3 Raptors who deserve praise for stepping up without Pascal Siakam

2. Chris Boucher

Boucher has been kept out of the starting lineup in the Siakam-less games, as Nurse valued the instant impact that the native Canadian brings off the bench. On a Raptors team that remains one of the least efficient offenses in the league, Boucher piling up the double-doubles has been a godsend.

Boucher has averaged 17.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in 29.9 minutes per game during the last five contests, piling up his third straight double-double in the win over Dallas. No player in the league over the last three years has more double-doubles off the bench than Boucher, who has achieved this feat 26 times.

Chris Boucher has saved the Toronto Raptors bench.

Boucher is making his three-year contract in free agency look like a bargain, as he has become someone that should get some legitimate Sixth Man of the Year hype if he continues performing like this. The fact that he’s been this imposing of a post presence at his size is genuinely impressive.

Boucher is back to the form he showcased in his Tampa sabbatical, which gives the Raptors the legitimate scorer off the bench that they lacked last year. The Boucher-Siakam tag team should give the Raptors some supercharged offensive lineups that could blitz through unsuspecting teams.