After playing every Toronto Raptors starter at least 39 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night — including Pascal Siakam, in just his fourth game since returning from injury — coach Nick Nurse is hoping to get some reliable performance from his bench crew, who have been unable to do anything except earn the ire of their mild-mannered coach.
Capitalizing on an easy late-October, early-November schedule, the Raptors were able to string together a five game win streak to erase a sketchy start to the season. However, inefficient bench play, intermittent injuries to key players like Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes, and the reintroduction to key offensive piece Pascal Siakam has led to some strange effects over the recent skid.