Kevin Durant admits it will be tough to stop Jayson Tatum after the Brooklyn Nets progressed to the playoffs where they will face the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster first round series.
The Nets got past the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-108 in the play-in tournament on Tuesday to clinch the seventh seed, meaning they will face the second-seeded Celtics.
Durant scored 25 points with five rebounds and 11 assists, while ex-Celtics guard Kyrie Irving had 34 points with 12 assists.
The last time the two sides met, the Nets were beaten 126-120 by the Celtics on March 7 with Tatum scoring 54 points.
Tatum is seventh overall this season for points per game, averaging 26.9 shooting at 45.3 per cent from the field and 35.3 from three-point range.
"That's a tough question," Durant told reporters, when asked how to stop Tatum. "He's one of those players you've got to play hard and see what happens.
"He's just so talented, skilled and efficient at what he does. We've just got to play hard and I expect us to."
Irving added that keeping Tatum quiet would go a long way towards winning the series.
"It starts with really slowing JT down," Irving said. "He has a great feel playing against us. Everyone else around is very complementary to that attack."
Durant added: "[It's about] staying disciplined, playing together and playing with passion. I don’t have the schemes or the strategy to break it down to you. That's what every team needs to bring to win in the postseason."
The Celtics are one of the form teams in the NBA, going 35-12 since the turn of the year to finish the regular season with a 51-31 record.
Nets head coach Steve Nash said: "I'm really impressed with the Celtics, the job Ime [Udoka] has done. They've been able to build on that continuity.
"That group has been together for quite a while. They've made some tweaks and adjustments that have really improved their team both ends of the floor.
"It'll be a great challenge for us. For a new group to go and play a team like that that's terrific at both ends is going to be something that hopefully brings the best out of us."
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry could return to full practice this week as he recovers from a sprained ligament and a bone bruise in his left foot.
Curry has not played since March 16 when he suffered a sprained ligament and a bone bruise in his left foot against the Boston Celtics, missing the side's past 12 games.
The Warriors will face the Denver Nuggets in the first-round playoffs, with game one scheduled for Saturday in San Francisco.
Curry remains "day-to-day" but Kerr said he would need to join in scrimmage, scheduled for Thursday, ahead of Saturday's game, having been restricted to individual work.
"It's essential, we're not going to play him without giving him a scrimmage," Kerr told reporters on Tuesday.
"The whole team will need a scrimmage given that we generally play every other day and all of a sudden we have six days between games, that's pretty unique.
"Everybody will need a scrimmage but it would be irresponsible to put Steph out there in a playoff game without having scrimmage time before."
He added: "Each day will determine where he is and what he can do the following day. At the end of the week, we'll determine if he's ready or not. It's hard to predict much."
The Warriors went 6-6 without Curry in the side across the final dozen regular-season games, winning their final five to see off the Dallas Mavericks for third seed in the Western Conference.
Kerr had previously said: "We'll see how everything goes with Steph next week. There's a chance he could be ready for game one, there's a chance he might not.
"It's literally going to be a day-to-day thing as it all unfolds this week. We'll know a lot more after the next few days when he's ramping up his work. but there's a chance we could get everybody on the same age and healthy.
"We haven't reached our potential yet. That's exciting to me. We have some room for growth."
It was perhaps not the most surprising news when it emerged on Monday that coach Frank Vogel had been dismissed by the Los Angeles Lakers. One of the most star-studded teams of all time inexplicably failed to even make the NBA Play-In tournament, finishing the season with a record of 33-49 and in 11th place in the western conference. However, it would have been astonishing to imagine this scenario in September, when Vogel was handed a one-year extension to his deal, and especially a year prior to that when he was lifting an NBA championship in his first year with the Lakers. How did we get here, though?
Vogel enjoyed a good start to his career in coaching, making it to the play-offs with the Indiana Pacers in each of his first four years, reaching the conference finals in 2013 and 2014.
After six years in Indiana, he moved to the Orlando Magic, but was unable to repeat the trick there with a young team, with an overall regular season record in his two years in Florida of 54-110, failing to reach the post-season in either campaign before being fired in 2018.
A year later, he was appointed by the Lakers, making a great start as he boasted a regular season record of 52-19, before going on to win their first championship in 10 years.
Vogel's second season was not as smooth, with a 42-30 regular season record. A dramatic Play-In victory against the Golden State Warriors brewed excitement that another dramatic championship run could be on the cards, but a 4-2 defeat to the Phoenix Suns in the first playoff round ended those hopes.
Despite that setback, his post-season win percentage of 66.7 is the third-best in Lakers history, behind only Pat Riley (68.5) and Paul Westhead (68.4).
However, even after having faith shown in him with a one-year contract extension in August 2021, Vogel was unable to add to those figures with a spectacular failure to reach the post-season this year.
The regression in 2020-21 had largely been put down to injury issues suffered by two of his stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and with those two back fit and after trading to bring Russell Westbrook in from the Washington Wizards, the Lakers went into the 2021-22 season as one of the favourites to go all the way.
While Davis and James have suffered further injury setbacks, the latter has still had one of his most productive seasons of an illustrious career, and a failure to get anything like the best out of Westbrook has also been a factor.
James averaged over 30 points per game (30.3) for the first time since 2007-08, with only Joel Embiid averaging more across the league (30.6), though it was the first season since 2009-10 in which Westbrook averaged fewer than 20 points per game (18.5).
The 33-year-old did not hold back when asked about Vogel on Monday, saying at his exit interview: "I think it's unfortunate, to be honest, because I've never had an issue with any of my coaches before.
