Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from dominant Game 1 win vs. Nets

Lowry and Siakam set tone early

It’s tough to forget how much Lowry struggled against the Orlando Magic in the first game of their series last season. This is why seeing him start the game with a three probably had fans at home breathe a sigh of relief.

He had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 38 minutes and more importantly he was drawing charges like we have come to know from him. It was also fun to see him launch a football pass to Pascal Siakam in the opening moments of the game.

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There was a lot of talk about Siakam heading into this game considering many haven’t seen the Raptors soon to be highest-paid player at his best since the NBA returned.

In this one, it looked like he was getting off on the right foot scoring double-digit points in the first quarter. Then things started to go off the rails for him a bit as he finished the game 3-for-13 from the field, 1-for-4 from beyond the arc but managed to get nine points from the free-throw line.

This seems like the case where Siakam needs to be a bit more selfish and try to get the ball in situations he’s more comfortable in. Regardless, if the Raptors want to go deep, Nick Nurse will need to find a way for Siakam to be more of a threat at both ends and something tells me that won’t be too difficult considering he has shown an ability to make the necessary adjustments.

What were your favourite moments from Game 1? Do you expect the Raptors to finish this series in four games? Let us know in the comments below.