From the NBA Finals: Kerr, Nurse break down title series

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:38 p.m. ET

Toronto coach Nick Nurse says his team expected to be in the NBA Finals all along, and Golden State coach Steve Kerr discusses the motivation level of his team on the latest episode of PodcastOne Sports Now .

Nurse details how he knew Raptors star Kawhi Leonard had another gear for the playoffs when he heard the forward describing the 82-game regular season as practice. Kerr tells what it's like to have wine with a connoisseur like San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich — his longtime friend and the person he'll be coaching under this summer when USA Basketball heads to the FIBA World Cup in China.

Also on the podcast, longtime NBA referee and now league executive Monty McCutchen talks about how the season went for the officials blowing the whistle at games, Toronto Star writer Doug Smith joins the show to explain what finally getting into the NBA Finals means for the city and for Canada as a whole and AP Basketball Writers Tim Reynolds and Brian Mahoney go back and forth on what they believe are the keys to the series.