A “missing” poster mocking the 76ers star was spotted taped to a street post outside of Barclays Center ahead of Philadelphia’s Game 3 matchup against the Nets. The hilarious sign offered a reward of $26,620,450, which amounts to the total of Simmons’ rookie contract. Nets veteran Jared Dudley stirred tensions when he offered a critical scouting report on Simmons, who simply blew off the diss when asked to respond....
Portland took control early, entered halftime with a 15-point lead and held off a Denver run in the fourth quarter en route to a 97-90 win. The series will shift back to Portland, with Game 3 set for Friday. Denver won the opener, 121-113. Here are three takeaways from the Trail Blazers’ Game 2 victory. Portland’s role players step up Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, Portland’s stars, failed to find their rhythms offensively throughout the game....
Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series proved to be an epic, with Portland finally emerging victorious at Moda Center 140-137 in the first NBA playoff game to reach a fourth overtime period since 1953. Rodney Hood hit the game-winning 3-pointer, and Lillard, who scored 28 points, hailed the Trail Blazers’ character. “That’s the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of,” the guard told the team’s courtside reporter....
That should make Game 7 in Denver even more interesting. Curry and Barton had to be separated in the fourth quarter Thursday when things got heated at Moda Center, where the Blazers went on to set up the serie semifinal decider with a 119-108 victory. Curry claimed Barton was to blame for their altercation. “He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye,” Curry told reporters....
Washington beat Toronto 125-94 on Sunday, earning the franchise’s first-ever best-of-seven series sweep. MORE: Love’s injury will test Cavs | Wizards sweep Raptors, troll Drake | Conley to miss Game 4 The effort was led not only by Washington’s talented young backcourt of John Wall (14 points, 10 assists) and Bradley Beal (23 points), but also future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, who has provided clutch scoring as well as veteran leadership....
If things fall right, several scouts and front-office executives told Sporting News that UK should eclipse its own record of five first-round picks in one draft next year, set in 2010, with more than six players possessing first-round talent. “If you just drafted that team and kept them together while they matured,” one GM said, “they’d be the start of a pretty good NBA team in two or three seasons....
World Cup winner Lahm has taken the decision to hang up his boots after 15 years and 517 appearances with Bayern. He departs as one of the most decorated performers of his generation, with eight Bundesliga titles and a Champions League crown among his many honours. Lahm’s emotional goodbye The decision to walk away at the age of 33 has come as a surprise to many, but Dallas Mavericks power forward Nowitzki is among those to have been quick to hail his achievements....
Given the Lakers’ slump coming into the deadline, having lost 11 of their last 16, some activity was expected on their end especially with regards to their superstar offseason acquisition Russell Westbrook. However, in the end, things didn’t fall into place, most likely because of the assets at their disposal or lack thereof. NBA LEAGUE PASS: Sign up to unlock live out-of-market games (7-day free trial) Lakers reject Russell Westbrook-John Wall swap deal with Rockets Having said that, the Lakers did have a discussion on Westbrook on Thursday....
With starting center Cody Zeller out because of a hand injury, the Hornets were primed to test their depth in the frontcourt, which seemed to mean a bump up in playing time for Frank Kaminsky, the former lottery pick who has been all but scuttled from the rotation of new coach James Borrego. TRADE RUMORS: 12 players to watch ahead of deadline Instead, Kaminsky played just 16 minutes, scoring five points on 2-for-6 shooting....
Memphis landed at No. 2 overall behind New Orleans despite having only a 6.3 percent chance to get the second pick heading into the lottery. With Williamson the obvious choice to kick off the 2019 NBA Draft, the Grizzlies will likely take either Murray State’s Ja Morant or Duke’s RJ Barrett (assuming they don’t trade down). Acquiring Morant, a talented point guard widely considered the second-best prospect in this class, would open the door for Memphis to trade Mike Conley....
