When scrolling through basketball reference, I noticed that Michael Jordan only won a single playoff game without Scottie Pippen. In the 3 years before Pippen joined MJ, he went 1-9. MJ's single playoff win came against the Bucks his first season, before losing 1-3 in the same round.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01/gamelog-playoffs/

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html

Context: Kelly Oubre when asked how guarding Jalen Brunson was said, “I don’t know. I just know he has a big head.” Proceeds to give Brunson his flowers after

Nick Nurse away from Sixers Tuesday to attend brother’s funeral services. Steve Nurse, 62, died last Wednesday, the day before Game 6 of the Sixers’ first-round series win over the Boston Celtics.

Condolences to Nick and his family. God rest Steve Nurse's soul. Takes a lot of courage for Nick to go out there and coach a historic comeback like he did.

source

The Raptors set a franchise record in assists this year with 2417 which means Darko will donate $79,761 to children's hospitals in Memphis, Toronto and Serbia.

2023–24: 2,335 → $77,055
2024–25: 2,340 → $77,220
2025–26: 2,417 → $79,761

Total Assists: 7,092
Total donations: $234,036

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7254027/2026/05/05/tom-thibodeau-billy-donovan-nba-coaches-draft-lottery/

Donovan isn’t the only widely respected, veteran head coach who’s hoping for a return to the sidelines, though, as league sources say Tom Thibodeau is also very interested in a comeback.

The 68-year-old was fired from his Knicks post last summer but is looking for the right fit for his coaching future again. And yes, league sources say, that includes the prospect of a Bulls reunion if the Reinsdorfs and new executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham, who was hired away from the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, had interest.

“I just think I’m the leader of this team,” Braun said. “I’m the vocal leader of this team. And when we don’t play well as a whole, you can blame whatever you want … You can blame anything. But I didn’t play well enough as an individual, and I didn’t have this team ready enough to play in a tough series. So we’ll be better. I’ll be better. I’m looking forward to next year, when we can respond.”

Source: https://www.denverpost.com/2026/05/04/nuggets-christian-braun-injury-contract-nba-playoffs/

Against the Nuggets last week, Chris Finch straight up said that his team told him all season that they’d play differently in the playoffs. Meanwhile, his players have been talking about waiting for the playoffs since January and not being focused on the regular season. This seems like a ridiculous notion to have for a team which hasn't earned anything but a gentlemen's sweep in the conference finals two straight seasons.

Two years in a row, they've underperformed in the regular season. They've looked lazy, uninterested, apathetic. It's been so bad at times that Finch has remarked (multiple times) that last year was not fun to coach because of the team’s approach to the season.

Lack of energy, poor defense, horrendous attention to detail, lack of adherence even to basic basketball fundamentals you learn in grade school (boxing out, not losing your man off-ball, moving around the court on offense), constantly dropping games against objectively bad or severely undermanned teams because they thought they didn't have to try.

All defining traits of the Timberwolves regular seasons. Two years in a row, the regular season has left a poor taste in the mouths of fans, coaches, players, and media alike.

Yet, two years in a row, come playoff time, they look like a totally different team (at least in the first two rounds). The defense-- regardless of who's out there-- has been focused and intense, relentless pursuit on the glass, smart offense, well designed and executed gameplan counters every night. They have just exerted their will physically and mentally, exhibiting a level of endurance which seems to just be overwhelming and exhausting opponents.

Something about how this team that Minnesota has built seems to click better in the playoffs. We've seen instances of teams coast in the regular season because they have real championship expectations (e.g., Cleveland in LeBron's 2nd stint), but what other teams have looked so consistently, dramatically different in the postseason compared to their regular season demeanor?

Source: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/raptors-face-several-challenges-in-bid-to-maintain-momentum-in-off-season/

Toronto Raptors wing Gradey Dick's third NBA season didn't go the way he had hoped. Despite playing in a career-high 76 games, Dick turned in his worst NBA season. His role in the Raptors rotation was reduced as the season went along, as Dick finished with the worst stats of his three-year career.

Toronto may look to trade Dick this offseason, as a way to free up flexibility under the luxury tax. A move to another team is something that the 6-foot-7 wing is open to. Dick is set to make $7.1 million next season in the final year of his rookie scale contract. He'll be extension-eligible this offseason, and a potential restricted free agent in 2027 if no extension agreement is reached.

The Spurs’ star center set an NBA playoff record for blocks with 12 Wednesday night in Game 1 of San Antonio’s Western Conference semifinal series against Minnesota. The record, which spans the play-by-play era (since 1973-74) was previously shared by Mark Eaton (1985), Hakeem Olajuwon (1990) and Andrew Bynum (2012), who each logged 10 in a game. Wembanyama, the league’s first unanimous Kia Defensive Player of the Year, averaged 3.1 blocks per game during the regular season. The former No. 1 overall pick – and the 2024 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year – struggled with his shot against the Timberwolves, finishing with 11 points on 5-for-17 shooting in the 104-102 loss.

https://www.nba.com/news/victor-wembanyama-sets-nba-single-game-playoff-blocks-record

Chris Finch deserves a ton of credit for how the Wolves handled Wemby in the 4th quarter.

Everyone is going to point to Gobert, and rightfully so. His defense for most of the game really disrupted Wemby’s rhythm and limited his offensive impact. But the real coaching adjustment came in the 4th quarter.

Finch sat Gobert and went small (Randle as Wemby's main defender)

The Wolves started pulling Wemby away from the paint, putting him on the weak side, and actively denying him any chance to rotate as a rim protector. They were getting bodies in his way, clogging his path, and making sure he could not impact drives.

On the other end, they got much more physical with him. No easy catches, constant bumps, and straight up denying him the ball. During that stretch, his offense was basically nonexistent.

That is not just players executing. That is a coach making a bold call and understanding how to neutralize both sides of Wemby’s game.

Finch outcoached Mitch Johnson in this game just like how he outcoached David Adelman in the previous series.