers.
How relaxed are you offensively? It feels good, I feel comfortable. I think the more I get in situations like that, the more comfortable I get. I think just having the coach trust me to have the ball in my hands, and my teammates also. It feels good and I think the more I do it, the more comfortable I’m going to get.
KYLE LOWRY (20 points, eight assists, five rebounds)
What was most impressive about Pascal Siakam in the third? Just the way he wanted the ball. He wanted the ball every possession and he’s taking shots that he’s been working on, the threes. The most impressive part about it was that tap thing he did and made the layup. That was the most impressive part. He tapped the ball and made it, so I don’t know – give him an assist and a point? Pretty cool.
When did you start to notice Pascal’s improved three-point shooting? He’s worked on them. I think know he’s confident in shooting them and he knows he has to score the ball more, and take advantage of every situation because you can’t go down to the corner and shoot them all the time. He has to take advantage of what is open.
The view from left field 