Game #73 Thunder (42-30) @ Raptors (51-21) Friday March 22nd 2019. SN 4:30pm (Whitehorse) 7:30pm (Toronto) 7:30am (Taipei)

[Jclaw]

Excuses or not, OKC had a lot more to gain from a win. Raptors are just chugging along trying to get healthy for the Playoffs.

Have to agree with this. Raps played their system. Got out to a reasonable lead in the third quarter. And then a team with everything to win for kept trying while a team that has nothing to play for took its foot off the gas. I know it seems late to say this so late in the season but it’s really process over results for the rest of the season.

[golden]

You really believe the coach's rep matters more than the players in regards to getting foul calls?

"Holding the refs accountable" matters a lot to superstar players. Kyrie Irving's comments on Doc Rivers:

Irving said. “My only thing is they stay on the refs the entire game, I’ve never seen a team complain that much, but he really holds them to a standard and lets them go out and play.”

I noticed the same thing about Doc Rivers and Popovich over the years. They over-react to some minor call against their team in the 1st quarter or early 2nd quarter, instead of letting a mountain of bad calls build up into having one of your players or the coach have to take a frustration tech late in a close game. Also the body language when complaining ... refs are clearly intimidated by Pop & Doc, while Nurse barely even makes eye contact half the time. The fear and respect isn't there, so Lowry usually ends up having to fight with the refs for our team.

https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-new...with-clippers/

[G__Deane]

You’ve been a fan of this game Dean so I have no doubt that you know these things. Using the word “more” does not quantify it. But reputation of coach and player matters

What I think is the perceived value of a coach harping on the refs and the constant criticism of coach Nurse is over blown here

The percentage of posts you make (when not responding to someone) that just criticizes Nurse non-stop is epic. What did he ever do to you because it almost sounds personal lol

[The Claw Reborn]

I’ve never once said FVV can start at PG for a contender. Also never said Nurse is a great coach. Said many times I’ll hold my judgement for the Playoffs. Go ahead and make up your bullshit.

Nurse did good things in the first half on Wednesday, but OKC made a comeback and the Raptors beat them in OT.

In the last game, the 25th ranked shooting team in 3P% made 20 of them and shot 46% that was the ball game.

Hyperbole dude lol but what Im getting at is the usual excuses I hear from you.

To say that OKC were desperate and Raptors were just chugging along to get healthy for the playoffs is quiet laughable. You basically diminished the efforts of Kawhi and most especially Pascal.

Nurse allowed his bench to guard both Westbrook and George when OKC was making a run, he left his mediocre players as baits for the two sharks.

that was game

[A.I]

The excuse....but if they won....what a great coach and FVV can start as a PG for any contending team.

your MO is getting old

I’ve never once said FVV can start at PG for a contender. Also never said Nurse is a great coach. Said many times I’ll hold my judgement for the Playoffs. Go ahead and make up your bullshit.

Nurse did good things in the first half on Wednesday, but OKC made a comeback and the Raptors beat them in OT.

In the last game, the 25th ranked shooting team in 3P% made 20 of them and shot 46% that was the ball game.

[The Claw Reborn]

You really believe the coach's rep matters more than the players in regards to getting foul calls?

You’ve been a fan of this game Dean so I have no doubt that you know these things. Using the word “more” does not quantify it. But reputation of coach and player matters

[planetmars]

Nurse kept the bench in a little too long (specifically Norm) in the 4th and that was the ball game. Sucks to lose when you're up big. Having Lowry in there and no Lin would have been a win but whatever.

Need to go 9-0 now to finish the season to get to 60 wins. Let's do it!

[G__Deane]

If George didn’t foul out last game, OKC would have gotten it in OT first game.

Another thing I noticed, Referees totally ignoring Nurse with no credibility and this is the biggest fear in the playoffs. If we have a coach with patches on the chest, Kawhi would have gotten calls at the very least half the times he drives down the lane.

I just fucking hate that this is a season we have a legitimate MVP type player with legit playoff tested supporting casts and we have a coach with ZERO experience to coach a contending team

You really believe the coach's rep matters more than the players in regards to getting foul calls?

[The Claw Reborn]

And what the hell is Van Vleet doing driving down the lane with Adams right in front of him (though I’m not surprised, he does these dumbass things all season long). He becomes so effective when he picks his spots but sometimes he gets these brain farts once in a while.

When he becomes a facilitator, he can be a huge asset with the starters. He is the total representation of his coach, they both excel when the talents around them exceeds their mediocrity. Why Fred excels better playing with four legit starters.

[The Claw Reborn]

If George didn’t foul out last game, OKC would have gotten it in OT first game.

Another thing I noticed, Referees totally ignoring Nurse with no credibility and this is the biggest fear in the playoffs. If we have a coach with patches on the chest, Kawhi would have gotten calls at the very least half the times he drives down the lane.

I just fucking hate that this is a season we have a legitimate MVP type player with legit playoff tested supporting casts and we have a coach with ZERO experience to coach a contending team

[The Claw Reborn]

Post-game quote from Nurse:

“I like the force (Kawhi) was playing with offensively. He did get hung up a couple times, but he got hit a lot. He did shoot 10 free throws, which might be a record this year, but I thought he could have shot another 10.”

Nurse doesn't deserve to coach a superstar like Kawhi if he's not going to protect him.

Nurse doesn’t deserve to coach a contending team

He should be leading the charge on a team that is developing (ie Developmental league sounds familiar). There he can fucking do all the experimentation of line ups he wants until he turns blue on the face.

He becomes a total genius when the amount of talent exceeds his ineptness in coaching.

I said so so many times, I hate to see this team fail in the post season.

same mistakes like like a broken record: After time out plays/ rotations and line up changes. He does things opposite to the norm. Billy Donovan left both George and Westbrook longer in the game and Nurse wanted to load manage his starters. What an idiot

[The Claw Reborn]

They have 2 MVP caliber players and we didn't have our All star PG for either game. OKC is a good team, they're gonna make their runs, we held them off in the first game, this game we couldn't due to their abnormally high shooting.

The excuse....but if they won....what a great coach and FVV can start as a PG for any contending team.

your MO is getting old

[golden]

Post-game quote from Nurse:

“I like the force (Kawhi) was playing with offensively. He did get hung up a couple times, but he got hit a lot. He did shoot 10 free throws, which might be a record this year, but I thought he could have shot another 10.”

Nurse doesn't deserve to coach a superstar like Kawhi if he's not going to protect him.

[spicy_d]

OKC also missed a lot of FT attempts on the first game ..of they made them ...game ov3r

[Zak24gege]

Another factor is OKC played 6 players over 30 minutes. The other 7-9 players played a total of 29 mins scoring 5pts. We used our 7-9 player for 49 mins scoring 7 pts. Our 7-9 guys played 20 mins vs OKC starters. Also, George played 41 minutes. Clearly Donovan needed the win and went with his starters + Schroder for '2H. The 16 extra FGA's was huge, how could you not lose given 20% more shot attemps?