Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors were not given the opportunity to ease their way back into a groove following the Christmas break, as a matchup with franchise icon Kawhi Leonard and the always dangerous Los Angeles Clippers was next up on the docket. Their offensive firepower is frightening.
The Raptors were only down by four at halftime, as Gary Trent Jr. and Scottie Barnes were doing everything they could to keep pace with LA despite Pascal Siakam making just two of his first 12 shots from the field. Toronto needed every single point to hang with Paul George and the motivated Norman Powell in this matchup.
Some of Nurse’s recent tweaks have worked out for the better, including moving Trent to the bench and reinserting Malachi Flynn into the rotation. Some of them don’t seem to be helping the team win, yet Nurse continues to hammer them home and force them to work.
The Raptors lost to the Clippers because of Nurse’s inflexibility and bizarre in-game decisions. These last few weeks have not been kind to Nurse overall, with these big mistakes serving as eyesores that only got an irritated fanbase even more jaded.
3 mistakes Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse made in loss to Clippers.
3. Trusting Juancho Hernangomez.
The first big mistake that Nurse made was not only starting Hernangomez, but giving him the green light to shoot from deep to open up the third quarter. The Raptors made three of their first five 3-point attempts. However, they proceeded to make just two of their next 15.
Hernangomez chucking the ball in the manner he did utterly killed all the momentum Toronto had coming out of the half, helping the Clippers start to pull away. In nine minutes, Hernangomez was scoreless, further questioning his inclusion in the starting lineup.
The Toronto Raptors must bench Juancho Hernangomez.
The Raptors are paying Hernangomez to shoot, and he’s making just 29% of his 3-pointers. While he’s been better in the paint than many expected, he remains a poor defender and a player that has puzzlingly muscled into the starting lineup despite an incongruous fit.
In an ideal situation, Hernangomez will go back to the bench, playing just a few minutes per game. However, if Bo Cruz is going to play with the efficiency of an actor who has been hastily thrown onto an NBA floor with live bullets flying overhead, he could drop out of the rotation for the second time this season.
Expect more stories about him being “frustrated” with playing time if this does not vanish.
2. Not relying on Chris Boucher.
After signing a three-year contract in free agency that affirmed Boucher as one of the key components of this Raptors team in the immediate and long-term future, Toronto has handled him very bizarrely. Despite serving as the team’s Sixth Man early in the season, he’s ended up back in the doghouse.
Boucher was given a DNP-CD in the victory against Cleveland, and he played in nine uneventful minutes without attempting a shot against Los Angeles. With precious Achiwua coming back soon, Boucher may be excommunicated entirely from the rotation.
The Toronto Raptors must use Chris Boucher.
Boucher may not be the perfect solution to all of the problems that the Raptors are currently trying to work through, but it seems odd that they would hold him up as a paragon of success and the benefits of their developmental system and then bench him amid a playoff push.
While he hasn’t been at his best lately, it’s foolish to assume that he was performing so poorly it was costing Toronto games. Perhaps the Clippers wouldn’t have had whatever they wanted in the paint if the Raptors utilized Boucher in a more effective role on Tuesday night.
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.