Toronto Raptors: Nick Nurse has answered all of his critics

Orlando Magic Series

After dropping Game 1, Nurse told his team a simple message: they’ve got to play a lot harder.

After what apparently was a lengthy, riled up film session, Nurse’s team listened, turning the metre up a notch in the remainder of the series.

Coach Nurse designed an impressive defensive game plan against All-Star centre, Nikola Vucevic, crashing the paint, doubling on the catch, and positioning his lineup to prevent Vucevic from catching the ball in his hot spots.

Vucevic, who was a 20-and-12 guy throughout the regular season, was limited to 11.2 points, 8.0 rebounds on 44-percent Trueshooting.

With no lack of credit for Marc Gasol’s defense against Vucevic, Coach Nurse and his staff’s defensive scheme was successful in limiting his scoring chances.

Toronto also managed to cool down former Raptor, Terrence Ross, who had been walking into the postseason on a hot streak, scoring +20 points in his last four prior to the post-season, with a season-high 35 in his last appearance of the regular season.

After D.J. Augustin’s impressive Game 1 performance, no one else was capable of stepping up to the plate, dropping four straight to the Raptors and finishing the series in five games.