Ahead of Sixers’ tilt, Raptors coach Nick Nurse opens up about uncertain future, Toronto turmoil

On paper, the Toronto Raptors were supposed to join the 76ers as one of this season’s Eastern Conference’s elite teams.

The Raptors’ season, however, has been a difficult one for their coach, Nick Nurse, from a number of standpoints.

“Early on, [Toronto] had some pretty serious injuries with some key guys,” Nurse said before Friday’s game against the Sixers at the Wells Fargo Center. “I thought we kind of weathered that for a little bit, but it kind of caught up to us a little bit. And, yeah, I think the trade deadline stuff. I don’t know if there was a 1,000 rumors, 999 of them were about us, it seemed like.

“So that was probably as interesting as it gets.”

Yet the Raptors took a 38-38 record into Friday’s game after winning 15 of their previous 23 games. And they had the fifth-best defensive rating in the NBA since the beginning of February. However, there are reports that Nurse could be out as coach at season’s end with former Sixers assistant and former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka reportedly being the frontrunner to replace him. Other reports have Nurse as a potential candidate to take over the Houston Rockets job.

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So where is the coach’s head at right now on the cusp of the playoffs?

“My head, I would say, is probably two things,” Nurse said. “First of all, I think when this season gets done, we will evaluate everything. And even personally, I’m going to take a few weeks to see where I’m at — like you said, where’s my head at — and just see how the relationship with the organization is and everything. It’s been 10 years for me now, which is a pretty good run.

“And I don’t know over those 10 years, we got to be up there with a number of wins with anybody in the league.”

Nurse spent his first five seasons in Toronto as an assistant. After being named head coach before the 2018-19 season, he’s compiled a 224-160 record. He led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title in his first year and had three postseason appearances.

“And right now, my head is to get this and make this as long a season as possible,” Nurse said. “This team needs playoff experience, right? That is where I’m at right now. And I think since Feb. 1, we have the third-best record in the league, which isn’t too bad.

“I think we have a top-five defense, which we are trying to get to, and are playing some pretty good basketball.”

The Raptors had the ninth-best record in the conference, and would be slated to participate in the play-in tournament if the season concluded Friday.

Nurse said he hasn’t put any thought into the possibility of not being back next season.

“I think that I’m concentrated on this job, for sure,” he said. “And this game, essentially. But I think 10 years is a good time to sit back and reflect a little, right? So I think … we’re going to do that all when the season ends.”

Sixers forward Tobias Harris missed Friday’s game with a non-COVID illness. The 30-year-old is averaging 15.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. Combination guard De’Anthony Melton got the start in his absence. This marked the first game Harris has missed since March 6 at the Indiana Pacers.

If the standings remain the same, the third-place Sixers will face the sixth-place Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the playoffs. And the teams will have a week to prepare for each other after squaring off in the regular-season finale April 9 in Brooklyn.

They’ll take that week off while the play-in tournament is taking place.

“I think it gives us an advantage for teams to know who they’re going to play and kind of game plan against them,” Georges Niang said of the week off. “I don’t know how the seedings are going to shape up. Obviously, the less games that we have, the more you are kind of going to know. But I think it is a bonus to know who you are going to play.”

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The teams that finish in the top six of each conference will be guaranteed a postseason spot, while Nos. 7-10 in the standings will enter the play-in tournament.

No. 7 will host the No. 8 team with the winner being awarded the playoff’s seventh seed. The loser will face the winner of No. 8 and No. 9, with the victor grabbing the No. 8 seed.

“The play-in tournament has had some success, obviously, from the ratings,” Niang said. “But I think if you’re not in that discussion with the one or two seed, I do think you have a better, I wouldn’t say a better outcome, but just knowing that you’re going to have a whole week to prepare.”