PHILADELPHIA — The NBA draft lottery is about three weeks away, and the Sixers have a reasonable chance at landing a top-six pick, which means it’s time to remind ourselves of a little conventional wisdom. I like to call it the Durant-Curry Hypothesis.

If a player is good enough to be selected at or near the top of the NBA draft, he should ...Read more

HOUSTON – The Warriors entered Wednesday night’s first round playoff game at Toyota Center with a 2-0 series lead a realistic possibility.

After a disastrous first quarter, the Warriors were left hoping their championship hopes weren’t dashed when star Jimmy Butler was ruled out with a pelvic contusion in a 109-94 loss that evened up the ...Read more

The Miami Heat will not be an easy out. Wednesday night proved that, and not a lot more.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won at home again to take a 2-0 lead in this first round best-of-seven playoff series, which NBA history says gives them an 88% likelihood of advancing.

Few outside of hardcore fans or the delusional believe that the Heat, play-in ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Paige Bueckers is most familiar with winter weather after growing up in Minnesota and spending her college career in Connecticut, but the former UConn women’s basketball star is quickly making herself at home in Texas as the newest member of the Dallas Wings.

From city officials to veteran players to fans, hundreds crowded...Read more

CLEVELAND — For weeks, as their play-in fate became as much of a reality as that of the Cavaliers being the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, all the Miami Heat wanted was an opportunity to get to Cleveland.

Now the question is whether they can get back.

Far more competitive than in Sunday night’s opener of this best-of-seven Eastern ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — By now, you’ve had time to sleep this one off.

I hope you woke up with one pacifying thought.

Hey, the Twins actually won a game. No, not that.

What a win by the Wild. Not that either.

You should believe the Wolves can win this series more than you did four days ago.

The Lakers did not outclass the Wolves in Game 2. When ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When Saint Thomas applied last month for a waiver with the NCAA for a fifth season of eligibility, the USC forward figured he had a compelling case. As a sophomore at Loyola Chicago, he'd fallen into a depression so deep that he considered suicide. Unable to find the help he needed, he left the school midway through the season to...Read more

LOS ANGELES — At no point, Clippers guard Norman Powell maintained, did he waver in his belief in himself. At no point was he going to shy away from taking shots with the game hanging in the balance, despite missing many of his shots.

Powell said he has worked too hard all season to lose his confidence now, even if the stage has gotten bigger...Read more

LOS ANGELES — There, there. All better.

The Lakers recovered from a knee scrape of a playoff opener Tuesday to leap up and kick the stunned Minnesota Timberwolves in the teeth.

Now, now. That wasn't so hard, was it?

In turning a dread-filled Crypto.com Arena into a place of joyous healing, the wounded Lakers survived a first cut, tied an ...Read more

NEW YORK — Karl-Anthony Towns went to the Western Conference finals last season. In fact, he elevated his level of play on the brink of elimination for the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring 25 points on 13 shots in a win-or-go-home Game 4, then 28 points in the Dallas Mavericks’ close-out Game 5.

Towns knows what it takes to make a deep ...Read more

ATLANTA — And so we come to another juncture in the meandering journey of the Hawks franchise, unencumbered by a championship banner in the entirety of its 57-season Atlanta existence, with the same question at hand:

What are they doing?

The latest prompt for this undying query was Monday’s dismissal of general manager Landry Fields. He ...Read more

The only thing that moved slower than the Lakers was the clock.

They had poured their energy into fighting for everything while building a lead that stretched to 22 in the first half and lived at 20 deep into the second half. They had grabbed and clawed and got clawed and got grabbed and it was still there, a big lead, the Timberwolves and the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard's teammates marvel at how much the Clippers' star forward has dedicated himself to get his body back to peak level.

They have watched how Leonard has stayed the course despite the frequent times his body betrayed him. They have supported Leonard during the trying times with his health issues because they have seen ...Read more

BOSTON — Two years ago, Payton Pritchard was so frustrated with his Celtics role that he requested a trade.

Now, he’s both a vital member of a championship-winning roster and, in the eyes of NBA awards voters, the best bench player in the league.

Pritchard was recognized Tuesday as the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for the 2024-25 season, ...Read more

NEW YORK — Cade Cunningham knew what everyone else was thinking after the Detroit Pistons’ long-awaited playoff opener Saturday night ended with a fourth-quarter collapse at Madison Square Garden.

Maybe they weren’t ready for this, after all.

But even before tipoff for Game 2 on Monday night, Cunningham’s head coach says he knew what ...Read more

HOUSTON — With two-big lineups in vogue, offensive rebounds considered the game’s most valuable commodity and defensive contact that would draw a flag from NFL referees, the Warriors’ first-round series with the Rockets is a throwback to a time long gone.

The Warriors outlasted the Rockets in a grimy 95-85 victory in a Game 1 that was ...Read more

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum has not missed a playoff game in his eight-year NBA career. That streak is likely to end Wednesday night at TD Garden.

The Celtics listed Tatum as doubtful for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Magic with a right distal radius bone bruise in his wrist. He suffered the injury late in Game 1 on Sunday ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made an interesting admission Monday when talking to reporters about his decision to trade fan favorite Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February.

No, Harrison did not admit that the move was a mistake. On the contrary, he clung tightly to his “defense wins championships” ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Former UConn women’s basketball star Nika Muhl will miss the entire 2025 WNBA season after suffering a torn ACL last October while playing in Europe.

The Seattle Storm placed Muhl on the suspended list, which allows the team to retain her rights while not having her salary count against the cap and roster limit for the ...Read more