TAMPA, Fla. – The Toronto Raptors’ trip to Tampa Bay has been anything but a smooth sea with the 2-8 start over the first 10 games and the specter of possibly having to play the full 2020-21 season in Tampa instead of their home digs of the Air Canada Center in Toronto.
Florida’s west port city has rolled out the red carpet for the Raptors, but being relocated away from family and friends in a pandemic is a tough emotional situation as we saw in the Orlando Bubble last summer.
The Raptors actually were scoring in waves on the gulf coast in Thursday night’s 111-108 win over the Charlotte Hornets in Amalie Arena. They made 20 of 50 triples as they gained a 35-34 lead on a 3-pointer by Chris Boucher to end the first quarter.
“I think for the most part in the last half a dozen games, the offense is where we like it,” said Toronto head coach Nick Nurse. “There’s some pace up the floor, good transition buckets, rim attacks and dump offs.”
Norman Powell and Chris Boucher combined for the first 13 points of the second quarter to put Toronto up 48-40 with 8:11 left before halftime.
Boucher has turned into a solid contributor off the bench as his 25 points and 10 rebounds were a huge reason Toronto was able to advance past Charlotte.
“He’s playing extremely well,” said Raptors guard Kyle Lowry. “His confidence is there. When a guy gets paid, he relaxes a bit and now he knows what he is going to do and is confident in who he is.”
The pressure squarely shifted on Toronto’s shoulder as Charlotte started to fight back after the Raptors went up 97-79 on a triple by Stanley Johnson with 2:29 to play in the third quarter.
LaMelo Ball and Malik Monk netted a pair of triples to cut the Raptors’ lead to 99-86 after three.
Boucher was clutch after the Hornets went on an 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter when Raptors were 0 for 6 from the floor with three turnovers over the first 4:45.
He scored on tip-in and had an alley-oop from Lowry as he kept Charlotte from taking over the game in the fourth quarter.
“With the starters they bring the energy, so the hustle plays and kind of get them open like Kyle and Pascal play off of them,” said Boucher. “With the second group, I just try to figure out a way to get us going.”
After the Raptors scored 71 points in the first half in shooting 58.4 percent as eight different players netted 12 of 25 threes in the first half, the Hornets went to a 2-3 matchup zone in the second half which stymied Toronto’s offensive rhythm. The Raptors would get too deep into the shot clock before trying to initiate the offense.
“I thought we were taking a little too long to get started against it and it ate into the clock – it should have been popping a little bit more,” noted Nurse. “I am analyzing where we were looking for in-moving, swinging or punching it into the paint.”
Boucher was the key in stepping up once again as he is settling into his role which allows him to have an effect on the starters when he is in the game or to come off the bench and score as he did Thursday evening.
The former Oregon Duck is averaging 20.7 points and 8.5 rebounds over his last four games.
“I try to bring the energy to the game, play defense, run the floor hit the threes when I am open,” said Boucher. “Whether I start or I don’t start, this is my role.”
