Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Nick Nurse Says He'll "Reflect" on His Future as Inconsistency Plagues Raptors in Loss to 76ers
Changes are coming for the Toronto Raptors. It feels inevitable.
At some point in the next couple weeks, this Toronto’s season is going to come to an end. The Raptors will do what they set out to do at the trade deadline, qualify for the play-in tournament, and maybe even earn a playoff spot. Will it have been worth it? Probably not.
After three less-than-impressive victories against a pair of tanking teams and a Miami Heat team missing its best player, Toronto showed why this season has been so up-and-down with another inconsistent performance, this one a 117-110 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
That, however, wasn’t even the low point Friday.
Just before tipoff, Raptors coach Nick Nurse addressed the rumors of his potential departure this summer, as the Toronto Star’s Doug Smith reported Thursday. Chatter around the league has reportedly connected Nurse to the Houston Rockets who are likely to be looking for a new coach in the offseason.
“First of all, I think when this season gets done, we'll evaluate everything, and even personally, I'm gonna take a few weeks to see where I'm at,” Nurse told reporters in Philadelphia. “It's been 10 years for me now, which is a pretty good run.”
Not the most reassuring comments with five games to go in the season.
“I’m concentrated on this job, for sure, and this game, essentially,” Nurse continued pre-game. “But I think 10 years is a good time to sit back and reflect a little bit. So I think we're going to do that all when the season ends."
The Raptors responded with their worst first half of the season. The defense just never showed up. Even with Jakob Poeltl to matchup up against Joel Embiid, the 76ers’ MVP candidate bullied Toronto in the paint with 14 of his 25 points before the break.
When he sat, things got even uglier as James Harden put the 76ers up double digits with a pair of three-pointers alongside a hodgepodge of second-unit players. For a team that’s been so successful taking advantage of the Embiid-less minutes against Philadelphia, Friday was a disaster for the Raptors.
The 76ers set a franchise record, shooting 76.9% from the field in the first half, en route to a 77-57 lead over Toronto heading into the half. It could have been a lot uglier too if not for an impressive start from Scottie Barnes who picked up where he left off on Wednesday night, once again looking aggressive early and using his playmaking chops to create for others.
Toronto did respond in the second half, making things far more interesting. The defense picked up to start the third quarter as the Raptors began aggressively double-teaming Embiid and used Anunoby as his primary defender more often. A 12-0 run to start the quarter allowed the Raptors to pull within seven.
Even when the 76ers’ responded, Toronto had a counter punch, opening the fourth quarter with another run, this time finding success against Philadelphia’s second unit without Embiid. Fred VanVleet found Anunoby in the corner for three without a kick-out pass from deep in the paint. Barnes beat Harden with a turnaround jumper in the low post and a three from VanVleet allowed Toronto to inch within three.
The Raptors would pull as close as two points but a pair of offensive fouls from VanVleet before a turnover and a bucket from Harden over Anunoby gave the 76ers breathing room again.
The silver lining in it all of this is Barnes continues to shine and should be in Toronto for a very long time. He was excellent throughout, dropping 29 points to go with eight assists and eight rebounds.
But everything else seems to be in flux for a team that appears to have a first-round out ceiling and potentially a new coach on the way for next season.
Up Next: Charlotte Hornets
The Raptors will continue their five-game road trip with a pair in Charlotte starting Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET.
