“Did you see him in the G League? C’mon. He was like box office,” said Fred VanVleet.
Chris Boucher is having himself a season even without the three-point shot that made him a bit of a “unicorn.”
He’s four for his last 27 from three, but it’s hard to care. Not with his absurd work on the offensive boards, his constant forays to the free throw line and his endless energy.
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There was Boucher on Saturday against Dallas with more combined rebounds off Toronto’s bench in the first half than all of the Dallas starters combined. He finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds after grabbing 16 rebounds in his previous game. He’s got three double-doubles in a row, and four this month. Boucher has put himself fin the sixth man of the year conversation.
But has he ever played better?
“Did you see him in the G League? C’mon. He was like box office,” said Fred VanVleet.
“He’s been an incredible spark-plug for us …You gotta give him credit and just being able to show up every night and give us a spark off the bench.”
Boucher agreed that he was “must-see TV” during his MVP season in the G League, but added he much prefers to be playing his role in the NBA.
Head coach Nick Nurse also labelled him a spark plug and said while he prefers bringing Boucher off the bench, “I decided to start him in the second just to give them a different look at maybe what they had planned at going at, our defence. Just rolled the dice and he came out right away and impacted the start of the second half, too, which we need once in a while.”
Boucher even had a “Winfield wants noise” moment. For those not old enough to remember Dave Winfield asking the crowd to get louder during Toronto’s first World Series appearance, Boucher made a similar attempt at one point when he encouraged the ticket-payers to get into it.
Some more thoughts:
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- VanVleet played down his own game, but he must have high standards, because he was really good. Non-stop smart plays and big shots, good passing with few mistakes, his usual defence and he attacked a team that doesn’t block shots consistently, as he should have. His pass to Boucher for the late scored moved him past another standout Raptors point guard, Alvin Williams, for fourth in franchise history. Fittingly, Alvin was calling the game.
- VanVleet on moving up the charts when I asked him how it feels: “It means a lot, it just means that I’m starting to stick around here a little bit. Think that’s all those records mean is how long you can stick around on the same team as you try to climb those charts,” VanVleet said. “But shoutout to Alvin, that’s my guy … But just for a guy that’s considered a ball hog I think it’s pretty good. I’ll keep climbing the list and see how far I can get.”
- VanVleet also became the seventh-fastest Raptor to reach 5,000 career points. Pascal Siakam did it in 15 fewer games than VanVleet’s 361. Vince Carter has the record at just 204 games
- Before some knee issues began plaguing Khem Birch we saw a really nice chemistry between the veteran centre and VanVleet (as well as Kyle Lowry, when they were both in the lineup after Birch arrived in Toronto). Birch sets some of the best screens on the team and is also an effective pick-and-roll finisher. Saturday was the best he’s looked health-wise in ages. At one point he had a nice screen assist, drew an offensive foul and kept some balls alive. “I give Khem Birch a lot of credit. I thought he was super impactful,” Nurse said. “Some rolls, some dunks, some floaters, and some tough defence as well.”
- Gary Trent Jr. was much better defensively, but his offence continues to be missing. For such a talented shooter it’s strange to see him slumping this badly. He’s down to 19.6% for November on three-point attempts. It’s by far the worst shooting month of Trent’s career if you exclude the rookie season where he barely played.
- Thad Young is a pro’s pro. HIs line might not have looked nice, but he had a strong game. His clutch free throws after missing a third of his attempts this season right near the end were massive. It’s not easy to take your first free throws of the game with so much hanging in the balance, but Young has seen it all.
- Talked to him post-game about his passing because it was obvious if Raptors cut, Young was going to find them and Young smiled. He mentioned he has found great chemistry with Boucher (one of the best cutters in the NBA) and Juancho Hernangomez and is encouraging them to get on the move. He’ll get them the ball in the right spots if they do.
- I like Jeff Dowtin. He can play. Even if it’s only five minutes a game when the Raptors get healthy, he can contribute and put pressure on opponents. He’s pretty relentless. Nurse turned to him and not a recently hot but ineffective Saturday Malachi Flynn.
- Hard to believe Dallas was such an over-achiever last season. This group won’t get anywhere close to the conference final even with the great Luka Doncic. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Tier 1 superstar paired with so little help. Luka needs a Pau Gasol deal the way Kobe Bryant once did. If not, the countdown could be on until he demands a move to a marquee franchise. For some reason I keep picturing him with the Knicks one day.
- Toronto went +7 when Doncic rested in the first half. That’s probably why Jason Kidd decided he couldn’t sit him at all the rest of the way.
- Nurse didn’t seem too impressed about holding Donicic to season-lows in shot attempts both games this season but it was legit to point it out. After all, Doncic scored a then season-high 41 points in a January meeting with Toronto and 35 in Dallas earlier this year. Doncic combined for 26 free throw attempts in those two previous meetings. Doncic also attempted 19 free throws in a game against Toronto as a rookie, which is still tied for his most in a game. Keeping him to 24 points and nine free throw attempts was solid work.
THREE STARS:
1 O.G. Anunoby
2 Fred Vanvleet
3 Luka Doncic
H.M.: Chris Boucher