With Portland and the Thunder tied in the final seconds, Lillard controlled the ball near mid-court. He ran down the clock, took a small dribble forward and knocked down a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his team a 118-115 win. The shot gave the Trail Blazers a 4-1 series win over Oklahoma City. Lillard was fantastic for Portland all game long. He finished with 50 points on 17-of-33 shooting....
James wasn’t at his best on Sunday, partially because of a bum ankle, but he did hit a buzzer-beating basket to beat the Bulls and level the series at two games apiece. It was his third career game-winning postseason buzzer beater — the most by any player over last 15 years. MORE: Blatt ‘almost blew it’ | Warriors’ Speights out for a week PHOTOS: Must-see Round 2 pictures We’d say that’s pretty clutch....
A gimpy Chris Paul willed his Clippers to a 111-109 win over the Spurs, scoring 27 points and hitting the game-winning shot with one second remaining after suffering a hamstring injury in the first quarter. MORE: Williams no longer franchise player | Antetokounmpo suspended | First-round photos Paul’s shot put the exclamation mark on a game that embodied the competitive drama the Spurs and Clippers provided in the series’ first six games....
In December, Josh Smith was causing all sorts of problems for the Pistons. As April turns into May, he’s turning into one of the most important players in the Rockets’ attempt at a title run. MORE: Rockets troll Mavs on Twitter | NBA Mock Draft | PHOTOS: Must-see Round 1 images Smith scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds Tuesday night in the Rockets’ series-clinching win over the Mavericks. Smith was a constant force in the series, averaging 16....
The preseason kicks off Oct. 5 with the Oklahoma City Thunder facing Fenerbahce Ulker in Istanbul, Turkey. From there comes a long list of games that roll out until Oct. 25. Over the course of the preseason, 116 games will be played, including the NBA Global Games preseason slate, which features eight games in eight cities across the globe. NBA training camp: Q&A with Warriors owner Joe Lacob | Kevin Garnett can toughen Nets | Photos: NBA media days...
Morant tumbled into a courtside camera on Nov. 25 after attempting an acrobatic layup. While he returned to action later that game and played against the Jazz on Friday, lingering back spasms worried the Grizzlies enough to shut him down. MORE: Carmelo Anthony is heating up for Blazers Here is the play in which he appeared to suffer the injury: And here is a statement from Memphis on Saturday that lists Morant as “week-to-week” moving forward....
The non-decision, and the prospect of having the game in North Carolina after all, is encouraging to Graig Meyer, one of a few state representatives working to completely repeal the bill. Meyer told Sporting News that the NBA’s stance, and the potential that they’d use the game as an opportunity to draw attention and raise awareness, is “exactly what I want to see.” MORE: NBA playoff predictions “There are very few silver linings," Meyer said, “but that’s one of them....
NBA SCHEDULE: Three curious decisions | Opening Night, Christmas, MLK Day The Portland Trail Blazers announced their schedule via a parody of the video game “The Oregon Trail.” They also showed off their incredible Photoshop skills: The Washington Wizards took the video game route, too, using an “NBA Jam”-themed video: Among the other teams that got in on the action, the Atlanta Hawks posted their schedule on an album cover and linked to a playlist with 82 songs — one for each game on their schedule:...
Longtime stars like Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are still playing at an elite level. Two-time MVP award winners Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic are right in the middle of their primes. And then there’s the next generation, which includes Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, and many more. Ranking all of these players seems like an impossible task, but The Sporting News’ Global NBA staff took its best shot at sorting out the talent across the league....
Now the question is whether those will be the biggest moves ahead of the 2022 NBA trade deadline or serve as a precursor to a major blockbuster deal. All eyes will be on the Nets and 76ers because of the numerous reports about trade talks involving James Harden and Ben Simmons, but are the Eastern Conference contenders actually willing to come to the negotiating table and iron out the terms of a deal before 3 p....
