SAN FRANCISCO In another time with another roster, Nick Nurse might have pulled out the old box-and-one defence or maybe the triangle-and-two or something equally “janky” to try to stifle the Golden State Warriors.
But, in that other time, he would have had experienced defenders to pull it off, guys like Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol, veterans who understand the nuances of advanced basketball strategy applied on the fly. It very well might have worked.
But that option is not available to the Raptors coach quite yet and the Golden State Warriors made Toronto pay for straight-up defending for most of Sunday night.