Officiating frustrates Nurse: 'I don't think I've ever seen a game like that'
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was irate following his team’s 112-106 loss to the Boston Celtics, pointing out what he believed to be inconsistent officiating throughout the contest.
"We had 10 offensive fouls tonight. I don't think I've ever seen a game like that before,” Nurse told reporters post-game.
Nurse was also particularly frustrated over losing a late coach’s challenge, his second of the season. With the game still in the balance at 110-106 in favor of the Celtics and just over 90 seconds remaining, Raptors forward OG Anunoby looked to attack Kemba Walker but the Boston guard positioned himself ahead of Anunoby and made the most of his fall. Anunoby was called for the charge, prompting Nurse to immediately review the play.
“I'm 0-for-2 on challenges and I can't believe it. I don't know what I'm doing wrong here,” Nurse said after the game.
rebounds, turnovers, marc. thats how the game was lost.
— William Lou (@william_lou) October 26, 2019
Despite not getting the call overturned, the Raptors got consecutive stops immediately after, turned the ball over, then gave up two offensive rebounds to cost themselves an opportunity to get back on level terms. They had 23 turnovers for the game, along with 21 offensive rebounds allowed, so it’s a hard case Nurse tries to make about the officiating.
The Raptors allowed a 35.3% offensive rebound rate, per Cleaning the Glass, to a Celtics team that didn't have Enes Kanter and got 15 minutes from a hobbled Daniel Theis. 15 offensive boards between Tatum, Hayward, Kemba and Grant Williams. Brutal.
— Vivek Jacob (@VivekMJacob) October 26, 2019
The Raptors simply didn’t do enough on the road to defeat the Celtics on this night.
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