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The Toronto Raptors stole Game 3 from the Boston Celtics on Thursday, 104-103, following a beautiful last-second connection from Kyle Lowry to OG Anunoby. The beautiful play was drawn to perfection by Raptors' tactician Nick Nurse — who once again proved why he is deserving to be named this year's Coach of The Year.
With 0.5 left in the clock, Nurse asked his best passer, Lowry, to inbound the basketball over the Celtics' 7-foot-5 tower Tacko Fall. The rest of his Raptors teammates magnificently executed the play, freeing up Anunoby on the left-corner for that game-winning triple.
Asked post-game where the inspiration for that amazing final Raptors sequence came from, Nurse credited legendary coach Hubie Brown.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse says he got the game-winning 3-pointer play from an old coach Hubie Brown DVD.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) September 4, 2020
Prior to his current gig as a television analyst, Raptors fans might know that Hubie Brown was a celebrated head coach in the NBA, coaching four teams from 1974-2004. He was initially a deputy for the Milwaukee Bucks from 1972-74, before accepting the job as head coach for the Kentucky Colonels in the ABA. The now 86-year-old Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer also coached the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, and Memphis Grizzlies.
Raptors fans might also be aware that Brown won Coach of the Year twice in 1978 and 2004. He has a career coaching record of 528 wins and 559 losses.
Nick Nurse, meanwhile, is certainly an astute student of the game. It's nice to see a modern-day coach still look back and apply plays used by the great basketball minds before him. Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry revealed that the play was initially drawn to give either Fred Van Vleet or Pascal Siakam and open look. Toronto took what the Boston defense gave them and managed to adjust just in time to get the W.
The Raptors now trail the best-of-seven series 2-1.
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