By Zharita Dimaculangan
EBC Southern Ontario Bureau
TORONTO (Eagle News) — On Monday night the short-handed Toronto Raptors came home after a five-game road trip to face the Charlotte Hornets where they dominated their opponent by a score of 132-96.
This was the Raptors’ first home game after their West Coast road trip where they walked away with an impressive 3-2 record. Despite losing key players like Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka early in the trip due injuries, the Raptors proved their depth as the young core and bench players stepped up to the challenge.
Like what Nick Nurse had said in the past, this team is about “next-up” basketball and Monday’s game was no different. It was OG Anunoby’s turn Monday night, leading his team with a career high 24 points while shooting 76% from the field and contributing seven rebounds.
In addition to Anunoby, Pascal Siakam bounced back from his 6-for-24 performance against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night. Siakam contributed 20 points and shot 50% from the field, three of which were beyond the arc. Despite the efficiency of the Raptors’ core, the complete dominance over the Hornets can be attributed to the bodies that were coming off the bench.
The Toronto Raptors’ bench contributed 55 of the team’s 135 points. Rookie Terence Davis Jr. led the bench with 16 points on 71% shooting. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson continued with the groove he found during the road trip as he helped his team with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Hollis-Jefferson proved his value during the road trip and has filled the role of a much needed forward in the absence of Serge Ibaka. In the 5-game road trip, Hollis-Jefferson averaged 10.7 points with 6.7 rebounds all while often guarding the opponent’s best player.
Nick Nurse was asked about his contributions after Hollis-Jefferson’s big performance against the Portland Trailblazers.
“Rondae is a heck of a player right now,” Nurse said. “He’s really making a lot of plays. Guarding, he’s rebounding, putting back, he’s finishing. He’s a really interesting addition.”
At the start of the season, many were questioning the Raptors’ depth which has been a point of concern for many people. Nurse was rolling with a small rotation before coming into this stretch of games and many wondered if this is all we’ll see from this team.
The string of injuries to key veterans, however, has been a catalyst for the active players to establish their role. Since the injuries, players like Matt Thomas and Chris Boucher have showed exactly why they are on the team. Prior to the west-coast trip, Chris Boucher was averaging 4:38 minutes per game, two points and one rebound. Post-injuries, Boucher has been a key guy off the bench and now is averaging 17:28 minutes with 8.2 points and 6.2 rebounds.
Nick Nurse commented on Boucher’s emergence.
“He plays each and every night about as hard as he can play,” Nurse said. “He plays like he’s doing everything possible to stay on the floor. [Boucher] competes to win and I think it’s awesome. He’s playing incredibly hard and he’s really coming – getting better each night out.”
There’s no doubt that this is also the mindset of the rest of the role players on the bench as they try to figure out where they fit on this team. Though many were questioning this team’s identity after the off-season they had, the young core and their supporting cast has made it difficult for others to ignore them.
(Eagle News Service)