With just handful of games to go in the regular season, Raptors coach Nick Nurse says certain players have to earn their minutes as he refines his playoff rotations. Norman Powell is one of them.
Powell played up to the challenge on Tuesday, scoring 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to lift Toronto 112-103 over the lowly Chicago Bulls. With the victory, the Raptors avoided what would have been the first time they'd lost three straight at home since 2015.
It was a humdrum night that must have had fans and players alike itching to get to the playoffs already. A reporter asked Nurse in the post-game press conference if he had a time machine to fast forward to the playoffs, the game was so dull. The Raptors, perhaps due to pure boredom, allowed the Bulls to pull within 10 points on a three-pointer by Antonio Blakeney early in the fourth. But a Powell three-pointer was the punctuation mark on a 14-6 Raptors run that put them up by 18 points midway through the frame.
"I thought Norm had not played very well and I wasn't going to use him and especially just give him his rotation," Nurse said. "We'll see, hopefully he'll play strong tonight and if he doesn't he won't play and that's going to go for a number of those guys as we go down the stretch. If they want to play, they're gonna have to earn their minutes."They key is making smart plays, Nurse said.
The Portland centre suffered compound fractures to his tibia and fibula, and underwent season-ending surgery on Tuesday.
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