Raptors Coach Talks Next Step For Chris Boucher

The Toronto Raptors had asked Chris Boucher to stay ready.

It’d been two weeks since Boucher had last seen meaningful playing time for the Raptors. He’d failed to appear in six of the team’s last seven games, not even seeing garbage time minutes in all but one of those games.

But Wednesday night, Boucher got another shot. With Jontay Porter and Kelly Olynyk injured, Toronto had almost no choice. Darko Rajaković turned to the bench and called for Boucher late in the third quarter.

Boucher responded.

He gave Toronto 11 minutes off the bench, dropping 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting with four rebounds, a steal, and a block. He stuck the Raptors to a four-point lead midway through the fourth, picking off a bad pass from Ben Sheppard and laying it in. When the Pacers tried it up moments later, Boucher snagged an offensive rebound and put-back to give Toronto the late lead again.

It was the type of showing Boucher has been known for throughout his Toronto tenure. Even though it’s not always pretty, the 6-foot-9 Canadian will always be active. He’ll pop off the bench, run to the scorer's table, and bring energy to the court.

“He's putting the work in. He's great in playgroups. We had a great conversation the last couple of days of expectations from him. I still want more from him,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “I still want him to be more disciplined in some defensive execution there that we talked about during the game, and that's going to be a great challenge for him going forward, how he can improve in those areas. But definitely Chris is a player that can step on the floor and help us.”

Toronto now has a week off for the All-Star Break and the chances are Porter or Olynyk will be ready to go when the Raptors return. That might leave Boucher as the odd man out when the rotation gets put back together.

But Wednesday showed Boucher is going to stay ready. Whenever he’s called on next, he’ll be the same Chris Boucher he’s always been, bringing energy and feistiness on both ends of the court.