Imago
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse directs his team during the second half of game seven of the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Imago
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse directs his team during the second half of game seven of the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Toronto Raptors had an admirable attempt at defending their NBA Championship. However, they looked outmatched from game one of this series against the Boston Celtics. They managed to get a Game 7, but that is where it ended for the Raptors title defense. Despite the leadership of Kyle Lowry, the failings of star forward Pascal Siakam ultimately became the tipping point in the series.
Despite the elimination, Toronto can take positives from this season. Raptors Head Coach Nick Nurse spoke to the media after the loss and recapped the series and their season.
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Nurse: "I don't think we got hung up on winning the title last year and I think we just tried to max out what we could do, and for the most part we did. Listen, we didn't play great in this series, there's no denying that, but pretty much everything else we did we played awesome"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) September 12, 2020
Nurse also talks about his bond with this team. He was full of praise, despite the defeat, and acknowledged that they were within a playoff pulling off this series comeback, but ultimately fell short.
Nurse: "This team's played fantastically, like wonderfully, amazing. We just hit a little bad moment, where we did everything we possibly could physically and mentally to work through it, and we almost pulled it off but we couldn't do it"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) September 12, 2020
The Raptors had a very impressive campaign this season. They weren’t pegged for the success that they had, but still gave an admirable fight. Boston and Miami were definitely not the two teams people thought at the start of the season for the Eastern Conference crown.
Toronto Raptors plans for next season?
While the start of the next season is still yet to be known, the Raptors may look different. Nurse acknowledged that he had a great two-year run with this core, meaning changes may be afoot. Three of their top six players are free agents this off season. This includes Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Fred VanVleet.
VanVleet may need a bump in salary after his unexpected rise in the last two years. Considering Toronto’s money is backed up in contracts for Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam, the Raptors may have to find a workaround. Ibaka and Gasol are old, so they may take a reduced salary to return, but that might just stagnate the team.
Masai Ujiri has some decisions to make this off-season, to give the team a chance at the title. However, the development of Pascal Siakam should also be a priority after his failure in these Playoffs.
