“Out Of Rhythm”: Nick Nurse Reflects on the Major Disappointment for the Raptors Inside the Bubble

After registering back-to-back victories, the Toronto Raptors suffered a 22-point defeat in Game 5 against the Celtics. The Raptors looked uninspired, and Pascal Siakam failed to step in a game that demanded his dominating presence, yet again.

As a result, Head Coach Nick Nurse was left wondering about his inconsistency in the 2020 NBA Playoffs. 

The reason why there was so much hope riding on Pascal Siakam was due to his robust performance in Game 4. The 26-year-old registered 23.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in the previous game where the Raptors outplayed the Celtics. 

But he just wasn’t feeling it in Game 5, and his stats backed this statement up. Siakam played 29 minutes and only scored 10.0 points and a meager four rebounds. His sub-par display entered the overflowing list of Raptors’ players underperforming. 

Nurse commented on Siakam’s disappointing performance and his inability to deliver in a game where a lot was riding on his back, “I’m not sure why he’s been so out of rhythm since the restart.

“He hasn’t had a lot of great games… It’s too bad because he was spectacular in last year’s playoffs & he was spectacular all season long. We still have games to go. Hopefully he can get his rhythm.”  

Serge Ibaka went off at Kyle Lowry when the Raptors were close to facing humiliation

The Celtics dominated so much that five of their players had more first-half points that any of the Raptors. Moreover, a tremendous defensive display locked the Raptors from moving the ball freely, which caused their game to drop. 

To add to their insult, the Raptors picked up a lot of fouls, most of them which Kyle Lowry believed should have not been called. He engaged in constant arguments with the officials about the same. The refs eventually slammed him with a technical foul late in the third quarter. 

Serge Ibaka, who was right opposite to Kyle Lowry, was left agitated after watching his teammate’s reckless attitude. With the game already slipping away from them, Ibaka felt the need for Lowry to focus on the game and not target the referees for their misjudgments.

B/R’s Taylor Rooks posted the heated incident on her Twitter handle where Ibaka can allegedly be heard saying: “Come on man, we’re losing!” 

Things went downhill for the Raptors right from get-go and they failed to regroup after a point. The Celtics capitalized and produced a brilliant game out of their hats.

With this win, they head into the upcoming game with plenty of confidence as compared to the Raptors, who would be beating themselves up over the defeat.