The Raptors keeping find ways to win games

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse discusses his team jumping out to an early lead vs. the Hornets, working on navigating traps on offence and how Chris Boucher has become a dependable player off the Raptors bench.

Video Transcript

- [INAUDIBLE], we do have people in the room. Any questions, [INAUDIBLE]?

- Yeah. [INAUDIBLE] A lot of poise tonight, even when Charlotte went on their run. Is that something that you think has grown in these last eight games and how tough they've been?

NICK NURSE: Yeah. I mean, I think we've been in a number of scenarios where we've been down 10, up 10. And lot of those games have come down to the end. And we've handled them, I think, again with-- you said poise-- composure, whatever, very well.

And it seems to me we do [INAUDIBLE] go through a [INAUDIBLE] where we don't score. We keep kind of generating good shots. And I think we kept getting it in there and firing it out and moving it to the next guy for open shots. And then we banged a couple of 3's to kind of take it right back up to a double-digit lead.

And then we make just enough plays on defense. And it gets hard sometimes to guard some of these teams with all the speed and shooting and scoring and stuff. And you go through some stretches where you're not getting some stops. And then we go get about three in a row and kind of get control of the game again.

But I thought the big thing was we were really ready to go tonight. You know, that was really evident. We came out really, really ready, adhered to the game plan very well, and shared the ball pretty good early.

- Two games, two days off for no games--

NICK NURSE: And a day off tomorrow, right? Yeah.

- Yeah. Now, that these eight games are over-- because we talked about them being against--

NICK NURSE: Oh, that's right.

- Yeah. 7 and 1. I mean, do you think just confidence in terms of where this-- the East this year is just so tough-- but I mean, just even in the locker room that, yeah, you guys can [? compete? ?]

NICK NURSE: Yeah. I mean, I think so. I think we're-- you know, obviously there's, you know, some chemistry building. There's some toughness. We've been put in a lot of interesting situations, and we've seemed to come out OK on the other side of all of them. So yeah. I think we're growing and guys are getting better. And we're learning each other a little bit more each night out.

- Last one. Especially in the first half, they threw a couple of traps. I think Fred and Gary both just got the ball out of that. So when you see traps, though, do you think it almost kind of excites everyone because they're so good at doing that [INAUDIBLE]?

NICK NURSE: Yeah. I don't-- I don't mind, you know, getting trapped. You know, my thing is we work on it, like almost every day, where we're supposed to do it from the top or from the baseline or from whatever. And I think you said it. The biggest thing is the guy that's getting trapped has got to get off it quickly and get that one pass out safely.

Then, normally you're playing 4 against 3. And then you just got to-- you know, you got to make the next play. And that's usually enough, and somebody's got to make the shot off the end of that, right? And I think you just do that over and over. You make the right-- you get it out safely, and you make the right play. And you're probably going to beat those a lot of times.

- Go ahead, Justine.

- Sounds good. We'll start with Doug here.

- Hey, Nick. Congratulations on the win. I think-- I think Friday OG had a great stretch late in the fourth quarter. And then tonight in the fourth quarter, he really made-- he had a 3-pointer, then a steal and a dunk, and guarded really well. What's his ability to take the moment as it comes and really thrive in it? NICK NURSE: Yeah. I think he's just hanging in there, Doug, more than anything.

You know, I think that in a lot of those games he's getting some good opportunities because those guys are finding him. And you know, sometimes he doesn't maybe make them early, or he doesn't get a ton of attempts early. And he just hangs in there, and they keep finding him.

And he's, you know, again-- like when they kick it out to him in the fourth quarter, I'm expecting them to go in. He made a couple of really tough ones, though. He made a tough step-back against the shot clock there, a couple of tough drives. I think he had maybe an offensive putback once or a rebound that really saved a pretty critical possession, kept that one going too.

But just hanging in there, I think, Doug. Just hanging in there and staying confident in his abilities.

- Well, you're right. I think he missed his first two 3-pointers within the first 40 seconds of the game. But then he drove the ball, got it in and created some contact, and took it out on Oubre. Is that just a maturation on his part?

NICK NURSE: Yeah. I mean, listen. We're trying to get these guys to figure out when the time to-- if they've got a size and strength matchup. We're trying to find those across the floor when we're playing this-- I don't know what we call it-- semi-big lineup, right?

It's a lot of big wings out there. We kind of got--

- Yeah.

NICK NURSE: --you know, three big wings out there. And usually, one of them can get a size and strength advantage. And we need to, you know, take it in there against those and then make the reads from there. But again, I thought he-- he did-- he got in there and again kept his composure and played with great strength. And that's-- you and I have been talking about that here for a couple of weeks.

- Great. Thanks very much, Nick. Safe trip over to Oklahoma City.

NICK NURSE: Thanks, Doug.

- And next we'll go to Eric.

- Hey, Nick. Congrats on the win. In the fourth quarter there, Chris had to box outs-- (CLEARS THROAT) excuse me-- where he drew loose ball fouls-- one on Plumlee and one on Bridges. We don't have to go back too far where that wasn't a regular occurrence.

How satisfying is it to watch him improve some of his weaknesses, whether it's from two years ago, whether from the earlier in the year? What's it like to watch that happen in real-time?

NICK NURSE: Well, that's a really good spot by you, Eric. Because he is a good rebounder, but he used to do it on kind of just chasing the ball, right? And now, we've asked him to go put his body on people and do it a little bit more-- I don't know-- I guess fundamentally, you know, to make sure the other guy doesn't get it.

