Raptors dig deep into bench to gut one out in Indy

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It wasn’t the prettiest game of basketball, but whatever the scheduling denied the paying customers the Raptors tried to give back in grit and determination.

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The visitors had plenty of both in overcoming a poor shooting night and those heavy legs to pull out a 97-94 win.

It was the second hang-on-for-dear-life win by the Raptors, but a win nonetheless, as the Raptors moved over .500 for the first time this season with a 4-3 record.

The Raptors were led by Scottie Barnes’ 21 points and 12 rebounds, including two clutch free throws in the final minute to give the Raps a little breathing room. The prized rookie also finished the game in some pain. His right hand or thumb appeared to have taken a knock in the dying seconds and Barnes was visibly wincing as the game finished.

X-rays taken after the game on Barnes thumb were negative, but it’s unknown at this point whether the injury will cost him any time. The Raptors play again Monday in New York.

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As for Barnes’ play, well, Nurse is happy with what he is seeing, but he still thinks there’s a lot more to come.

“Seventeen shots in a game for him is quite a few, I love it,” Nurse said. “It’s quite a few but it’s not enough. It is but just kind of his history, he’s not a high volume shot-taker, so learning what he can do and different things he can do, I think we’re all kind of seeing what that is.

“He’s showing a nice ability to drive it coast-to-coast, he’s shown a decent kinda mid-range pull-up game when they stay off him, he’s shown a little bit of, I’m not going to say a back-to-the-basket game, it’s almost a side to the basket,” Nurse said. “He gets his body between him and the man and he gets his long reach up over the top of people. And he’s got a pretty good knack of chasing his own misses as well. That’s what I’ve seen so far.”

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Both teams were on a back-to-back and the effects were obvious.

Where the Pacers benefited from the return to the court of Caris LeVert, who had been out with a back injury and had not played and therefore brought fresh legs, the Raptors had to look to their bench for that boost.

They found it in the first half in Svi Mykhailiuk. The young, but well travelled 24-year-old has more to his game than many probably realized and he put a little bit of it on display in that second quarter, finishing the first half with a Raptors-high 11 points.

Mykhailiuk went behind his back in traffic, he switched hands in mid-air on the drive finishing with his off-hand. He was must-see entertainment, particularly in that second quarter when the Raptors needed him most.

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Without his contributions and wizardry the Raptors don’t get to the second half down just a single point.

But where LeVert was on a minutes restriction and either used all those minutes up in the first half or possibly had that bad back tighten up on him, Mykhailiuk had no such limitations.

LeVert did not return to the court in the second half while Mykhailiuk continued to contribute.

He would finish with 16 points, two assists and four rebounds in his best game in a Raptors uniform but well off his career high of 25 points he set last season in a Pistons uniform.

OUT OF THE DOG HOUSE

Chris Boucher got called out by his coach rather publicly a few nights ago for not living up to the player that he can be. Two games later, Boucher appears to have received the message and made the necessary corrections.

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“I thought he had some great speed, he just hustled back into some plays defensively, obviously he hit his shot,” Nurse said before the Raptors took the floor last night in Indianapolis. “I thought he was getting closer to looking like the Chris that we’re used to seeing, which is great. I think he’s just gonna keep improving from there. I really thought he had a good game (Friday) night.”

Boucher is No. 4 on this team in terms of experience within the system behind just Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. Nurse saw him take a big jump a year ago in Tampa and needs to see him continue to make those strides.

“Chris is an important player to us,” Nurse said. “He’s one of these guys that’s been out there proving he can be a difference-maker and an x-factor type of guy and he’s been proving it for a while now. “We’ve been kinda just missing that,” Nurse said. “So it’s nice to get him back in more of his groove and he’s kind of a big play maker. He blocks shots, he blocks three-point attempts, he’ll hit a three and maybe string a couple up in a row, he’ll get a tip dunk. He kind of makes loud plays, and sometimes those can give us a spark and (get) some momentum started.”

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SECOND UNIT DEVELOPMENT

The easy answer to how much Nurse and the Raptors will be able to depend on their second unit won’t come until Siakam returns.

Until then we won’t really know who is in that second unit.

Does Gary Trent Jr. come out of the starting five to join the bench group? Maybe it’s Precious Achiuwa?

For two games, though, Nurse has liked what he has seen from his bench. But the tinkering process is ongoing. Is Goran Dragic really going to waste away on the end of the bench until this team moves him or buys him out? That’s hardly an efficient use of an asset.

In any event, Nurse knows that while he’s found some decent chemistry in the Canadian trio of Dalano Banton, Boucher and Khem Birch that he has been throwing out there at the end of the first quarter and to start the second, he’s far from done experimenting.

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In addition to Dragic, Nurse has Malachi Flynn to add to that group should he choose as well as a Sam Dekker or even Justin Champagnie who looked so good in the pre-season.

“It’s been a little better the last two games but I wouldn’t go to bank on a two game sample right now,” Nurse said. “But hopefully, hopefully, it’s something we can build on …. It seems like there’s probably some more experimenting and tinkering that will happen and depending on who we play and situations that’ll change that stuff. So we’ve tinkered a lot here in the early season and I would imagine that isn’t done quite yet.”

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