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Phoenix Suns fire head coach Monty Williams

Monty Williams said Friday he doesn’t worry about his job, but can see why one would in today’s NBA.

“From my perspective, you do the best you can and if things don’t turn out the way you want them to, you can sleep and rest because you did the best you could and that’s all you can do, but I’m not closed minded on what I’ve seen in the league,’ Williams said. “A lot of these guys who’ve lost their jobs are good friends of mine.”

A day later, the Suns fired Williams, sources confirmed to The Republic Saturday evening.

This comes after the Suns were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs in the Western Conference semifinals after falling to No. 1 seeded Denver by 25 points in Thursday’s Game 6 at Footprint Center…

“Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons,” said Suns president of basketball operations and General Manager James Jones in the news release. “We are filled with gratitude for everything Monty has contributed to the Suns and to the Valley community. While it was difficult for me to make this decision, I look forward to continuing the work to build a championship team.”

Via ESPN.com:

New Suns owner Mat Ishbia made the decision to dismiss Williams immediately after Thursday night’s Game 6 loss to the Denver Nuggets and had general manager James Jones called him on Saturday night and deliver the news, sources said.

Williams won an NBA Coach of the Year award and reached the NBA Finals while helping to resurrect the franchise from one of the league’s laughingstocks into the winningest team in the NBA over the past three seasons.

The pressure on Williams increased from the moment Ishbia engineered the trade deadline deal for Kevin Durant in February, shortly after Ishbia’s ownership group was approved by the league’s Board of Governors.

Ishbia had never warmed to Williams as his coach and decided quickly after Thursday night’s season-ending loss that he would fire him, sources said. Jones has long been an advocate and ally to Williams, but was quoted in the team’s news release on Saturday night saying that “it was difficult for me to make this decision.”

Evan Fournier predicts a future beyond Knicks

Via the NY Post:

After the Knicks’ second-round exit from the playoffs, Evan Fournier is convinced of two things:

He could’ve helped them in their series loss to Miami.

And they’re not going to bring him back.

“There’s no way they’re going to keep me. I would be very surprised if they did,” Fournier said after Friday night’s season-ending, Game 6 loss in South Florida. “So we’ll see. It’s obviously not in my hands.” …

He inked a hefty four-year, $73 million contract before last season that has now made him a salary-cap albatross.

He has two years left on the deal, but 2024-25 is a club option, essentially making him a one-year expiring contract.

Warriors were not a championship team, says coach Steve Kerr

Via the Bay Area News Group:

Steve Kerr surveyed the visitors’ locker room at Crypto.com Arena Friday night and saw tired eyes and disappointed faces looking back at him.

The Warriors’ season was over. It had ended with a 122-101 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. It had ended in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, two big steps short of the NBA Finals, where six of their last eight seasons have ended, five times with a championship.

There was sadness in the room, but there had been time to come to grips with the reality. The Warriors, in a microcosm of their season-long struggles on the road, had trailed by double-digits the entire second half. They were down by 20 points with nine minutes to play.

Kerr noted that the Warriors were one of eight teams still playing this week.

“That’s probably where we should be,” a top-eight team in the league, Kerr said. “This is not a championship team.

“When you go 11-30 on the road during the regular season, that’s not what championship teams do,” Kerr said. “It felt like all season we were desperately trying to recapture what we had last year and we did a pretty damn good job of finding something here over the last month.”

On the Pelicans offense with and without Zion Williamson

Via the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Zion Williamson was a one-man offense in his final game of the season.

In a Jan. 2 tilt against the Philadelphia 76ers, Williamson scored 26 points in 28 minutes. He took 12 shots. He made 10 of them. Despite dealing with a thicket of defenders inside, he converted 10 of 11 paint attempts.

Then in the third quarter of that game, Williamson came up limping.

The Pelicans ranked eighth in points scored per 100 possessions in the NBA at the time of Williamson’s injury. After he got hurt — a right hamstring strain that would knock him out for the remainder of the season — their offense cratered. Williamson was unable to play in the final 45 games. The Pelicans ranked 25th in points scored per 100 possessions in this stretch.

The Pelicans fell from third place to ninth place in the West without Williamson. They failed to advance out of the NBA play-in tournament, as they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the West’s Nos. 9-10 matchup.

