Toronto Raptors: Nick Nurse has answered all of his critics

Milwaukee Bucks Series

Game 1 was a great example of the Raptors’ preparation going into the series: meet Giannis Antetokounmpo at his attack point as he initiates his drives to the rim, forcing others to make plays off the dribble.

Despite dropping it late in the 4th quarter thanks to a big showing by Brook Lopez, Nick Nurse and his team came correct. It was an encouraging sign.

However, none of that preparation carried into Game 2, getting thoroughly outplayed on both ends of the floor. The Raptors gave up a plethora of open shots, allowed Antetokounmpo to gain a head-of-steam on his drives, and were unable to get into any offensive flow—which Nurse deserves blame for.

Going back home to Toronto down 2-0, it was desperation time.

Nick Nurse made a number of key adjustments to turn the tide of the series: initiating action with Siakam at the top of the key, going small in stints with Norman Powell—who was one of the x-factors of the series—and simply putting Leonard on the Greek Freak.

The defense was impressive, holding the Bucks to an offensive rating of 106.3, a slight but significant difference; they ranked 4th best in the league during the regular season at 113.5, and 5th in the playoffs with an offensive rating of 110.6.

The Raptors also managed to take the Bucks’ bigs out of the series. Lopez, Ilyasova, and Mirotic underperformed with their quick defensive rotations.

They were on a string, crashing the paint on drives, running out to shooters, while making the correct defensive reads, nearly to perfection.