After a bumpy beginning to their postseason, the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks rediscovered their championship form in plenty of time to dispose of the Chicago Bulls in their opening-round series.

They likely won’t make it past the next round unless they’re playing at this level right from the start.

Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins insists he’s paying his own $15,000 fine for publicly criticizing the officiating in Game 4 of the Grizzlies’ series against the Minnesota Timberwolves despite the offer from a couple of players to cover it.

“I appreciate it, but not a chance,” Jenkins said with a smile Monday.

Back in the starting lineup at last, Stephen Curry took over late and brought his team back just as he has so many times during Golden State’s deep postseason runs.

Curry scored 30 points in his return to the starting five and the Warriors beat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets 102-98 on Wednesday night to win their first-round series in five games.

Jalen Brunson was lying flat and still, watching his Dallas teammates build a 17-point lead before halftime on the monitor in the locker room.

“I saw how hard the team was playing when I was laying back there,” Brunson said. “It gave me a little mojo to come back out there and do my thing.”

Ja Morant was rookie of the year in 2020, vowing he would get better from there. And he’s done exactly that.

The Memphis Grizzlies guard picked up his second major award in three seasons Monday, getting announced as the NBA’s Most Improved Player. He is the first Grizzlies player to receive the award — and the first player in league history to have won both rookie of the year and most improved.

The Golden State Warriors proved they’re good counter punchers, withstanding a fired-up Denver Nuggets team that finally took the fight to them instead of the officials and each other.

Stephen Curry and Jordan Poole scored 27 points each, Klay Thompson made six 3-pointers on his way to 26 points and the Warriors muscled past the Nuggets 118-113 Thursday night to take a 3-0 lead in their playoff series.

Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso is in the NBA’s concussion protocol and is questionable for Game 5 of the first-round playoff series at Milwaukee, coach Billy Donovan said Monday.

The Bucks lead 3-1 and will try to wrap up the series at home on Wednesday. Milwaukee won the past two games in Chicago by a combined 54 points.

Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies arrived in Minnesota, determined to seize control of the series from a young, confident Timberwolves team that looks and acts a lot like them.

The Grizzlies are growing up a lot faster.