With Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, there’s always a trick up his sleeve.
Nurse famously used a middle school strategy to neutralize Stephen Curry when the Raptors won their first championship. And while Curry called it “janky,” Nurse literally wears his box-and-one proudly in the form of a sweater on his charity apparel line. Innovation is his calling card, as Nurse has since introduced triangle-and-twos, two-three zones, full-court traps, and a host of other so-called gimmicks to produce the league’s second-stingiest defense this season.
That’s what makes the Raptors such a tough out. The defending champions are balanced, deep, experienced, and mentally resilient.