Getty Images Nick Nurse of the talks with Norman Powell against the Celtics
The game was tied at 117 at the end of the fourth quarter and Nick Nurse had eight seconds to come up with a play to win the game.
It was the season opener at Scotiabank Arena. The champion Toronto Raptors had celebrated its franchise’s first title, collected the biggest rings in NBA history, and rejoiced. However, the celebrating concluded, it was onto defending the championship, it was Opening Night and Nurse needed to pick a guy that was going to step up in the big moment.
He suggested the ball go to Norman Powell.
“Everybody was all over me,” Nurse recalled Wednesday night. “First game of the year, how was I going to give Norman Powell the game-winning shot on Opening Night? You know, he can bolt up and score. He’s a guy who can create his own and bolt up and score.”
Fast forward to nearly one year later and Nurse turned to Powell again. This time, it was before the final play of overtime in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the moment everyone least expected the Raptors to set up their back-up forward for an isolation play but that’s precisely when Powell’s name was called with the champions’ season at stake.
“I thought he would get a decent matchup and he’d get a shot off,” Nurse said. “You got to hold it to the end, it’s a low-percentage situation but you can’t move it around, you can’t turn it over, right? You can’t shoot it too early or they’re going to get a chance to beat you, right?
“I love Norm. I think he can bolt up and score and that’s why I went with him.”
History repeated itself. Back in October, Powell missed the game-winner but the Raptors won the game in overtime, and on Wednesday night we saw the same result.
Normal Powell Goes Off In Double-OT
However, Powell then put on a show throughout the second extra period, scoring 10 of the Raptors’ 19 second-overtime points, including a game-tying 3-pointer and a critical 3-point play in the final two minutes of Toronto’s 125-122 double-overtime thriller.
For the second time, this series, the Raptors even their best-of-7 against the Celtics and have forced what’s expected to be an epic Game 7.
“He saved us, he saved our season,” Fred VanVleet said Wednesday night following the win. “This is his trademark now. You never know when it is going to happen but it always happens at some point in the playoffs. He was huge for us. Obviously, Kyle (Lowry) was steady the whole night but Norm really gave us a boost there.”
Powell: ‘The Game Called On me’
He finished with 23 points in 38 minutes for the Raptors while Lowry led with a whopping 33-point performance on 12-of-20 from the field, including 6-of-10 from behind the arc.
“It feels good to get the win,” Powell said. “I’m a player that prides myself on making winning plays and helping the team win, you know? The game called on me to be aggressive and that’s what I did tonight. My teammates, my coaches kept telling me to be aggressive and find the spots where I can do that. I watched a lot of film in the area I wasn’t playing so well in the previous game.
I wanted to make it a point of cleaning those areas up.”
The Celtics and Raptors will decide one’s fate in Game 7 Friday night.
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Why Raptors’ Nick Nurse Trusted Norman Powell in Game 6