Nick Nurse, Joel Embiid have heated exchange after Raptors loss

The Toronto Raptors have spent the last two spurts of game time getting absolutely pummeled into submission by Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. The first two games of their series have seen Toronto get beat by a combined 35 points, as their much-vaunted defense has eroded.

The performance of Embiid might be the biggest reason for that sudden decline. On top of the fact that Embiid is averaging 25 points and 13 rebounds per game in this series, his ability to get Toronto into foul trouble has helped him shoot 25 free throws over the first two games of the series.

Nurse is understandably getting frustrated with Embiid’s whistle, as he has already made perfectly clear in postgame quotes. He also tried to go straight to the course and let Embiid know exactly what he thinks about his style of play in this series.

Nurse was seen having a very animated confrontation with the 76ers’ star in the closing minutes of the Game 2 loss. Based on what both parties had to say about the incident right after the game, it sounds like one of those two is deliberately misconstruing what happened in that chat.

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse had words for Joel Embiid.

Nurse said that Embiid told him that he is “gonna keep making all of my free throws if you keep fouling me” in response to his long night at the charity stripe. Nurse said that Embiid “might have to,” acknowledging what a fantastic offensive player the 2021-22 scoring champ can be.

Embiid said that he told Nurse to “stop b****ing” about calls in the most diplomatic way that such a message could be conveyed. Defending Embiid in the post with a smaller roster is nearly impossible without such a quick whistle, so it’s understandable why Nurse is at his wit’s end here.

While players like Tyrese Maxey and James Harden have been very difficult for Toronto to corral so far, the Raptors are going to continue getting bludgeoned unless they figure out how to prevent Embiid from getting to the line as frequently as he has been. His success has caused Toronto’s defensive principles to erode.

A defense that prided itself on causing turnovers and creating confusion is getting smacked around by the powerful Embiid and his cats of role players. Nurse is likely running out of options when it comes to defending Embiid, so he needs to think of something before Toronto’s season comes to an unceremonious end.