76ers HC Nick Nurse Suffered Finger Injury During Game 5 Win vs. Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse injured his hand reacting to a call made during the Sixers’ Tuesday night Game 5 victory, according to SNY’s Ian Begley.

The injury prevented Nurse from drawing up plays in the second half of the 112-106 Game 5 win over the New York Knicks that extended the 76ers’ postseason, Begley reported.

Nurse isn’t the only coach to suffer an injury this postseason. Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch is set to undergo surgery Wednesday after tearing a patellar tendon in a collision with a player, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.

Nurse may not have been able to draw up plays, but he helped the Sixers win nonetheless.

He called his final timeout of regulation when the Knicks held a six-point lead with fewer than 30 seconds left on the clock.

Tyrese Maxey then scored on a four-point play and a 35-foot game-tying three-pointer in the final stretch to send the game to overtime.

Maxey finished the game with 46 points on 17-for-30 shooting.

“I just kept encouraging him, to take his chances, take his shots, make plays, and he certainly did it,” Nurse said about Maxey’s performance after the victory. “He got in a rhythm and made a whole bunch of them.”

This is not the first time Nurse has publicly shown frustration with referees.

The Sixers coach’s history with criticizing NBA officials dates back to his time with the Toronto Raptors. Most recently, Nurse was levied a $50,000 fine by the league for “aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing game officials” during a March loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Unlike Finch, whom Wojnarowski and Shelburne reported may have to spend Game 1 of the Timberwolves’ second-round series directing his assistant coaches from the locker room, Nurse is likely to return to the bench for Game 6.

Even if his play-drawing abilities are limited, Nurse will be looking to lead the 76ers to extend their postseason further with another win Thursday as the Knicks come to Philadelphia for Game 6.