And the good thing is is he's still getting a bunch. And now, like you said, he's putting his body on those people. And they think they can throw him out of the way. And he's-- you know, he's hanging in there.

And well, he's really playing well. And that is a big improvement area for him to go find somebody to hit on when a shot goes up. I thought he was fantastic again tonight, just making huge plays-- blocked shot, putback just really played fantastic again tonight.

- Just-- I mean, when we talk about Raptors development, you know, guys like Pascal and Fred are always going to be near the top of the list. But watching him start from, you know, G League curiosity to dependable, night by night, where does it-- where does it rank for you? Like, what is the level of gratification there in terms of--

NICK NURSE: Well, yeah. It's up there. And I think it goes right in there with those other guys, Eric, for sure. And you know, it's one of the things that we always say. You know, there's a lot of-- not a lot, but a bunch of guys that can have a good game here and there, right? And to really know you've kind of arrived in this league is, can you do it consistently?

And I always say that, like, you know, you're never going to do it five out of five nights. Nobody plays good every night, right? But you know, where do you fall on that, you know? And I would say Chris was like a two or three out of five guy. And now he's become almost a four out of five guy, which is about what you can do.

So he impacts the game positively, you know, four out of five nights. And that's just come from a lot of different development areas for him. He's become a so much better defender other than just the spectacular blocked shots, you know. He's really becoming-- chasing guys off screens, he's reading the-- reading the help defensive situations right, and things like that

- Thanks, Nick. Appreciate it. Safe travels.

NICK NURSE: Thanks, Eric.

- And next we have Aaron Rose.

AARON ROSE: Hey, Nick. You guys got outshot by double-digits tonight and I think turned over the ball more than they did. It's the second game in a row where the other team has outshot you guys and you guys have turned the ball over more.

Does it seem like you guys are finding more ways to win games than you were earlier in the season? Offense-- the other night. You guys stuck with it tonight.

NICK NURSE: Yeah, I think so. I think-- you know, there's a million ways to win a game, I always say, Aaron, right? And you got to find different ways. Each and every night you get a W in this league, it's always different. You've got to kind of you know, take what's there. And you're never going to be perfect

I agree with you we turned it over. We had probably three or four like-- just like the ball slipped out of our hands ones, which we don't have very often. And then I think, you know, they were playing pretty good D and pretty physical, you know.

It was one of the things we talked about at halftime was, man, when you put it down, they're really, really reaching for the ball. So you got to protect it and be strong and complete passes and things like that. So give them some credit. They were pretty feisty on the ball defense tonight.

AARON ROSE: Do you have to remind these guys that, when you're up 23, that they're going to come back because that's what it's like? And how have you-- what did you think of their response to the fact that they did come back but you guys stuck around and didn't let it get too ugly after that I guess?

NICK NURSE: Yeah. I don't-- I don't really remember reminding them, you know, saying some stuff like, hey, they're going to make their run or any of that stuff. I just-- I really just try to coach it as it's going. And again, you know, these games in this league change so fast momentum wise, direction, one direction, another direction, you know. So you know, for me, I just kind of take it as it comes and try to coach the next possession and get the right guys on the floor, get the ball to the right people and all that stuff, no matter what's happening out there, Aaron.

AARON ROSE: Thanks, Nick. Safe travels.

NICK NURSE: Thank you.

- And now we have Louis from Raptors Republic.

- Hey, Coach. Long time, no see. I wanted to ask about Pascal's spin move in the second quarter there on Myles. When he first came into the league, it seemed like those spin moves were, you know, his calling card. And then recently-- like last year or the year before-- was kind of scouted. Guys were sitting on it.

And now it's just been so-- like, you can count on two or three of those every night. I'm curious. How does a discreet move like that go from signature to scouted to signature again?

NICK NURSE: (CHUCKLES) Oh. That's a good question. You came back with a Haymaker there, man.

- (CHUCKLES) I've had a while to think about it.

NICK NURSE: Yeah. Well, I mean, as you know, he kind of came into the league, and it was kind of this cool thing he did. You know, he would drive that thing and spin and be at the rim. And it was-- it was kind of just this thing that he had, right? That was kind of his thing.

And I don't know. I mean, it just seems like whatever happened there for a while, where that didn't seem to be a go-to move for him anymore, just a lot of it I think has to do with just mindset, energy, open floor play, transition, our spacing, personnel on the floor, you know. It could be a number of things, right?

But I think it's good to see him back kind of in his-- in his groove, not only with that. But you know, he's-- he's playing D, and you know, getting rebounds, and blocking shots. And he's seeing the floor. I mean, he's-- he's really playing well.

- And did that one in the second quarter stand out? I mean, he went from like the free throw line to the rim. And you blinked, and he was there.

NICK NURSE: That was a good one. That was a good one. He's doing a lot more of those now. I mean, that [INAUDIBLE] move there where he spends around, a lot of times now he's spinning and getting back in front of kind of, you know, the dots or the RA and making a read from there or shooting the jump shot or whatever. That was-- you're right. That was a quick one and kind of a throw back, you know, from the early days of Pascal.

- Thanks, Coach. Much appreciated.

NICK NURSE: Yep.

- Thanks, Coach. That's all the questions we have for you here.

NICK NURSE: All right. Thanks a lot.