In Nurse's second season, the Raptors finished with a 53–19 record, despite losing Leonard to free agency, in a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. He was widely praised for his creativity and innovation in ensuring that the Raptors were able to maintain a high level of play despite losing Leonard. That season, Nurse qualified to be a head coach in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game as the Eastern Conference representative. On August 22, 2020, Nurse was named NBA Coach of the Year. However, the Raptors were unable to repeat their playoff success of the previous season, and were eliminated in the Conference Semifinals, losing in 7 games at the hands of the Boston Celtics.