Siakam Leads Raptors Over Hornets

Pascal Siakam led his team 22 points and the Toronto Raptors rallied from an up and down first quarter to roll past the Charlotte Hornets 120-100 on Tuesday night.

Toronto has been victorious in five of their last six games, improving to 40-39 on the season and solidifying their place in the NBA play-in tournament.

The Raptors went on an extended 19-0 run during a stretch late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter after Charlotte crept within five points, 80-75 with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Siakam also had 14 boards and was joined in double figures by Chris Boucher (21 points), Will Barton (20), O.G. Anunoby (17), Fred VanVleet (16), Precious Achiuwa (12) and Jakob Poeltl (10).
The Hornets were led by Bryce McGowens’ career-high 20 points. Nick Richards had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Svi Mykhailiuk had 17 points, JT Thor 13 and Theo Maledon 13.

The Hornets (26-54) are without eight players due to injury: LaMelo Ball (right ankle surgery), Gordon Hayward (left thumb sprain), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left shoulder sprain), Terry Rozier (right foot injury), Dennis Smith Jr. (right toe sprain), P.J. Washington (right foot sprain) and Mark Williams (left ankle sprain).

Toronto’s 36-20 second quarter was engineered by reserves Boucher and Barton, who combined for nine triples.

“We weren’t that sluggish,” Toronto coach Nick Nurse said of the early Charlotte leads. “They were just really fast, and we weren’t as fast as they were. I just kept saying, ‘They’re really moving’ so we had to pick it up a half-notch. We switched to zone and got a bunch of stops in a row and obviously got the … 3-ball going. Fifteen out of 33 is a really good night on 3-pointers.”

Boucher said Barton, who knocked down six of his nine 3-pointers, really helped the Raptors space the floor in its victory.

“We need that off the bench,” Boucher said of Barton’s production. “The more guys we have that can do things will help. They got Will here for a reason. They know what he can do and today was just a peek at what he can do.”

Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said Toronto’s defense, that created 22 points off 18 turnovers, was a huge difference-maker.

“Ball pressure and passing lane pressure led to live-ball turnovers,” Clifford said. “It was 22-10 in points off turnovers.”

Boucher’s big night came one day after he announced a scholarship program to help his community and young people growing up like he did.

According to Monday’s Toronto Star, Boucher grew up in abject poverty, was once homeless, dropped out of school and washed dishes at restaurants.

Now a key to the Raptors’ rotation who has a three-year, $35 million contract, the Star says he is using “an undisclosed amount of money disbursed through his SlimmDuck Foundation” to launch a scholarship program that will offer financial support to five students of Caribbean descent. For each of the next five years, a scholarship will be offered to a student with financial hardships who wants to pursue a university degree.

“It’s something I wanted to do for a long time,” Boucher said after Tuesday’s game. “It was just finding the opportunity. I want to help the people that struggle when they move to Canada.”

Raptors: Barton is one of the more veteran players on the Raptors’ roster with 11 years of NBA experience under his belt, which includes 29 playoff games with nine starts. But he has played in 12 games with Toronto since being signed as free agent on February 28 and he had missed the previous three games with a left ankle sprain. “I guess we’re going to have to figure that out in the next four games that we have left,” Toronto coach Nick Nurse said of Barton’s role.

Hornets: Clifford started his 26th different starting lineup Tuesday. It is the third-most lineups in franchise history, behind the 2005-06 and 2006-07 Charlotte Bobcats, which used 28 different starters.

The Raptors are at Boston to take on Jayson Tatum and the Celtics on Wednesday.

The Hornets host Jalen Green and the Houston Rockets on Friday.