First, Griffin said that the team would meet with star forward Anthony Davis, whose January trade request torpedoed the entire season in New Orleans and shredded Davis’ relationship with the team and city. Second, he stated that coach Alvin Gentry would be sticking around for next season, despite his 145-183 record in four seasons. Griffin and Gentry worked together in Phoenix when Gentry was an assistant and head coach from 2003 until Griffin moved on in 2010....
The move came as a surprise to many around the NBA. George had been linked to a number of contenders since the end of the 2017 NBA Finals, namely the Celtics, Cavaliers and Rockets. The Cavaliers and Rockets didn’t have nearly as many future assets to offer the Pacers as the Celtics did, but it’s hard to believe they — or any other team in the league for that matter — couldn’t beat an offer of Oladipo and Sabonis with no future draft picks involved....
A report from The Athletic indicated earlier this week that McGuire would no longer be a part of NBC Sports’ No. 1 hockey broadcast team alongside Doc Emrick and Eddie Olczyk. McGuire and NBC firmly deny that report. “Somebody, I don’t know who in New York, wrote something that was very inaccurate,” McGuire told TSN 690 on Thursday. “In fact, we all at NBC got our work schedules yesterday and today I got an elongated work schedule from NBC and also spoke with major-domo Sam Flood, who’s really been responsible for creating the NHL on NBC....
As Brissett went back to pass, he was flushed out of the pocket. A Florida State defender got his hands around his shoulders, but the Wolfpack quarterback escaped. Then, a second Seminole thought he had Brissett in his grasp, but the QB used his off hand to push him to the ground. Once near the far sideline, Brisset threw a lofted pass over the defense to receiver Jonathan Alston to make it 24-7 with the Wolfpack up on No....
Early Friday morning, reporters Pat Forde and Thamel collaborated to publish a report that, according to documents obtained in the FBI’s bribery investigation, claims several past and current players from high-profile programs received payments from ASM in hopes they’d sign with the sports agency upon turning pro. The report implicates programs such as NC State (Dennis Smith Jr.), Seton Hall (Isaiah Whitehead), Utah (Kyle Kuzma), Duke (Wendell Carter), Michigan State (Miles Bridges) and Alabama (Collin Sexton)....
TaShawn Thomas can play. MORE: Mike DeCourcy’s favorite memories from 20 years | VCU’s Lewis suffers seizures after head injury | Danny Manning pacing himself in first season at Wake Forest A senior transfer from the AAC’s University of Houston, Thomas, a forward, is eligible to play immediately for the Sooners after having to wait 6 months for a decision from the NCAA. The Sooners, led by fourth-year had coach Lon Kruger, are coming off a season that ended with a 23-10 record and loss to North Dakota State in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament....
The NCAA on Wednesday announced a proposal to create two 72-hour early signing periods beginning on the last Wednesday in June and in mid-December. The only signing period for high school football prospects now begins the first Wednesday in February. MORE: Week 6 Heisman watch The change is likely meant to allow high school athletes to end their recruitment once they have made a decision on where to go to college....
“It’s going to happen one year,” Will Brown said softly to his players. Maybe he was just saying it out of frustration ... or exasperation. MORE: Follow the NCAA Tournament with SN | Schedule Tiny Albany reached this point again in the NCAA Tournament, the moment when every David takes his swing at the sports world’s one true impossible to become its only immortal. They’re always chasing this Holy Grail, these 16 seeds....
With Stanford still alive in the NCAA Tournament, the two made the trip to Memphis, Tenn., to see the Cardinal take on the Dayton Flyers in the Sweet 16. Naturally, the two posed for a selfie and were seen hamming it up on TV. MORE: Sweet 16 lie blog | March Madness photos One is a role model for future leaders of the World. The other is Condoleezza Rice.
Since the Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, 18 of the 30 national champions were No. 1 seeds. Of course, that didn’t happen last year. Connecticut, a No. 7 seed, became just the third team in the last 30 years seeded lower than No. 4 to win the Big Dance. Kansas (No. 6, 1988) and Villanova (No. 8, 1985) were the others. Chalk, however, remains the dominant theme. Learn to play the percentages before building your Tournament bracket....
