To be fair, I think that logic applies to some of the items on Google's list too. Like Google Nexus? They changed the name and scope of their phone line. AngularJS? They took the framework in a different direction.
No, they 100% killed Nexus.... Pixel line is in no way, in any shape or form a successor to Nexus.
Nexus was a reasonably priced unlocked reference phone targeted to Power Users
Pixel is an iPhone Competitor targeted to Carriers to be featured as an iPhone Alternative
Completely different markets, focus and goals
>>AngularJS? They took the framework in a different direction.
Again no, Angular is TypeScript, AngularJS is Javascript, these are not the same thing, and it is far from "a different direction"
Nexus One: $530 Nexus S: $530 Galaxy Nexus: $200 with standard 2 year contract (basically the same as any flagship phone at that time) Nexus 4: $300 Nexus 5: $350 Nexus 6: $650 Nexus 6p: $500 Nexus 5x: $379
Arguably Nexus 4 & 5 were the odd ones out with their relatively low pricing. The others (excluding the 5x) were pretty much on part with flagship phone prices at launch time.