Scottie Barnes Shares Excitement As Former Raptors Face Off in Playoffs

It won’t be hard for the Toronto Raptors to find someone to root for in the second round of the NBA playoffs this year.

OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa’s New York Knicks eked past the Philadelphia 76ers and will now play host to Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers beginning on Monday night.

Anunoby was crucial for the Knicks in their first-round playoff series, locking down both Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid at points in the series. He threw down a ferocious poster-worthy dunk over Embiid in the fourth quarter Thursday to clinch the series.

Achiuwa did not play in either of New York's past two games, but played some crucial minutes against Embiid in Game 4.

Siakam was the leading scorer for the Pacers in their series against the Bucks, averaging 22.3 points per game. He had back-to-back 35-point performances to open the series before knocking out Milwaukee with a 19-point showing Thursday night.

Raptors star Scottie Barnes took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his excitement about the series. He posted “cant [sic] wait to watch this” under a photo of Anunoby and Siakam side by side.

Siakam played New York twice following his trade to the Pacers this past season, but Anunoby was sidelined for both games. The teams split the two games with Siakam scoring 18 points and 19 points, respectively.

The first round, however, isn’t going particularly well for Norman Powell whose Los Angeles Clippers find themselves down 3-2 to the Dallas Mavericks. Another injury to Kawhi Leonard has forced the former Raptors superstar out of the lineup in Los Angeles and could cost the Clippers the series.