By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse slammed the officiating in his team’s 102-99 loss to the Boston Celtics in Tuesday’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals while speaking with reporters after the game.
Nurse particularly pointed to Pascal Siakam’s late drive to the hoop with the Raptors trailing by three points and 35 seconds remaining in the game, in which Marcus Smart stole the ball as Siakam fell to the floor. “I think Smart fouled the s–t out of him”, said Coach of the Year Nurse.
That wasn’t his only remark about the game’s officiating, as he also referred to Jayson Tatum’s 14 free throws on Tuesday.
“The only frustrating part about it is this. He shoots 14 free throws, which is as much as our whole team shoots. That’s the frustrating part. I think our guys were working hard on him and we were doing a pretty good job. They were obviously getting him the ball a lot, getting him some space”, mentioned Nurse, who later on refused to answer on the whistling. “I can’t comment on that”, he added.