The Toronto Raptors will face former coach Nick Nurse for the first time when the Philadelphia 76ers visit on Saturday night.
The Raptors have split their first two games under new coach Darko Rajakovic. They lost 104-103 in overtime to the host Chicago Bulls on Friday despite a triple-double from Scottie Barnes, who had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Chicago’s Alex Caruso sank the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in OT.
Toronto won its season opener at home on Wednesday, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 97-94.
The 76ers lost their first game under Nurse 118-117 to the host Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.
Nurse coached the Raptors from 2018-19 until the end of last season, when he was fired after Toronto lost a play-in game against the Bulls following a 41-41 regular season. The 76ers hired him on June 1.
Nurse guided the Raptors to their only NBA championship in 2019.
During his five seasons in Toronto, Nurse went 227-163, and his .582 winning percentage ranks as the best of any Raptors coach. He also spent five years as an assistant to then-Raptors coach Dwane Casey before taking over the top job.
Harden, who requested a trade during the offseason, missed the first day of training camp. After returning, he did not play in any of the team’s preseason games while working on his conditioning. He also had a 10-day absence for what the Sixers called a personal matter.
Harden returned to practice on Wednesday with the intent of accompanying the team on its season-opening trip. However, the Sixers instructed him to stay behind to “ramp up” his conditioning at their practice facility.
In his absence, Joel Embiid appeared sluggish while scoring 24 points on 9-for-21 shooting with seven rebounds, six assists and seven turnovers.
The Raptors might be missing a key player on Saturday, too, as OG Anunoby left the Friday game with 7:05 to go in the fourth quarter due to muscle cramps and did not return.
Toronto had a 17-point lead with 4:58 to play in regulation, then went up by four in overtime but made key mistakes.
The play of Barnes early in his third season has been a positive. After a promising rookie campaign, he had a slow start last season. He has been a force on defense this week, adding two blocked shots on Friday to the five he had on Wednesday.