The Knicks star forward seems to destined to land with another team by the NBA’s Feb. 23 trade deadline. The nine-time all-star might be headed to Boston. Despite the Celtics management’s insistence they’re not interested, the Knicks are still trying to pull a deal off that would ship Anthony off to Beantown. The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn reported Antony has listed Boston as one of the team’s he’d waive his no-trade clause to join....
With the NBA Draft order now set, the Anthony Davis sweepstakes begin (again). Does owning the fourth pick give the Lakers a leg up on other teams trying to put together a package for Davis? Or are they behind the Celtics and Knicks in the Davis chase? OFFSEASON PREVIEWS:Lakers | Knicks | Celtics Before the NBA summer madness kicks into high gear, let’s take a look at the three favorites to land Davis and evaluate their primary assets....
Much to the dismay of both the Knicks and Anthony, the 10-time All-Star is still on the current roster, and it doesn’t look like much will change ahead of the 2017-18 season. The Knicks are “not close” on any trade involving Anthony, according to ESPN’s Ian Begley, despite the on-again, off-again discussions between the Knicks and Rockets. TRADE RUMORS: Cavs not done dealing just yet? Anthony has made it clear he wants to play in Houston next to James Harden and Chris Paul, but the Rockets don’t have many enticing pieces they’d be willing to give up in order to acquire Anthony....
The Pistons have made the veteran shooting guard available in trade talks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, but suitors for his services likely won’t snag Bradley without giving up a big asset. Wojnarowski reports the asking price for Bradley is “significant,” even with Bradley set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. TRADE RUMORS: Will Pistons look to add Kemba Walker? Bradley has seen a notable dropoff in production this season with lower per-game numbers in points and rebounds as well as dips in field goal percentage and 3-point shooting....
Whereas the trade gives the Clippers some future flexibility while helping them remain competitive in the Western Conference this season, the Pistons made a win-now move by acquiring a five-time All-Star who is two months removed from celebrating his 29th birthday. The Pistons started the season out strong, but they now find themselves 2.5 games outside the playoff race in the Eastern Conference following an eight-game losing streak. The hope is adding the best player in the deal will help them recapture some of their early-season magic and push them into the playoffs for only the second time in almost 10 years....
The Dubs beat the Celtics 103-90 in Game 6 of the Finals on Thursday to win the 2022 title. Across the NBA world, people were singing the praises of a franchise that has come to define the past decade in basketball. MORE: What’s next for Golden State? Stephen Curry finally got his Finals MVP, further cementing his status as one of the greatest guards in NBA history. And his brother Seth made sure everyone was aware of the greatness they witnessed throughout the postseason....
So we asked NBC to explain why it shifted the repeatedly postponed Bristol race to the Wall Street-oriented CNBC from NBCSN. Even if some fans couldn’t find CNBC on their TV dial. MORE: Battle for final Chase berths heats up NBC’s response: We feel your pain NASCAR viewers. Look, it’s natural for frustrated viewers to grouse on social media when they’re forced to channel-hop across the dial to find their race, said NBC executives....
It was only a matter of time before the union weighed in. MORE: No. 1 NBA Draft picks | Riley Curry on the red carpet In a statement Thursday, National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts refuted Silver’s remarks, assuring the business of basketball is “thriving” amid record television contracts and arena deals. The NBPA is expected to opt out of its collective bargaining agreement with the league in December 2016, so this is par for the course as both sides jockey for positioning at the negotiating table....
Marred by foul call after foul call, the game was an ugly end to March Madness, so it should come as no surprise that several interesting stats from the contest are also not very pretty. Brace yourself, and enjoy. Ten stats from the 2017 NCAA national championship game – To get some basics out of the way, North Carolina improved to 6-5 in national championship games. Six titles puts them at third all time, trailing only UCLA (11) and Kentucky (eight)....
And yet for all the detail regarding the “Breaking Cardinal Rules” scandal — including an episode where an underage prospect was “coaxed” by a Cardinals basketball staff member into receiving oral sex from a woman in whom he’d initially expressed no interest — nothing struck me more than a simple number: 15. Let me express that number how it struck me: FIFTEEN!!!! MORE: Pitino furious over NCAA sanctions of Louisville...