"I'm not sure what [Vogel's] issue was with me, or I'm not sure why, but I can't really give you an answer to why we really never connected."
The writing was on the wall towards the end of the season, with the Lakers losing eight straight games to miss out on the Play-In tournament, only slightly improving their record with two final wins before the end of the regular season, and ultimately, the end of Vogel's time in LA.
Russell Westbrook feels he was never given a fair shot at delivering the best version of himself throughout a frustrating first season at the Los Angeles Lakers.
The 2017 MVP was acquired from the Washington Wizards during the offseason but struggled for form across the 2021-22 campaign.
Westbrook posted his lowest points-per-game season average for over a decade, as the Lakers missed out on the playoffs.
Speaking in his final media conference of the term, Westbrook hit out at "narratives" about his arrival, and added he felt he was forced to "prove himself" in a superstar side.
"People create narratives of me and who I am and what I do and what I believe in that are just not true," he stated.
"I'm always having to prove myself again and year after year after year, which is to me, just unfair. There's literally no reason to have to do that.
"So when I first got here, I just felt that I never was given a fair chance just to be who I needed to be, to be able to help this team."
Championship-winning coach Frank Vogel was dismissed on Monday, and Westbrook was candid on his relationship with the now-ex Lakers man, admitting he believed they struggled to click.
"I'm not sure what his issue was with me, or I'm not sure why, but I can't really give you an answer why we never really connected," he added.
"Maybe you know, that's something that he has to answer but from the get go I was feeling [I had] to prove myself to him and my capabilities and what I've been able to do for this game.
"It's unfortunate, but it's really not come out of my hands."
Steve Nash called the potential inclusion of Ben Simmons in the playoffs "another challenge" that he and the Brooklyn Nets would welcome.
Simmons, a three-time All-Star, is yet to play a game this season after his relationship with the Philadelphia 76ers broke down and he opted to sit out for mental health reasons until his trade could be organized.
The 2021 Defensive Player of the Year runner-up has also been dealing with a back injury since arriving in Brooklyn, which has kept him out of action since the All-Star break.
A recent report indicated it was unlikely that Simmons would play at all in the playoffs, but with an updated and upgraded prognosis, the Nets believe his return this year is not out of the question.
When asked about possibly integrating Simmons into the playoff rotation, Nash called it a good problem to have.
"Another challenge, but one that we'd welcome, clearly," Nash said of the 25-year-old.
"So, we'll see – if he's able to play at some point it would be great to incorporate him, and to try and learn as we go and see how he can help our team without having much history, or any history, with our group.
"The bottom line is we'd be adding a substantial talent to our team, so we really welcome him.
"He fits and he helps in a number of ways. We're in need of help, so we would welcome that challenge of trying to incorporate him in a playoff situation where he has no history with our team."
However, long-time teammate Seth Curry, who came over with Simmons in the trade that brought James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers, was not willing to look ahead to a potential return for the big Aussie.
"We're worried about the Play-In game right now," Curry said.
"If Ben comes in, we'll try and integrate him as much as possible, but we feel like we're locked into this Play-In situation right now.
"If Ben does become available, we'll deal with that then, but we have to worry about who we have out there and focus on Cleveland.
"I don't think anybody's going to be thinking about if Ben can come back, as a team. Maybe the coaches and front office – but as players, we're locked into the task at hand."
The Minnesota Timberwolves have locked up the services of current head coach Chris Finch with a multi-year extension.
Finch was a highly-respected assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors when he was hired in February 2021, having earned his way onto NBA staffs after winning 2010 D-League Coach of the Year with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
In his first full season in charge, Finch turned the Timberwolves into the seventh-best offense in the NBA, built largely around the talent of All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and the top overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, Anthony Edwards.
Impressively, the Timberwolves also finished the regular season in the top half of the league in defensive efficiency as well, addressing concerns some had that it may be impossible to build a solid defense while Towns is playing center, which is the most important defensive position by far.
As well as Towns – Edwards and third 'star' D'Angelo Russell also have poor defensive reputations, so to counteract that, Finch made the move to start defensive specialists Patrick Beverley and Jarred Vanderbilt to balance things out.
Speaking to media after news of his extension, Finch said it was a move initiated by the franchise.
"They came to me," he said. "I think that shows the type of energy and commitment in the building.
"Everything's going in the right direction here. It's a fun time to be a part of the Timberwolves."
It was all positive from executive vice president of basketball operations Sachin Gupta, too.
"They're not always easy decisions in this business, but this one was a very easy one," he said.
"Coach has been a terrific partner for me, and the results on the floor are clear."
After finishing seventh in the Western Conference with a 46-36 record, the Timberwolves will host the Los Angeles Clippers in the Play-In Tournament, with the winner earning the seventh seed and a series against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the Playoffs.
If Minnesota lose against the Clippers, they will get another chance to earn the eighth seed, hosting the winner of the nine-versus-10 matchup between the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs.
The Sacramento Kings are looking for a new head coach after relieving interim boss Alvin Gentry of his duties.
Gentry was appointed on a temporary basis in November after Luke Walton was dismissed following a 6-11 start to the season.
The Kings went 24-41 under the former New Orleans Pelicans coach and finished 12th in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs for a 16th straight season.
It was confirmed on Monday that Gentry would not return to the Kings for the 2022-23 campaign.
General manager Monte McNair said in a statement: "The entire Kings organisation is grateful for the leadership of Alvin Gentry, who stepped up when he got the call mid-season.
"We appreciate his leadership on and off the court."
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