Raptors find a way to limit Doncic as Boucher provides spark to beat Mavericks

What to do about a player like Luka Doncic?

That was the Toronto Raptors' problem as they settled in for a rare Saturday night home game and an even more unusual 5 p.m. ET start at Scotiabank Arena.

Figuring out how to defend or at least limit Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks star has become all too routine around the NBA, and just as routinely, teams have failed as Doncic is leading the NBA in scoring, ranks third in assists and has the ball in his hands more than any player in the league.

Well, it helps when you can throw O.G. Anunoby at the problem. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound wing is one of the few defenders in the NBA who is both strong enough and mobile enough to match up with Doncic. He didn’t guard the Maverick star alone, but he was the first and often constant point of contact and gave Doncic all he could handle. Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse went as far as matching Anunoby’s minutes with Doncic’s almost to the second — including playing him 24 minutes straight in the second half on his way to 43 minutes of work.

“You just have to stay on high alert, knowing the ball is going to him, knowing that you’re probably gonna get screened, you have to fight over,” Anunoby said afterwards. “It’s always staying ready, being on high alert. It takes a lot of focus.”

The Raptors did a little bit of everything against Doncic — trapping him early to get the ball out of his hands, playing a box-and-1 and leaving Anunoby on him at all times, regardless of where the ball was, sometimes allowing Anunoby to guard him straight up and sometimes starting him off the ball so Anunoby could rotate onto Doncic.

In the end, the Raptors succeeded in doing what few other teams have done against Dallas Mavericks and Doncic in a much-needed 105-100 win: in holding him to 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds, they made the 23-year-old seem like an ordinary superstar, rather than the transcendent Hall-of-Fame bound force he’s looked like against everyone else.

More impressive? Anunoby somehow had enough energy to help carry the Raptors offensively too. He actually outscored Doncic with 26 points of his own while going 9-of-19 from the floor, grabbing nine rebounds and nabbing a pair of steals to add to his league-leading total. A pair of drives to the rim in the final 1:47 helped push the Raptors over the top in a game that was in doubt until the final seconds.

It's the kind of load that stars carry, and if Anunoby keeps this up he will start getting treated as such. He’s averaged 22 points a game in the 10 games since Toronto’s leading scorer, Pascal Siakam, went down with an injury, and he’s done without slipping defensively.

It’s exhausting, but Anunoby is up for the challenge.

“It’s just trying to do it, I guess,” he said. “It’s definitely tough, having to pick up full court, offence, trying to make some stuff happen, trying to make your shots, have the legs to do all that. It’s just mental toughness, trying to be tough.”

He’s getting noticed for his work. Doncic has played Anunoby twice this month and the Raptors forward has left an impression.

“He’s an amazing player, and I would say on both ends,” said Doncic. “I think he is the steals leader in the NBA, but offensively he got so much better. I’m impressed with his game. He’s an amazing player.”

The ultimate sign of respect? When Anunoby had a hard fall trying to defend a Doncic drive in the second half, the Mavericks star stopped and helped Anunoby up before running back on defence.

Why?

“I don’t know, I think he is probably one of the nicest dudes in the league, you know, he never talks trash, he never does anything," Doncic said. "But I tripped him not on purpose so that’s why I helped him up."

The feeling is mutual: "He’s one of the nicest guys in the league, too,” said Anunoby. “He doesn’t trash talk, either.”

The Raptors were also sparked by the return to the lineup of Fred VanVleet, who missed Wednesday's game and three of the past five with a non-COVID illness. VanVleet added 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and passed Alvin Williams for fourth all-time on the Raptors assists list (1792).

It was another exceptional game by Chris Boucher off the bench, contributing 22 points and 13 rebounds in 36 minutes. The lanky Montreal native has proven to be one of the Raptors' most consistent contributors by hitting the floor running once checking in, throwing his frame into the paint for rebounds against bigger, stronger-seeming opponents and coming up with the ball over and over again.

It was also his fourth double-double in his past six games. His fading jumper while getting fouled as the shot clock expired nearly iced the game if he hit his free throw with 30.5 seconds left. But that was perhaps his only blemish.

Boucher was once the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the G-League but at the NBA level, he’s never played like this as consistently.

“Did you see him in the G League? C’mon. He was like box office,” joked VanVleet. “But, nah, he's been on a roll, man. When he's playing good, he's playing great. He has a couple of stinkers here and there but 36 minutes, 22 and 13. He's been an incredible sparkplug for us … you gotta give him credit and just being able to show up every night and give us a spark off the bench.”

Once again the Raptors' edge on offensive rebounding — 17-4 on this night — was their primary box score differentiator. They took 88 shots to 73 for Dallas, making up for the Mavericks shooting 47.9 per cent from the field to the Raptors' 43.2 per cent, and for Dallas making more threes (11-8). Toronto made 21 free throws to 19 for Dallas.

Toronto was at least a little healthier than they’ve been with at least VanVleet returning. Dalano Banton (illness) remained out, while also missing were Scottie Barnes (knee), Precious Achiuwa (ankle) and Pascal Siakam (groin).

Defensively the Raptors showed the card early and often, doubling Doncic a few steps over centre on his first touch and never really veering from the tactic for most of the first half, at least. They even took a step further by leaving Anunoby beside the Mavericks star after he passed the ball on many possessions.

If the measure of success was how well they did keeping the NBA’s leading scorer (34 points per game) below his average, the early returns were good. Doncic finished the first half with 11 points, four assists and four rebounds, which included a long step-back three he hit just before the horn at the half. The Raptors led 54-52 at that point, overcoming a 22-7 hole they dug themselves to start the game.

Toronto needed a spark and Boucher put his imprint on the game early. The floundering Raptors were trailing 22-7 midway through the first quarter as the trade-off of containing Doncic only to surrender open threes everywhere else seemed to be a poor calculation.

But then Boucher began his hustling assault. He scored on a putback, rebounding his own miss. Made a steal and went full court for a lay-up. Hit on a fadeaway jumper late in the clock and then scored on another putback.

It was the tonic the lifeless Raptors needed as Toronto was able to pull themselves back into the game and trailed 29-24 at the end of the first quarter.

In the third quarter, Anunoby kept forcing his way to the rim, and VanVleet got to the line and the pair combined for 16 points in the third quarter to give Toronto an 81-73 lead to start the fourth.

The Raptors were able to hang on from there while keeping Doncic largely in check. It’s not something many teams can say they’ve done this season, but Toronto pulled it off and was rewarded where it matters most.