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The next morning, once the heartbeat returned to normal and the screaming stopped and the Raptors-Celtics playoff series got much more interesting and unpredictable, Nick Nurse was interrupted by a buzzing cell phone.
Brendan Brown was on the line and thanked the Raptors coach and said, “I felt like my dad had a chance to be in the bubble for a moment.”
That dad is Hubie Brown, a longtime Hall of Famer and coach and current TV commentator who, because he’s 86 years old and there’s a pandemic, had to sit on this reboot. And in part because of Brown, the defending champs were saved from the brink of elimination.
Instead, they’re only trailing the Celtics 2-1 after Nurse crafted a Game 3 play that threw an unlikely three-point buzzer. In terms of impact and story, OG Anunoby’s shot won’t replace Kawhi Leonard’s iconic rebound from the rim that sent the Raptors to the Eastern Conference finals a year ago, but it saved Toronto’s season nonetheless.
0:16
“We were desperate, man,” said the nurse.
After the game, Nurse casually mentioned to the media how she discovered that play in an old Hubie Brown instructional video. Toronto had just half a second for Kyle Lowry to enter the ball and launch a pass that traveled across the court to a wide-open Anunoby, who sneaked behind the Boston defense and released just before time expired.
Nurse is the newly named NBA Coach of the Year for bringing the Raptors back into the title mix despite losing Leonard last summer in free agency. The nurse is known to occasionally use methods considered unconventional or obsolete and bring them to life. Such as: In the Finals last year, Nurse surprised Warriors point guard Steph Curry with a box-and-one, a defensive tactic designed to stop a player and limited primarily to youth basketball.
A few years earlier, Nurse had been invited to Brown’s house and shyly approached the door, wondering if he belonged.
“I got there early in the morning and we spent the whole day talking about basketball,” the nurse said.
“Then last year in the playoffs, I got a chance to sit with him during that race because he was doing our games on TV. He’s one of the best. It was weird for me sitting there talking to Hubie, you know? What do I mean? He was a young coach. I mean, it was a date to see him announce games. Because I felt like I was learning a lot from him. “
4:17
There are moments in almost every playoff series, especially the highly contested ones, that freeze in time and flip the switch. The Raptors hope that shot will change the vibe in this second-round series that, until it was over, had belonged to Boston.
The proud defending champs had little response to the tactics, execution and energy displayed by the Celtics, who are deep and well paired with Toronto and causing trouble, starting with Jayson Tatum but not limited to that All-Star.
Now, there is a new style in the Raptors and drama in this series. And aside from the shot, some of this is down to Lowry, the team leader, and the spiritual heartbeat. He shook off a knee in the groin from Game 3 to deftly throw the pass into the field over Celtics center Tacko Fall, who is a foot taller. But his determination was evident long before; Lowry broke free from a pair of games below par, where he was outscored by Celtics guard Kemba Walker to surrender 31 points and burn 46 minutes Thursday.
It can be argued that Lowry is the most important player in franchise history, if he has not supplanted Vince Carter for being the best.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone play harder,” Nurse said. “And that’s wherever he’s trained. I don’t know of a bigger compliment he can give the boy than that.”
3:01
These are challenging times for the Raptors, especially against the only team that defeated them during this reboot. Boston won once on the seeded schedule and looked impressive while taking the top two of this series. That said, with the exception of the Bucks, the Raptors were the most consistent team in the East all year, a slight surprise considering the loss of Leonard.
And now they must rediscover what has worked well for them prior to this series. A good start is Pascal Siakam, who took on the role of Kawhi and had a standout season in which he became an All-Star, but is shooting below 40 percent (and less than 30 percent from deep) and he’s still looking for a signature performance in the playoffs.
Norman Powell and Marc Gasol, as of Thursday night, also suffered frequent disappearances, and in addition to Fred VanVleet, there have been inconsistencies by others in the rotation.
“When you’re not playing that well, either individually or collectively, (we) had to start making some shots,” Nurse said.
“It was just a better performance on our part, which I would find encouraging. It’s a little bit more of who we are and who we’re used to being. For some reason, we weren’t playing ourselves. Making excuses to get our butts kicked. We needed to play better, it seems we are ready to start playing better.
“Give the Celtics credit, they’re playing great, they’re interrupting. Boston played great. They’re really good, they have tons of talent and shooting. They brought it to us and we didn’t get any response.” . They have been playing very well and I imagine they will continue to play very well, maybe a little harder. When you are upset, as I am sure you are now, you become more aggressive. That would be a natural response from them after that game. “
NBA Live: Toronto @ Boston GM4
Saturday September 5 11:30 pm
The Raptors know what they just did. They kept this series from ending. Going down 0-3 in a best of seven means you start your engine on the bus ride home. Not that Toronto is off the grid yet; Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart are a huge hurdle to overcome.
What the Raptors need to do is bring a game face to Saturday’s contest, similar to the nothing important expression that Anunoby wore right after taking that shot. The young forward turned casually and walked towards the Toronto bench without any joy, as if nothing had happened.
“That has to be one of the most classic reactions of all time,” Nurse said. “I remember another one that was similar, when Larry Bird was a coach (with the Pacers). I think it was probably Reggie (Miller) who stepped back three to win the game and Larry didn’t move, he didn’t blink. It’s a cool moment and it’s good for our team. “
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