Siakam, who has played most of the past two years off the bench, has become the most important part of the Pacers' rotation.

As a late-first-round rookie, his ability to establish himself in the NBA is already his greatest success. After all, not to mention the last rookie in the first round, there are many lottery rookies who can't get a foothold in the NBA every year.

But Henson's expectations for Siakam don't stop there, believing there is even more potential for the Cameroon No.43 to be tapped.

By the time of this summer's preseason training camp, Siakam's skills such as defense, ball-handling offense, and three-point shooting had improved a lot compared to last season.

While his stats for the season still look tepid, that's because he doesn't have a lot of time and shooting rights with the Pacers. But now, Antetokounmpo was unexpectedly unable to play, and Henson gave the opportunity to Siakam.

The game against the Raptors can't just be left at that.

"The Raptors started the game, and it was the same. Van Vleet and Kyle. Lowry formed a two-point guard lineup, with Anunoby and Serge Ibaka guarding the interior. At the No. 3 position, it is Leonard, the strong point of the Raptors. And the Pacers side...... Coach Henson replaced Antetokounmpo with Siakam, and everything else remained the same. It seems that there is no compromise in this way. ”

Kevin. Harlan shook his head, he knew Siakam was a good guy, but certainly not as good as Antetokounmpo.

Therefore, in the case of losing such an important battle force as Antetokounmpo, Kevin. Harlan is still not optimistic that the Pacers will win the game. Even if, Henson. Joe has always been able to turn decay into magic.

The referee motioned for both players to get ready, and Henson played today with a frown from the start. Letting Siakam start was Henson's first decision to make up for Antetokounmpo's absence, and hopefully his strategy can really play the role of an All-Star.

At the beginning of the game, Ibaka naturally fought for the basketball from Lopez. Although the Congolese has suffered major injuries in the past, he is still more athletic than Lopez.

VanVleet advanced with the ball, and this guy known as "Van Jordan" is the small guard that the Raptors are now focusing on developing.

Although Van Vleet was once just a marginal man, and his height of 1.83 meters made him look like an ordinary person. But he's been a real pleasing performer this season, and he's become one of the best role players in the league.

When VanVleet is on the court, the Raptors outscore opponents by 14.7 points per 100 possessions, the highest net efficiency player in the league. So far throughout the season, VanVleet has also accumulated +370 points, ranking 9th in the league. In front of him are superstars like Curry, Harden, and Embiid.

Henson admits that VanVleet's high-end stats are impressive, but that doesn't mean he can play as efficiently as the Pacers.

For Van Vleet, Henson gave Brogdon just one, on the confrontation!

Brogdon has the height and reach to VanVleet and doesn't have a hard time defending. In order to solve the problem of VanVleet doing nothing after being pinned down by a tall defender, Raptors coach Nick Vleet did nothing. Nurse will opt for a two-point guard lineup.

So, VanVleet gave the ball to Kyle. Lowry, the long-established defender in Toronto, Northland.

But well...... Raptors coach Nick. Nurse has always been a rookie head coach. That's right, he's coached in college and Europe, and spent a few years as an offensive coach with the Raptors. But coaching an NBA-caliber team is a completely different thing than coaching another team.

How many famous European coaches have fallen into the sand after coming to the NBA, these all show the particularity of the NBA as a league.

In order to organize the offensive ability, Nurse sent a dual point guard lineup of Lowry and VanVleet, and the shortcomings of this lineup are very obvious. Because Lowry, like Van Vleet, is only 1.83 meters tall. Since then, the Raptors' guard line has been a little short.

Therefore, Lowry still has no way to organize the attack well under the defense of Oladipo. However, Lowry was always calmer than VanVleet and eventually sent the ball to Leonard, who ran out of space.

Opposite Leonard is Paul. George, the two can be said to be the foundation of Henson's early foothold in the league. In the face of George's follow-up, Leonard was not afraid at all, and he shot when he caught the ball!

Now, Leonard's shots from beyond the three-point line are getting more and more decisive. While averaging 5 three-pointers per game, he was still able to shoot 37.1% from three-point range. Therefore, the three-point shot has long been not Leonard's weakness.

George didn't expect the other party to be so decisive, so the interference was a beat slower. However, this gap is more than enough for an athlete of Leonard's level!

The flying arc of the basketball is very beautiful, and it falls directly into the net hollow. People say that people with too big hands can't shoot well, but Leonard told the world with practical actions. As long as you are willing to work hard, there is nothing that you can't practice.

Although he only played a total of 9 games last year, and he had a very unpleasant quarrel with Spurs. But Leonard is Leonard, and he didn't depose himself for it.

"Hitting a three-pointer in the opening game, I think Leonard will definitely score a lot of points today. After all, the Pacers' basket doesn't have Antetokounmpo to guard it. Kevin. Haaland could already imagine Leonard's exaggerated scoring stats after the game.

"Stinky boy!" Henson scolded secretly on the sidelines, the current Leonard, I'm afraid he is more accurate than he used to have a badge bonus!

Subsequently, the Pacers offense. Although during the Pacers period, Leonard and Paul. George's personal relationship is good. But now on the basketball court, Leonard still has a serious "paralyzed face" to George.

His personality is the same as Henson's, and he won't let his guard down on you just because you're a friend. On the contrary, the more friends you are, the more Leonard wants to give it his all, and that's how he respects his friends.

Brogdon handed the ball to George after halftime, and George had just gotten the basketball when Leonard posted it.

In the past, when training in the team, George's biggest headache was playing against Leonard. After that, Leonard moved to the West, and the two rarely met.

But I didn't expect that now they would become direct competitors.

George gestured for Lopez to step forward and cover. Taking cover, George accelerated his breakthrough.

Instead of going backwards, Leonard squeezed forward. He knows very well that George is also the kind of player who only needs a little space to shoot and finish the offense.

George's favorite mid-range shot after borrowing cover is to take advantage of the gaps that appear when the opponent's defense blocks and pick-and-rolls to score.

However, there were no gaps in Leonard's defense, and he stayed in front of George at all times.

Seeing that he couldn't get rid of this expressionless former teammate, George decided to continue to break deeper.

But George had just accelerated, and Leonard seized the opportunity to stretch out his big hand and cut it with a precise "knife"!

This season, George's dribbling level is already very high, but due to his high center of gravity, he is naturally not as good as a guard in terms of basketball protection.

Leonard often plays a good job of stealing point guards, and now why is it difficult to steal a 2.06-meter-tall forward?

Just like that, the basketball in George's hand was abruptly cut off by Leonard. And because Leonard has a huge palm, he can still control the basketball by the way after cutting off the basketball!

In an instant, the transition between attack and defense was formed. Leonard single-handedly rushed to the front with the ball, and no one could catch up with him. If the "Greek monster" had been present at this time, maybe he could have counted on it.

But alas, the kid is now lying on the hospital bed with liquid.

Taking a step inside the free throw line, Leonard leaps to his feet. In the air, he stretched his body as hard as he could. Then, with his long arms, he lifted the basketball that was so small for him and poured it into the box!

The ball went in and landed, and Leonard looked up to the sky in the stands and screamed.

Well, he's a lot more passionate now than he was when he was with the Pacers and Spurs. Because he knows very well that he is the king of the north here! King, there must be some king's domineering!

Watching Leonard's performance on the field, Henson felt pressured. That stinky boy won't let himself pass easily.