Just a game without Beatles
Warriors may have lacked Curry, Green but game was still a test
The games come so quickly — one after another after another, the metronome of an NBA season unending — and it’s hard sometimes to distinguish one from the other.
Each is important in its own way. They all count the same in the standings, a “big” win followed by an “expected” win is still just two wins in the grand scheme of things.
So, while there was an added measure of anticipation to Thursday’s showdown between the NBA-leading Toronto Raptors and the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors, that was more for fans and the media and outsiders. To Toronto head coach Nick Nurse, a game is a game is a game.
“One of the things that I kind of reflect on today is the games just keep on coming so fast,” Nurse said Thursday morning. “Like, I can’t believe we’re on game 23, right? You don’t really get to enjoy much, and you don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself, because it’s just one after another.
“We’re going to play (Thursday), we’re going to get on a plane and go to Cleveland (Friday), it just keeps on coming.
“You just got to kind of treat ’em like … a win over anyone equals one win over everyone else. That’s really all that matters this time of year.”
Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry was even more succinct.
“Just another regular-season game,” he said to open a somewhat terse six-minute media session. “Next question.”
Of course, it was not “just another regular-season game” in many respects, particularly for fans in Toronto who get to see the Warriors but once a season.
There was heavy anticipation for the game as a proving ground for the Raptors among their followers. It was the lone Eastern time zone game in the NBA, and broadcast throughout the United States on the marquee Turner network. The media conglomerate covering the game ballooned.
Nurse had sympathy for fans who didn’t get to see the injured Stephen Curry or Draymond Green play.
“I would be disappointed for our fans that want to see those guys,” Toronto’s coach said. “For any place these guys go, they’re certainly star attractions around the league. They’re the Beatles of the NBA, right? In every city they go to, and you want to see them playing. Nobody wants to see those guys hurt. You want to see their talents on display.”
One of Nurse’s salient points was that while the Warriors are unquestionably good and deep and playing well despite the absence of Curry and Green, there are unique challenges to every game — a team’s record notwithstanding. It’s a matter of trying to keep a consistent focus and style of play rather than getting caught up in “big ” games.
“I know you say, ‘Oh, any night anything can happen,’ but (re- gardless of ) the record a team supposedly has coming in, we get a lot of best shots too,” Nurse said. “So I don’t think it’s as big a deal (to play Golden State) maybe as we think … winning at Utah without Kawhi (Leonard) on the back-to-back was a huge win and all of a sudden it’s not ’cause they’re under .500 or whatever.
“I just think that each game, depending on where you are at the moment, presents challenges.”