During the lead-up to Halloween this Thursday, it struck me that here in Toronto wearing a “Nick Nurse” costume is an effective and charming idea. While it’s true — save one garrish suit in honour of the departed Craig Sager — the Raptors’ bench boss doesn’t exactly stand out in a crowd, that also doesn’t mean the costume idea is a failure. Nurse’s sartorial choices do place him firmly in the boring mid-western milieu from which he emerged; but in that blandness, an entire world of possibilities comes into view.
Here’s just one from the past weekend, and it sets the tone for how the Raptors played — diligent, maybe a bit overworked, but trying their best.