Nurse rips officiating after Kawhi takes 4 free throws in loss to Nuggets

To say Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was a tad upset with the officiating on Sunday night following his team's 95-86 road loss to the Denver Nuggets would be an understatement.

Nurse was livid with the lack of whistles Kawhi Leonard was receiving in his favor, adding that it's been a recurring trend with the Raptors superstar for the better part of the season.

"I do not understand why they are letting everybody play one of the best players in the league so physically. I do not understand it," Nurse said, according to TSN's Josh Lewenberg.

"It's been going on all year. But tonight was a very severe case of a guy who was playing great, taking it to the rim and just getting absolutely held, grabbed, poked, slapped, hit, and everything, and they refused to call any of it. It's unbelievable to me. It's ridiculous. The guy is one of the best players in the league, and he doesn't complain, he doesn't do this, he doesn't do that, and they just turn their head and go the other way. It's been going on all year."

Leonard got to the charity stripe on just four occasions Sunday, finishing with a game-high 29 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists on 12-of-21 shooting across 38 minutes of action. It was the sixth time in 24 total appearances that he's has taken four or fewer free throws in a game with Toronto.

The 27-year-old forward agreed with Nurse on the inconsistent officiating, but didn't sound nearly as bothered by it.

"It's been like that all year, but in this era and how the game is and the rules are today, yes, I agree with him. It's been very physical," Leonard said. "But I just go with the next play ... I pride myself on just keep moving and keep going."

Leonard's free-throw rate of .367 entering Sunday was the second-highest of his eight-year career. His 6.9 attempts are just 0.3 shy of his career high from the 2016-17 campaign.