Denver Nuggets advance to 2023 NBA Western Conference Finals

Via the Denver Post:

An hour before Game 6, Jamal Murray’s head drooped. The Nuggets guard took a brief moment to breathe after missing a string of baseline jumpers during his warmup routine. Then he gathered himself, moved to the wing and spotted up for the next shot.

Murray was going through it. He skipped shootaround Thursday in Arizona and stayed in bed until 2 or 3 p.m., he estimated later. He ate his first meal of the day after he got to Footprint Center. He had been feeling ill since Monday, but this was the worst it had gotten. Murray was listed as questionable on the Nuggets’ injury report before the close-out opportunity vs. the Suns.

“This morning was crazy,” Murray said after a series-clinching win.

That he stayed on the court for four quarters Thursday night was a testament to an essential quality Murray and the Nuggets possess.

Whether it’s playing through physical illness or calling fiery timeouts up 23, all championship teams have the ability to convince themselves they’re swimming upstream against something — no matter how dominant or highly regarded the team is.

Nikola Jokic and Suns owner Mat Ishbia share friendly pregame moment

Via ESPN.com:

Before Tuesday night’s Game 5, Nikola Jokic and Mat Ishbia had another courtside interaction, but this time it involved the Denver Nuggets player giving the Phoenix Suns’ owner a basketball and giving him a heartfelt embrace.

Jokic finished his pregame warmup and headed off the court to where Ishbia was seated courtside. Jokic held a basketball out before chucking it to Ishbia in good fun. Jokic embraced Ishbia after shaking hands with him and giving him a pat on the back.

FULL ARTICLE

Bam Adebayo stepping up big for Heat vs. Knicks

Via the Miami Herald:

Miami Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo has a lot of responsibilities on the court. But he’s also willing to accept responsibility for his play, for better or worse.

Both have been on display in the eighth-seeded Heat’s second-round playoff series against the fifth-seeded New York Knicks.

After Adebayo blamed himself for the Heat’s Game 2 loss last week in New York that left the best-of-7 series tied 1-1, he responded with consecutive dominant all-around performances on both ends of the court in Games 3 and 4 in Miami to help push the Heat to a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Following Monday night’s 109-101 victory at Kaseya Center in Game 4, the Heat is now just one win from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the third time in four seasons and becoming just the second No. 8 seed to make it to the conference finals since the current 16-team NBA playoff format was instituted for the 1983-84 season.

Milwaukee Bucks fire head coach Mike Budenholzer

The Milwaukee Bucks have parted ways with head coach Mike Budenholzer.

Per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Budenholzer, hired before the 2018-19 season, oversaw one of the most successful five-year runs in the history of the franchise during which the team went 271-120 (69.3%) in the regular season under his leadership.”

“The decision to make this change was very difficult,” said Bucks general manager Jon Horst. “Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks’ first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.

“This is an opportunity for us to refocus and reenergize our efforts as we continue building toward our next championship season.”

More from the Journal Sentinel: “Budenholzer was named the NBA coach of the year after the Bucks won 60 games in 2018-19 and they followed that up with a 56-win season in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign.”

Suns might rely more on scorers off bench in series vs. Nuggets

Via the Arizona Republic:

Phoenix Suns are averaging 97 points through two games against Denver in the Western Conference semifinals after racking up 122 a game in eliminating the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in five games.

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are accounting for 59.2% of their points against the No. 1 seeded Nuggets.

Couple that with Chris Paul expected to miss the next two games with a strained left groin suffered in Game 2’s loss, Suns coach Monty Williams is looking to find some points production off the bench.

“I can do a better job of putting more scorers on the floor and living with whatever warts may come with that just to free those guys up so they don’t have to do it every single time down the floor,” Williams said after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ll make those adjustments accordingly.”

Enter Terrence Ross and T.J. Warren.

Heat center Bam Adebayo says he must step up vs. Knicks

Via the NY Post:

Bam Adebayo didn’t mince words about his performance against the Knicks Tuesday night, shouldering the blame for Miami’s Game 2 loss at the Garden.

Game 3 will be Saturday in South Florida, with a salty Miami team and a highly motivated Adebayo looking for payback.

And redemption.

“I just got to play better,” Adebayo said. “I feel like this game was on me, and I lost it for us. I’ve got to be better. I played terrible. I put this one on me.”

None of the Heat did, but Adebayo fell on the proverbial sword nonetheless.