The Toronto Raptors have been without Pascal Siakam for eight games now as the All-Star power forward continues to nurse a right adductor strain. When he initially sustained the injury in early November, the team announced that he would be re-evaluated in two weeks' time. It's now been almost three weeks and there hasn't been a substantial update on Siakam's current injury status.
Life has been hard for the Raptors without their star. They've gone 4-4 without Siakam in the mix, and it is clear that Toronto would love to get Siakam back as soon as they can.
Fred VanVleet has been doing whatever he can to carry the load for the Raptors in Siakam's stead. However, even FVV himself is the first to admit that it has been a real struggle for the team amid Siakam's absence:
“Not as good as you would like, but certainly not the worst thing in the world,” VanVleet said about his assessment of the Raptors without Siakam in the mix, via Mike Ganter of the Montreal Gazette. “It looks like we don’t have our best player out there, the guy we’ve been playing through. Not only our best player but somebody who we’ve been playing through for however many games. Everything has been going through him. There will be some adjustment periods and phases and hopefully he won’t be out forever. He’ll be back whenever he’s back.”
Even VanVleet himself doesn't seem to sound too confident about Siakam returning in the immediate future. Groin injuries can be tricky and you can be sure that the Raptors are going to take a cautious approach in handling their star's injury moving forward.
In the meantime, the Raptors have no other choice but to do their best to keep the ship afloat. It's been a tough ask, but you have to credit the team for their resiliency:
“We’ve had some good performances,” VanVleet said. “I thought some guys have played well in those minutes. It hasn’t translated to eight wins. We’ve got to squeeze a couple more wins out here before Pascal comes back.”
The 9-8 Raptors return to action on Wednesday to take on a rejuvenated Brooklyn Nets team. They play just two games this week, which should give Siakam more time to recuperate.
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