Published 12:47 IST, September 12th 2020
Pascal Siakam grilled by reporter over below-par performance after Raptors' Game 7 loss
After the Toronto Raptors' loss against the Boston Celtics on Friday (Saturday IST), Pascal Siakam was asked about his disappointing performance by a reporter.
The Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 92-87 on Friday (Saturday IST), advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. While the Celtics fans applauded Jayson Tatum for his 29-point performance, the NBA Twitter called out Siakam for his low score throughout the series, even questioning his All-Star status. After the game, Siakam spoke about his performance, saying that he was ready to shoulder the blame for their loss.
Also read | Shawn Michaels has his say on Pascal Siakam's accidental Sweet Chin Music on Daniel Theis
Siakam interview: Raptors star on his performance after the Celtics victory
This reporter aimed right at Pascal’s head. Sheesh pic.twitter.com/t4V6y0rjoo
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) September 12, 2020
"I take a lot of the blame, man," Siakam said after the game. However, Yahoo! Sports' Seerat Sohi asked Siakam a follow-up question later on. "How does it feel to feel responsible for this outcome?" Sohi asked, directly referring to his earlier statement. The video was shared multiple times on Twitter, where some fans actually called out the reporter for asking Siakam such questions, while others agreed, blaming the 26-year-old forward for the Raptors loss.
"She prolly a pissed off Raptors fan," one user wrote. "She's not wrong pascal played like sh*t," one user wrote, adding that Raptors' chances of winning was higher if he has performed during the series. The Raptors, who are defending champions, signed Siakam to a 4-year, $130 million deal last year, as he was supposed to lead the team to another great playoffs run.
since it's becoming a bit of a thing: the question was a follow-up to siakam saying earlier in the press conference that he blamed himself. wanted to know how it felt to feel like that. FWIW i think he understood what i meant
— Seerat Sohi (@seeratsohi) September 12, 2020
Fans on a reporter asking Pascal Siakam about the Celtics vs Raptors Game 7
He answered it while bron would've grabbed his purse and leave
— Bucks SZN (@GoonToAnGoblin) September 12, 2020
She's not wrong pascal played like shit, and its quite obvious that if he played well the chances of Toronto winning would have been much higher.
— Moth (@MothTBK) September 12, 2020
Man clearly doesn’t know what effort and defence does for a team, og was in the top 3 for the raps today
— Og Anunoby's burner (@Anunoby69) September 12, 2020
LMAOOOO GOD DAMN 😭😭😭😭😭 he was hot ass tho 🤷🏾♂️💀 pic.twitter.com/9FdD6NeDNv
— kingslime_arw (@yungkiingg) September 12, 2020
She prolly a pissed off Raptors fan 💀
— Albert (3-1) (@lakersfan24__) September 12, 2020
Celtics vs Raptors Game 7 highlights
Before the NBA hiatus began in March, Siakam was averaging 23.6 points while shooting 45.9% from the field and shooting 35.9% from the three-point range. However, save Game 4, Siakam failed to score over 20 points during the second-round series. Even during the seeding games, he scored 16.9 points per game while shooting 39.4% from the field.
"Obviously, I have to be better," Siakam said during a postgame interview. "It was definitely a learning moment for me just learning from this experience and just learning that you've gotta be ready and I wasn't able to help my teammates." His three-point percentage was 4-of-32m which was the worst in the playoff series in NBA history as per ESPN.
Also read | Celtics and Raptors fans question Pascal Siakam's All-Star status after Celtics vs Raptors series
His teammates, however, defended him. Fred VanVleet stated that he was "proud" of Siakam, calling his brother who he would go to war with. According to VanVleet, Siakam was not up to standard, but had intensity and never pointed fingers at others. Kyle Lowry too spoke about the advice he would give Siakam. "I would not be surprised to see him come back even more hungry and destroying people," Lowry added, confident that Siakam would make a great comeback. The Celtics vs Heat Finals will begin next week on Tuesday night (Wednesday IST).
(Image credits: Pascal Siakam Instagram)
Updated 12:48 IST, September 12th 2020