Source: thespun.com / Toronto head coach Nick Nurse has come under a lot of scrutiny for an ill-advised timeout he took late in game 5 with the Raptors up 6 & rolling toward their first Championship.

The Raptors Had Perhaps the Greatest NBA Dynasty of All-Time on the Ropes & Then They ... Called a Timeout?!

For the first 45 minutes of Game 5 on Monday, the Toronto Raptors dodged the red-hot return of Kevin Durant, the splash brothers splashing triples, and everything else the banged-up Warriors managed to throw at them. For most of the game it looked as though Golden State was going to get the job done and force a game 6. They still held a 6-point lead heading into the final frame, and were able to answer everytime Toronto made a little run.

Then came the 4th quarter... Toronto made a habit of being the better "closing" team in the Eastern Conference Finals against Milwaukee, and it had carried over to the Finals through the first 4 games. So, it wasn't much of a surprise when they made a run just past the mid-way point of the 4th. Golden State still held a 95-91 advantage with 5:42 to play, and then, just like they had in 6 of their last 7 games, the Raptors morphed into the ultimate closing team - or so we thought.

Here's how the next 2:37 of game time transpired: Normal Powell dunk, timeout Warriors. Andre Iguodala missed jump shot, Kawhi Leonard pull-up 3-pointer gives Toronto the lead, 96-95. Steph Curry missed jump shot, Leonard with a made driving 2-point attempt. Draymond Green makes turn-around two point basket, followed by yet another Leonard 3-pointer, now 101-97 Toronto. Andre Iguodala badly missed 15-foot jump shot, Leonard again, this time with a 16-foot jump shot, now 103-97 Toronto. Once again, Steph Curry with a quick missed 3-point attempt. Fred VanVleet with the rebound.

So in just over 2 1/2 minutes, the Raptors took complete control of the game, with Golden State going just 1-5 from the field, including 0-3 from 3-point range during that span. Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard scored 10 straight, and Toronto opened up a 6-point lead on the strength of a 12-2 run, converting on 5 consecutive shots, including a pair of triples from Leonard.

Source: cbssports.com / Kawhi Leonard had been unstoppable during the Raptors 12-2 run prior to Nurse calling timeout with 3:05 to play, scoring 10 consecutive points on 4-4 shooting.

After VanVleet grabbed that rebound, Toronto had all of the momentum in the world, they were red-hot, with their best player single-handily taking over the game. Golden State was forcing quick 3's and settling for Andre Iguodala jump shots of all things. The Raptors had the greatest dynasty of all-time on the ropes, in their home building, with the ball, and an exhausted Warriors team trying to get back to get set on defense. Kawhi had converted 4 consecutive baskets, and one more field goal would represent the proverbial "dagger" that would have put Golden State, and this series, to bed. That is why, what Toronto did once they grabbed that rebound with just 3:05 to play, is all the more puzzling.

Head coach Nick Nurse, who had done a phenomenal job to that point in the playoffs of making adjustments, and overall game-planning in general, decided to ... call timeout? After a 3rd consecutive missed 3-point field goal for Golden State, about the only thing that could help them would be a break in the action. A clock stoppage with time to regroup and re-configure their defense for one final stop and last-gasp chance to get back in it in the final 3 minutes. The problem? They didn't have the ball. The Raptors, however, for some unbeknownst reason, granted them that exact occurrence, and called a timeout.

Usually when a team is on a season & championship defining run, in the waning minutes of a closeout game, the last thing they want is a stoppage to kill the momentum. Basketball, as we all know is a game of runs. The ebb & flow of games can change in a split-second, and usually the team that is on the run does whatever they can to keep it going, not bring it to an abrupt end.

Source: clutchpoints.com / We have a series, thanks to Toronto's inability to go for the "knockout" punch when they had ththe Warriors down and on the ropes with just over 3 minutes to play.

In a championship boxing match, when one fighter has his opponent on the ropes, and has seized momentum of the fight, (especially if you are the challenger going after the champion), they go for the finish and the knockout. The last thing you want to do is a take a step back and relieve the pressure, and give your opponent any time to recuperate to make a comeback. You go for the "knockout". But the knockout punch never came.

That statement can be true in other sporting contexts as well. If you have a chance to score a late touchdown in football to put a game out of reach, you go for it. If you have an opportunity to tack on another run to boost a late lead in baseball, and add that "insurance" run, you go for it. If you have a short birdie putt on the 17th or 18th hole to extend a lead and put a golf tournament away, you take an aggressive line and you go for it. Pick any example you want, they all apply. And of course, in basketball, if you have the ball, the momentum, and a chance to put the game away in the waning moments, you don't pause and think about it, you go for it!

Nurse's reasoning for calling the timeout during the press conference following game 5 doesn't really hold water either. His rationale basically amounted to, it was a scenario where if you don't use it, you lose it, and he wanted to get Kawhi and the boys a quicker breather for the closing stretch. He's referring to an obsolete rule change that is less than two years old that "limits the amount of timeouts a team can call in the final couple of minutes". Okay, so even if you were about to "lose" one of your final 3 timeouts, that doesn't mean you HAVE to use it.

