Collin Murray Boyles Posts 68 Points and 31 Rebounds for Raptors
Collin Murray Boyles has turned his first playoff series into a real number line: 68 points, 31 rebounds, and double figures in each of his first four postseason games. The Raptors are tied 2-2 on Sunday, and the rookie has become the first in franchise history to open a playoff run that way.
Raptors rookie surge
Boyles did it as a 20-year-old selected with the ninth pick last June, and he has done it coming off the bench. At 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, he has given Toronto a different look in a series that has already reached a 2-2 tie.
The production has come in a role that did not ask him to carry the offense as a starter. Instead, the Raptors have leaned on him as a reserve and used him to guard bigs more often than guards, a usage pattern that has fit the physicality of this series.
Darko Rajaković and Ivo Simović
Darko Rajaković pointed to work that started four or five weeks ago with assistant coach Ivo Simović on floaters. That detail matches the shot-making that has shown up in the series, where Boyles has kept scoring efficiently enough to reach 68 points while also adding 31 rebounds.
Rajaković also called him one of the most talented players he has been around. The coach tied that to learnability, not just size or athletic ability, after Boyles kept expanding his offensive range in the middle of the playoffs.
Poeltl’s back injury
The rookie’s rise has come against a practical roster backdrop for Toronto. Jakob Poeltl missed time during the regular season because of a back injury, and the Raptors have been working through that absence while Boyles has provided frontcourt minutes and production in the playoffs.
Boyles said after Game 3 that he was “Really just not being afraid of the moment,” and he described the matchup by saying, “(Those are) really good guys we’re playing against. This is a really, really good team. (They) have one of my favorite players (James Harden) on that team, so it’s just not being scared we’re going up against and really just taking it to them.” Toronto now has a rookie who has already set a franchise first and put 68 points and 31 rebounds into a series that is still level.
