Former Toronto Raptors teammates Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby will be on opposing teams for the first time in their NBA careers when the Indiana Pacers take on the New York Knicks on Thursday.
You can catch the action and see their matchup live on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT.
After spending seven seasons as teammates on the Toronto Raptors, they hope to step onto the Madison Square Garden floor on opposite sides.
It's not a sure thing both will be suited up, though, as Anunoby is listed as questionable with an elbow injury. He has missed the Knicks' past two games.
Coincidentally, the location for Thursday's game is where both Siakam and Anunoby set career-high scoring marks of 52 and 36 points, respectively.
Another coincidence: both were traded after a loss to the Boston Celtics.
It's something they must've talked about during their time in Toronto, right?
Either in practice drills or throughout scrimmages, contemplating what it would be like to face off against each other during an NBA game.
Now, it's unclear if either of them actually said anything about a supposed head-to-head becoming a reality, but what we do know is what they have said since being dealt from Toronto (three weeks apart).
Much of what the two forwards have talked about following their trades has been what they're looking forward to with their new squads.
In their final weeks with the Raptors, the team wasn't experiencing a lot of success. Anunoby was traded by a 12-19 Toronto team, and for Siakam it wasn't much better, as it had a 15-25 record at the time of his move.
So, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that words like "excitement," "support," and, most notably, "winning," have been repeatedly used by both players in their conversations with the media since.
It seems clear that despite neither Siakam nor Anunoby choosing their destinations, they were ready to make an impact for two teams further along in their journey for title contention than Toronto.
Statistically speaking, their impact on Indiana and New York has been exactly what both teams hoped for when trading for the former Raptors.
The sample size for Siakam is small, considering he's played only seven games for Indiana, who has gone a middling 3-4 during that span.
However, five of those games were played without all-star guard Tyrese Haliburton, as he's been dealing with a left hamstring strain. Three of those losses were also against top-ranked squads such as the Nuggets, the Suns (who they also beat in the same span) and the NBA-best Celtics.
The usual counting stats haven't changed a ton for Siakam with the Pacers, either. The all-NBA forward is averaging 21.6 points, compared to the 22.2 points he averaged with the Raptors. He's also grabbing 7.4 boards (6.3 in Toronto), which would be the second-highest of his career if it kept up, and dishing 5.1 assists (4.9).
What's more interesting is how the 30-year-old's impact has seemingly been greater on the Pacers, despite the counting stats not changing much, than it was on the Raptors.
Again, it's a small sample, but Indiana's net rating is 11.2 points better with Siakam on the floor versus off, compared to his time in Toronto, where its net rating was only 4.4 points better with him on as opposed to off.
The forward has helped the league's best offence look even better as its top-ranked 121.3 offensive rating has jumped up to 127.4 during Siakam's 227 minutes on the court with Indiana.
More importantly, he's helped the Pacers' mediocre defence trend in the right direction. Indiana ranks 26th in the NBA with a 119.6 defensive rating on the season, but in the seven games Siakam has played, its defence sits at 20th.
Indiana has given up an average of 122.9 points per game on the season (28th in the league), but since acquiring Siakam, it has allowed only two teams to score more than that.
Part of the reason for that is the versatility Siakam offers on that end of the floor. He's been the solid wing defender that was advertised when the Pacers struck a deal with the Raptors, but he's also spent time at centre for their small-ball lineups.
Indiana's defensive rating has been 5.6 points better (115.6) when he's been on the floor than when he's off (121.2).
Like Siakam, statistically speaking, Anunoby's impact seems greater with his new team than it was in Toronto.
His sample is larger, as Anunoby has played in 14 of the Knicks' 16 games since the trade, and his impact has subsequently been even more undeniable.
New York is 14-2 since the deal and is on an NBA-best eight-game win streak. Since acquiring Anunoby, it has the fourth-best offence in the NBA and the No. 1 defence.
The Knicks' net rating with the 26-year-old on the floor is 24.4 points better than when he's off. For comparison, Toronto's net rating was just 6.1 points better when Anunoby was on the floor versus off.
Despite reports that he wanted more responsibility with any team he joined next, functionally speaking, Anunoby has slotted into a similar 3-and-D type of role to how he was used in Toronto for most of his career.
Offensively, he's averaging 15.6 points (15.1 in Toronto), 4.5 rebounds (3.6) and 1.5 assists (2.7), with a majority of his shot diet consisting of corner threes.
That could change moving forward with the news of Julius Randle, the Knicks' second-leading scorer (24 points per game), missing an extended period of time due to a dislocated shoulder.
Either way, since joining the Knicks, Anunoby has yet to post a negative plus/minus. In fact, he's a plus-252 in that span, the highest of any player through their first 14 games with a team in the NBA since plus/minus began being tracked.
Much of that has to do with the fact that when the all-defence team member is on the floor, New York's rating is 16.3 points better (100.3) than when he's not (116.6).
His impact on that end has been so noticeable that it's created a genuine buzz around a Defensive Player of the Year case. Anunoby currently has the second-best odds (+750) to walk home with the DPOY award, which is up from the 11th-best odds (+1900) he had to start the season.
Some of that may be because he's playing under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, but the numbers also speak for themselves.
As a Knick, Anunoby is averaging 2.5 steals, which would lead the NBA if he kept it up all season, and 1.5 blocks, which would be a career-high.
Thursday will be the first, but not the last matchup between Siakam's Pacers and Anunoby's Knicks. They're also set to face off in New York on Feb. 10, just four days before Siakam makes his first return to Toronto since the trade.
Anunoby is still waiting for his return date as well, but that won't come until March 27.
There's also a world where Siakam and Anunoby meet in the post-season. In fact, as things stand, they would be slated to face off in a first-round matchup as the Knicks are the third seed in the Eastern Conference and the Pacers are sixth.
When Toronto hit the reset button and traded away two of its longest-tenured players, if it wasn't clear then, it's clear now that it wasn't for a lack of ability.
For one reason or another, two versatile and productive forwards weren't able to translate their individual talent into team success with the Raptors (this season), but they've found ways to make it work in their new situations.
Now it's time to see how far they can help their squads get the rest of the way.
