Even a meaningless, late regular-season game can show so much.
Entering Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Toronto Raptors locked up the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Win or lose, nothing changes that reality.
With Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, and Serge Ibaka all sitting this game out, the Raptors bench players played their best game in the bubble, against a Bucks team without Giannis Antetokounmpo, defeating Milwaukee 114-106.
“I don’t want to get too carried away because we really haven’t used the bench too much, right?” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said to reporters via Zoom. “[We] had a couple of guys play really well tonight in a game that was absolutely meaningless and a team that wasn’t playing very hard against us. [So] I don’t want to get too carried away.”
Raptors guard Norman Powell demonstrated his impact in a potential Toronto-Milwaukee playoff series. He shot the ball with confidence all night, including this three-pointer below, en route to a 21-point performance, which included four three-pointers.
Confident Norm is the best. pic.twitter.com/dbL4UkHNcj
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) August 10, 2020
Powell also showcased his speed on offense, often driving the paint against the Bucks defenders. Here, Powell crashes the post before releasing the ball off his right hand off the high-glass for the layup. His offense Monday night was emblematic of his performance last year against the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals, where Powell averaged 12.3 PPG on a 58.6 TS%.
High kiss from Norm. Beauty. pic.twitter.com/NgHsf94psP
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) August 11, 2020
It wasn’t just Powell who disrupted the Bucks on offense. Chris Boucher and Matt Thomas each recorded career highs in points for the Raptors, scoring 25 and 22 points respectively. Thomas recorded four three-pointers on the night, including this one to end the first quarter, where he outruns Bucks point guard Drew Bledsoe, accepts the pass from OG Anunoby, before converting the contested shot from beyond the arc.
Matt Thomas. Unconscious. pic.twitter.com/pkLJMEwa19
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) August 10, 2020
Thomas also found success in the paint, shooting 9-of-17 from the field. The Bucks defenders had trouble when the Raptors forwards set screens, enabling Thomas to be open. With George Hill on Thomas, Boucher sets a screen, allowing Thomas to go to the top of the circle for the wide-open jumper.
Matt Thomas heat check. pic.twitter.com/Ct8CHNdtdw
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) August 11, 2020
Speaking of Boucher, he held his own inside against the Bucks’ big men. He employed the double-clutch numerous times in the post and used his size on the transition to blow by Ersan Ilyasova for the emphatic slam dunk. While the chances of Boucher getting valuable minutes in a Raptors-Bucks series are slim, he proved that he can hustle against the best team in the Eastern Conference.
https://twitter.com/raptorsrepublic/status/1292989818067128321
“I believe in both of them. That’s two games in a row Matt’s been (a) spark-plug in a game that really mattered and then really, really good tonight just as a basketball player,” Nurse said.
“And Chris, as well. I thought he was good against Memphis [on Sunday] too …. I guess I just don’t know really what to say other than we believe in them and there’s going to be circumstances where we need them and the first thing we’ve got to do is they need to come in and impact with energy and try to make some positive plays.
Terence Davis II, after a rough first four games in the bubble, had a bounce-back game against the Bucks with 10 points. He showed more intensity on the offensive side of the ball, not afraid to go inside for put backs. Raptors forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson also got double-digit points (11), utilizing his speed on the transition to get back and contest the Bucks shots inside the paint.
The sample size is small and Nurse reduces his rotation for more important playoff series’. But Monday’s game demonstrated the heart of the Raptors bench, a missing facet thus far in Orlando that could prove to be vital for a deep playoff run.
