The 2022 NBA Playoffs has now had 22 20-point blowouts, which puts it only behind the 2016 edition for the most in league history.

The 2017 NBA Playoffs had 21 blowouts.

The Conference Finals has had three blowouts through seven games.

Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown hired Jordi Fernandez as his lead assistant on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old Fernandez has been an assistant with the Nuggets since 2016.

Brown and Fernandez previously worked together with the Cavs and the Nigerian national team. 

One of the factors that led the Los Angeles Lakers to fire Frank Vogel was how he handled Russell Westbrook and his inability to make him a productive part of the team, sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic. There were questions whether Westbrook was put in a situation to succeed by Vogel.

Phil Jackson, who is consulting the Lakers in an informal role, is known to have been a fan of Westbrook throughout his career.

While Jackson has no interest in coaching, his view on Westbrook is relevant. 

Entering the offseason, there was a strong sense that the Lakers would part ways with Westbrook, but that expectation is beginning to soften. 

The Toronto Raptors surpassed expectations during the 21-22 season in finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference, but they don't expect to accelerate their timeline because of it.

“I think it’s still a team of the future,” Masai Ujiri said during his end-of-season state of the union address on Tuesday. “I think we have to have patience and grow. It’s the first time Pascal (Siakam) and Fred (VanVleet) and OG (Anunoby) have been at the helm. I think they did OK. And the young guys, (it was) the first time they’re really playing.

“We still preach patience and growth here. I know with how the results came at the end of the season. I know the expectations now become day-to-day; I understand that from a fan perspective or media perspective. It’s win now. But we’re thinking (about) the long game here.”

Ujiri believes in the core of VanVleet, Siakam, Anunoby and Scottie Barnes and will give them opportunities to grow and perhaps fail.

“I think there are things we’re really going to evaluate the next few days,” Ujiri said when asked if he would be willing to hand out multiyear deals to free agents, both his own and those from other teams, in the offseason. “This is what you guys making me do this press conference right after the season (causes). If you’d waited three weeks, then I’d (have) been able to tell you what all our meetings (yielded) and all the things that we want to do. But right now, I don’t have an answer for you.”