Nick Nurse Jokes He Wishes He Hadn't Seen Replay Prior to Ejection

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse said seeing the replay of Dalano Banton's foul led to his ejection Thursday night vs. the Detroit Pistons

Aaron Rose | Mar 4, 2022

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Ignorance is bliss.

Had Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse not looked up at the massive jumbotron hanging over the court late in the third quarter after a questionable foul call against Dalano Banton, he never would have known the truth. He never would have seen that Banton never fouled Hamidou Diallo and Chris Boucher's ensuing block was clean. But he couldn't help himself. Even without his coach's challenge to make a difference, he looked.

"I saw the replay which probably wasn’t good for me to see," said Nurse whose frustrations in the moment spilled out onto Marc Davis who promptly ejected the Raptors coach. "Again, we stole the ball clean a couple of times in the first half, had to burn timeouts, a timeout to challenge one. Stole one right before that clean, blocked a shot clean, can only take so much."

Making matters worse was the fact that Nurse had burned his challenge in the first half protesting an incorrect foul call on Pascal Siakam that was eventually overturned. Unlike in the NFL where coaches are not docked a timeout if their challenges are successful and are rewarded with a third challenge if their first two challenges are deemed correct, Nurse was left without a challenge and down a timeout all for correctly overturning an inaccurate call.

"It put me in a huge bind timeout wise. It left me three for the game. So I lose my timeout on a challenge because it falls within the mandatory window and it's a jump ball on top of it. But it saves Pascal a foul. Doesn't seem to quite add up," Nurse said. "I think if you win the challenge regardless, you shouldn't lose your timeout regardless of what situation you're in."

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