Each team gets 2 timeouts, plus a media timeout in the final 2 minutes, so there were still up to 5 breaks in the action to come and plenty of time for the players to get their quick breaks and get their collective breath. As tired as Kawhi and the Raptors might have been, the Golden State players had to be more exhausted at that particular moment. Missing shots and then running back only to see your opponent continually make shots on the defensive end, is much more tiring than being the team making the shots and forcing the misses.

Look, for everyone saying this particular decision is getting way too much unwarranted scrutiny, just keep in mind that through the first four games of the Finals, Toronto had the highest free throw % of any team in NBA Finals history (and it wasn't even close 90% to 85%). Toronto was one more made basket away from basically making this game a free throw contest over the final couple minutes, which would have played directly to the Raptors' strength.

It's tough to envision a Michael Jordan-led Bulls' team having an opponent on the ropes in the closing minutes, with MJ making 4 straight and the Bulls calling a timeout instead of turning up the heat even more and going for the "jugular" so to speak.

Championship-caliber teams don't give their opponents a reprieve, or need one last "rest" before they close out their opponent, they just do-it. Whereas, "Champions", will use any extra opportunity given to them, to "re-group" and keep coming after an opponent, no matter how dire the situation may seem - and that is exactly what the Golden State Warriors did. They proceeded to outscore the Raptors 9-2 down the stretch, converting on their final three 3-point attempts, and then forced Toronto into an atrocious final possession, and that is putting it mildly.

Source: huffingtonpost.ca / The Raptors had Scotiabank Arena rocking, the ball, the momentum, and a 6-point lead following a third consecutive missed 3-point attempt by the Warriors, so why call a timeout again?

Look at what Toronto "did" following that timeout: Kawhi Leonard missed 11-foot jump shot, Klay Thompson 3-pointer. Kyle Lowry missed 3-pointer, Kyle Lowry backcourt turnover, Steph Curry made 3-pointer, game tied 103-103. Kawhi Leonard missed 3-point attempt, Klay Thompson made step-back 3-pointer, Warriors lead 106-103. Marc Gasol miss, Kyle Lowry made driving layup. Then it was an inexplicable backcourt violation by Draymond Green & the Warrior with just 15.7 seconds remaining, giving Toronto a chance at the win. And the final possession - Kyle Lowry missed 3-point jumper from the corner off the side of the backboard.

A lot of people may not believe in "momentum", you might not, but there is such a thing as "rhythm" when it comes to basketball, and in particular, shooting, and from the above closing sequence following the ill-advised Raptors timeout, it is blatantly apparent that Toronto, and in particular, the previously unstoppable Kawhi, lost their rhythm. The Raptors finished the game from that point going just 1 for their last 6 from the field, including 0-3 from Leonard. Meanwhile, the greatest 3-point shooting team in the history of the NBA got their shooting rhythm back just in time, nailing 3 consecutive treys to steal game 5 from the Raptors on their home floor, and give them a second life.

Remember what happened to Milwaukee against these same Raptors. They were outplayed throughout game 3 in the Eastern Finals, but came back at the end and had a chance to steal the game at the end of regulation, and both overtimes, and couldn't get it done. A 3-0 deficit would have meant the end of Toronto's season. Instead? They got a second life and rallied to win 4 in a row and find themselves the Finals. They just afforded the Warriors that same opportunity.

So, what was really the point of that timeout at the 3:05 mark with everything in the world going in your favor, and the whole country of Canada seemingly knowing Toronto was on the verge of putting the series away? Was it to get another quick back-rub from Drake?

Maybe Toronto wins game 6 at Oracle and renders this conversation mute. It's just very difficult to envision that scenario. It will be the Warriors final game in that arena before opening up a brand new sparkling venue next year in San Francisco. The Warriors already lost the two previous games of the Finals contested at their home arena, and it's nearly impossible to think they will go 0-3. Especially when taking into consideration, Kevin Durant's devastating injury.

Source: richmond.com / Durant's excruciating Achilles injury early in the 2nd quarter, may provide a rallying point for the Warriors, a win-one for the "gipper"-type of moment if you will.

It appears that a lot of the reports and speculation about Durant and his teammates prior to game 5 were wrong on many levels. He came back for his teammates and tried to save their season - and to an extent - did exactly that by providing the Warriors with a massive early spark that they had been lacking through the first four games of this series. Are his teammates really going to let that injury and the more-than-likely loss of Durant's entire next season because of it, all be in vain? Doubtful. They were given a second life, and now with the uncertainty of Durant's availability put to rest in the most excruciating of ways, they will more-than-likely take advantage of it. Afterall, that is what Champions do - they seize the moment when it's there for the taking, they don't pause and take a timeout.