Raptors: 3 fatal mistakes Nick Nurse made in humbling Clippers loss

1. Failing to plan for Ivica Zubac

The Raptors’ philosophy on both ends only comes together if they can crash the offensive glass, as it can help them overcome their shooting woes. While Zubac does have height on his side, a team that has limited Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley regularly shouldn’t look this pathetic against him.

Zubac scored 23 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive. While stopping Kawhi Leonard and Paul George obviously should have been the focus, Nurse never seemed like he was able to construct a game plan that limited Zubac’s effectiveness. Zubac helped swing the game toward LA.

Ivica Zubac dominated the Toronto Raptors.

Bigger centers like Zubac have given the team trouble all year long, but it’s almost like Nurse didn’t even try to vary how the team attacked. Christian Koloko and Khem Birch had limited success, but they were quickly abandoned. Perhaps Boucher may have helped due to his rebounding energy.

While Zubac is having another excellent season, he’s not the type of big man who should completely destabilize a team fresh off winning two straight-road games. Future Raptors opponents are likely eyeing what Ty Lue did in this game as they try to figure out the most effective way to grind this defense down.