Chris Boucher , 32, spent seven seasons with the Raptors before playing for the Celtics.
Chris Boucher , 32, spent seven seasons with the Raptors before playing for the Celtics.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Chris Boucher saw the bigger PJ Hall step to Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez after Gonzalez made a clean block of a Jaylen Wells floater and made incidental contact.
Hall was trying to be an enforcer for his point guard. Boucher stepped to Hall quickly, becoming an enforcer for his 19-year-old teammate. Boucher squashed the situation, letting Hall know that Gonzalez is not to be messed with. It’s what older vets do, protect their young teammates, stymie the intimidation tactics and head games that accompany learning the NBA game.
The Celtics haven’t had a real enforcer since the days of Marcus Smart. There have been times in which Jaylen Brown confronted opponents, especially when they tried bullying Jayson Tatum. But Boucher’s instant protection of Gonzalez was an encouraging sign for a Celtics team trying to gain chemistry and cohesion with so many new and younger players.
Gonzalez plays hard and has extensive international experience but this is the NBA. There’s constant trash talk, sneaky elbows and threats as a means of seizing the mental edge. Gonzalez is just trying to ball, learn his new American environment and gain playing time.
Boucher, now the oldest member of the roster at 32, has assigned himself the responsibility of protecting his teammates and being a strong veteran presence on a team that lost three 30-somethings in the offseason.
“To me, it’s like Hugo is my rookie and I don’t know who you are (Hall) but you’re not wearing a green jersey, meaning you’re against us so that’s what’s going to happen,” Boucher said.
Boucher spent seven seasons with the Raptors, developing from an undrafted free agent into a dependable reserve on an NBA championship team. He comes to a Boston team that has a frontcourt and leadership need.
“Through the years Kyle (Lowry) did that for me, Serge (Ibaka) would have done that for me my first year,” he said. “Now that I’m in the position to do that, I’m doing the same thing. I kind of protect everybody and if it has to be me, then it is what it is.”
Playing against his former team Friday, Boucher put on a show, scoring 19 points in 23 minutes on 7-for-10 shooting. Boucher is 6-foot-9 and has the ability to shoot from the perimeter, He gives the Celtics a needed element in Joe Mazzulla’s offense. He has only started 23 of his 407 career NBA games but Boucher is a likely starter this season at power forward. An encouraging sign is how quickly Boucher is adapting to playing for the Celtics, despite years of playing for the rival Raptors.
“Wearing green was not weird, it was more the entrance, seeing my (former) teammates on the other side,” Boucher said. “It just kind of played in my head that I was on a different team. For the first time I definitely felt nervous. When you walk into a unique situation you don’t really know what’s going to happen and I think that’s something that makes you nervous a little bit.”
Mazzulla appreciates Boucher’s off-court contributions because they are needed. The Celtics are a dramatically different team than in years past. The Celtics have three rookie two-way players while Hugo Gonzalez, Josh Minott and Jordan Walsh are aged 22 and under. This is a young team that needs leadership and that responsibility can’t fall solely on the shoulders of Brown and Tatum.
“He’s been great,” Mazzulla said of Boucher. “The basketball stuff is whatever but I got a chance to know him and his family off the court and he just cares. He’s just a guy that cares about winning, cares about people and takes pride in his work ethic.
“There’s few guys that take no plays off whether it’s shootaround or the game and that game is one of them. It’s impressive at 32 years old to have the energy he does on and off the court.”
Celtics are still trying to find an identity and so far it’s been a harmonious but competitive training camp because the players realize what’s at stake. While Tatum is around the team and posting video of two-handed dunks, he’s still unavailable to play. The prognosticators have picked Boston to compete amongst the play-in teams.
For the first two preseason games the Celtics have played at a breakneck pace, hoping to cause defensive havoc and using athleticism to score. It’s worked mostly over the two games, except for that disastrous fourth quarter in Friday’s 107-105 loss to Toronto.
What is also emerging are new contributors, new leaders like Boucher and more reason for optimism that this won’t be relegated to a transition season until Tatum returns.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.