Detroit - The Pistons picked up Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings, but still managed to underperform and miss the postseason. Their struggles cost new coach Maurice Cheeks his job early in the year. Boston - Rebuilding has started for the Celtics, and they have the record to prove it. Rajon Rondo has returned and looked healthy, but this team is really gearing up for the NBA draft. MORE: Which NBA teams clinched playoff spots?...
Grizzlies big man Marc Gasol exhibited that mentality perfectly in Monday’s Memphis-San Antonio NBA playoff matchup. MORE: NBA playoffs, scores, updates With time ticking down in the second quarter, Gasol casually headed a dead ball through the hoop following a whistle. The poise, the textbook form, it all comes together for Gasol from the paint. It’s not the first time he has attempted this, either. The Spurs, meanwhile, should be given a red card for the beatdown they’re giving the Grizzlies; they held a 56-37 lead heading into the third quarter....
Toronto traveled to Milwaukee for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals and defeated the Bucks 105-99 at the Fiserv Forum. The victory gave the Raptors a 3-2 series lead. The Bucks appeared in control as they won each of the first two games at home. The Raptors, however, rebounded with two wins of their own at Scotiabank Arena before coming out on top Thursday. The series will shift back to Toronto for Game 6 on Saturday....
Durant scored 38 points in the first half — the most he’s ever scored in a half, regular season or postseason — to power the Warriors to a 72-53 halftime lead. It ties the second-most points scored in a half in an NBA playoff game, behind only former Warriors guard Eric “Sleepy” Floyd, who scored 39 points in a half in a 1987 playoff game. Charles Barkley also scored 38 points in a half in a 1994 postseason game....
Friday against the Clippers, the Warriors star somehow took his game to a level beyond that. Durant scored 50 points to lead the Warriors to a 129-110 victory and a 4-2 series win over the Clippers, who put up a good fight in the Western Conference first-round series. But Durant could have likely scored far more points had the game been in doubt. Because after the Clippers jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter, Durant took charge, finishing the first half with 38 points....
On Thursday night, the two LA rivals will again meet on another opening night, albeit one with a distinctly different flavor, as the NBA season resumes after a hiatus of over four months enforced by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Two of the bookmakers’ favorites for the NBA title when the season began in October, the Lakers and the Clippers had both lived up to expectations by the time the NBA season was halted on March 11 when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first player to test positive for COVID-19....
Cleveland is expected to receive offers for the 30-year-old forward, one unnamed league executive recently told The Athletic. Multiple teams — including the Nets, Knicks, Clippers and Lakers — will have cap space this summer and are expected to pursue adding stars to their roster. But, some of them will miss out on the top-tier free agents, which could lead them to explore dealing for Love. The executive added:...
Lee is owed $15 million next season. That contract could make it hard for the Warriors to re-sign Draymond Green who, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, is reportedly interested in signing an offer sheet with the Pistons. MORE TRADE RUMORS: Pistons interested in deal for Joe Johnson | No deal for the Nets’ Lopez…yet Green is a restricted free agent after this season and could be looking to cash in on this year’s success, should a team make an offer....
"David Stern: 30 Years" will air at 7 p.m. EST. Stern will be interviewed by Turner Sports' Ernie Johnson during the hour-long program, which includes comments from former and current NBA players such as Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Jerry West, Charles Barkley, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. It's part of a busy few days of tributes for Stern, who is leaving exactly 30 years after becoming the league's fourth commissioner on Feb....
With two game telecasts remaining in the 2016 season, NBC Sports says “Sunday Night Football” is poised to tie Fox’s former “American Idol” as the only TV series to finish No. 1 six years in a row. MORE: Week 16 NFL Power Rankings “SNF” would pass “All in the Family,” The Cosby Show" and “Gunsmoke” as the only shows to rank No. 1 five years in a row since 1950....
All sports arguments may be noise, in a sense, but this one actually is about noise. Not the good kind like when Nathaniel Rateliff cranks up the Danocaster and the Night Sweats horn section behind him starts to play, and not the bad kind like a thunderstorm that wakes you up from a good night’s sleep. We’re talking about the fake kind. MORE: What to know about Premier League’s return...
Reason: failure to meet standards for academic standards. The penalty was handed out because of past cumulative Academic Performance Rate scores. The Panthers won the Horizon League tournament and its automatic NCAA Tournament bid this year. It will not be eligible for The Dance next season. The decision is not a sanction based on any type of violation of NCAA rules, but rather a penalty handed out because of the APR score....
There was the traffic created in the center of the backcourt by Mills’ decision to have forward Francis Lacis and guard Carlos Jurgens cross the court adjacent to one another, dragging their Arkansas defenders into a jumble and creating a screen that freed Abmas, the nation’s leading scorer, to accept an inbound pass while moving laterally and turn immediately to advance the ball toward the basket. “A banana cut,” they call this in the gameday shootaround....
No. No, he won't. But he's definitely going to be in the discussion for one of the best dunkers in the league. Just watch as he defies physics, gravity and anything else science has proved to be real in one single play. MORE: Sweet 16 live blog | Sweet 16 photos | Sherman & Rice selfie | Marv is confused My ... God.
Their reaction, though, differed from the prevailing group think, a line of thought that led to most people — including Vegas oddsmakers — picking a team other than the top-seeded Shockers to advance to the Final Four. The players were excited about the opportunity. “We’re not the team to back down or shy away from anybody,” Nick Wiggins told Sporting News Thursday. “We’ve been through this last year, so this is just another run, another time we’ve got to prove to the world that we’re the team to beat, and I feel we are the team to beat....
The Cornhuskers have reportedly tried to cancel their 2021 meeting with former Big 12 rival Oklahoma, which was purposefully scheduled for the 50th anniversary of the teams’ 1971 “Game of the Century” — a 35-31 win for Nebraska that includes one of college football’s top all-time plays. According to Stadium.com’s Brett McMurphy, however, Nebraska has gone so far as to reach out to other schools to play in Lincoln on Sept....
The university announced Friday that the point guard is transferring. “This was a difficult decision because I have made some great friends during my time here. Mizzou is a great University with great people. This was just a personal decision that my family and I felt was in my best interest,” Rector was quoted as saying in a statement released by Missouri. Rector played sparingly last season. He averaged 0....
The 18-year-old midfielder is considered to be a hot prospect, with his emergence at Emirates Stadium sparking great excitement. He has enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2017-18, with his 15th senior outing of the campaign seeing him make a first Premier League start in a 3-2 victory over Southampton. Nelson is now ready to pen fresh terms and extended an agreement which is already due to run until 2019....
The team confirmed the injury via its Twitter account but gave no timetable for Lopez's return. "Brook Lopez has been diagnosed with a fractured fifth metatarsal of the right foot, #Nets GM Billy King announced today." — Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) Comcast SportsNet New England, which first reported the injury, indicated that Lopez is out for the season. The Nets will provide another update on Lopez's status after he's evaluated by team physicians next week....
Gamblero – whose real name was Jeffrey Vanchiro – was the fan carried out of Madison Square Garden earlier in December. As a result, Gamblero suffered intense trauma. MORE: Kobe vs. Jordan | Bryant passes Jordan | Will Kobe retire in 2016? A few days after the incident Gamblero told ESPN New York, “I’m not my normal self, but I’m working towards getting back to that. I have a lot of recovery to do: physically, mentally, emotionally....
