ORLANDO, FLA.—The other night in Toronto, with the Raptors up 30 points and a little more than nine minutes remaining in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series with the Orlando Magic, Toronto coach Nick Nurse might have considered a wholesale substitution.
At that point, with Toronto cruising to a win that would deadlock the series 1-1 heading into Friday’s Game 3, why not stash the starters on the bench? This is the season, after all, that’s seen “load management” become a staple of Toronto’s basketball lexicon, an era in which rest and recovery are prized as sacred NBA commodities.