Why don't they make the entire playoffs out of Kings vs. Warriors?

PLUS: Nick Nurse is out, Dillon Brooks is confused about why he's seen as a villain and the Sixers get the only sweep in the first round.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

---

Goodbyyyye, Nurse!

The Raptors have fired Nick Nurse after five years as head coach. He won a championship his first season running the team and it’s been all downhill since then. I suspect he’ll be in demand — perhaps not by the two teams with openings, the Rockets and Pistons, though there have been some rumors around Houston. It would be really weird if he followed Dwane Casey to Detroit given that he replaced Casey in Toronto!

At the link above Woj reports that Ime Udoka will be a candidate for the Raptors. But then Udoka has been a contender for every opening for a middling team looking to be great, hasn’t he?

That the Raptors would consider a coach like Udoka tells me that there’s no interest in an actual rebuild here. The rub with the Raptors going into this offseason is that Fred VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl are free agents but are integral pieces of a version of a successful team led by Pascal Siakam, in my opinion. But we see where the Raptors are now with those guys (albeit Poeltl just for a couple of months). Tricky decisions to make here.

---

Scores

Eastern Conference

Heat lead Bucks 2-1
Game 3: Bucks 99, Heat 121

Giannis Antetokounmpo sat another game after his hard fall in Game 1. Miami took advantage and jumped on the Bucks about 10 minutes in, never looking back. Jimmy Butler is a really tough match-up for Bucks not named Giannis.

Duncan Robinson is getting minutes and doing things with them. You have been warned.

There was an awful non-contact knee injury for Victor Oladipo in garbage time. Horrifying injury luck for Oladipo. Every time he starts looking like the All-Star vintage of Oladipo something seems to happen.

In my opinion, the most consequential question in the entire league right now as it pertains to the 2023 NBA Championship is when and at what capacity Giannis returns to the court.