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He wants to make sure he helps the Warriors keep their offensive flow despite the constant double-teams and help situations he keeps facing on the offensive end. “They playing a gimmick defense which has been working,” Durant told reporters Wednesday, via The Athletic. “Top blocking everything on the perimeter, so guys aren’t even looking at the 3-point line, they’re just forcing guys inside the 3-point line, so for us, when I get the ball in my spot I got a pest, Patrick Beverley, who was up underneath me....

Harden is in the running for a second consecutive NBA MVP award after another stunning season in which he averaged 36.1 points per game. Each new opponent has sought a way to contain Harden and the Jazz were no different in Game 1 of their playoff series, with Rubio’s bizarre approach allowing the Rockets guard to move past him before attempting to block from behind. But Houston ran out 122-90 winners, with Harden putting up 29 points and making four shots from beyond the arc....

Brooklyn will have an uphill battle if it wants to knock off Atlanta. The Nets have struggled in matchups against the NBA’s best, going 12-31 against .500 or better teams. MORE: Eight teams that could win it all | Lottery odds | Brooks’ future uncertain | Buy playoff tickets Not only do these year’s stats tell us the Hawks are the likely victors, but only five No. 8 seeds have ever won their first-round series....

Many thought it would be tough to win without their star point guard, but the Clippers flexed their muscles anyway in a 117-101 win over the Rockets. MORE: Cavs need answers | Curry wins MVP with class PHOTOS: Must-see first round pictures Blake Griffin led the charge with a monster triple-double, scoring 26 points to go with 14 rebounds and 13 assists to pick up some of the slack in Paul’s absence....

Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans will face the Utah Jazz at the Disney World complex near Orlando at 6:30 p.m. ET on July 30 in the first game of the resumed season, which will consist of a 22-team format. The second game of the nationally televised doubleheader, at 9 p.m. ET, has LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers facing Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers. MORE: Key dates for the NBA’s restart...

Wait, sorry, that’s taken — sort of. The NBA does not need a clever new name for the competition that will commence July 30. It’s called “basketball season,” which will be followed by the NBA Playoffs. These do not usually occur in August, September and October, but even though the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be capable of delaying the NBA for a period of 4½ months, it has not wiped out what had been an entertaining season that portended a fascinating playoff tournament....

NBA officials said Thursday that Dwyane Wade wasn’t fouled late in the Heat’s 90-88 loss to the Hornets in Game 5 of their playoff series. MORE: Gabrielle Union goes on Twitter rant after no-call With 2.6 seconds remaining in regulation, Wade tried to tie the game while being defended by the Hornets’ Cody Zeller and Courtney Lee. A call didn’t come, and the Hornets held on for the win and a 3-2 series lead....

With the NBA back on a normal calendar after multiple COVID-impacted campaigns and last year’s Olympic Games, there was an expectation that the 2022-23 season schedule would be released in early-to-mid August. Is the league still operating on that timeline? Here’s what we know about the 2022-23 schedule release based on recent reports and rumors. MORE: Wood, DiVincenzo among players ready to shine in new roles When will NBA release 2022-23 schedule?...

The highlights, as expected, are a shorter schedule, an in-season tournament, play-in games for the final two playoff berths in each conference and reseeding the final four teams in the playoffs. Shams Charania of The Athletic laid out some specifics in a pair of tweets Friday night, and The Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds followed up with a report on the full proposal. The plan needs to be approved by team owners and the players....

The former Brazil attacker is currently an ambassador for the Spanish giants, having previously played for them from 2003 to 2008. WATCH: Ronaldo’s instant joke regret Ronaldinho is currently in New Orleans ahead of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, where he was already photographed with Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James. The 36-year-old went one better Saturday, presenting Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry with a custom Barcelona shirt. The point guard is known for his three-point ability, something Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez are excellent at providing for Barcelona at Camp Nou....

Seldom in NBA history has so much smoke been generated from so little fire. MORE: Winners and losers at the trade deadline | All 10 trades, ranked Lest you wonder if it was all idle chatter, there comes this note from an Eastern Conference general manager: “I think it is safe to say that what you saw (last week) was more exploratory-type stuff, getting the lay of the land with certain players and teams and what they are thinking....

Philadelphia is still looking to move the former No. 3 overall pick after declining the fourth-year option on Okafor’s contract, essentially bringing an end to his time with team. Okafor has since made it clear he wants a buyout, but the Sixers refuse to let Okafor walk without receiving something in return. LEROUX: Robert Covington’s contract could be key to Sixers’ future The Celtics appear willing to sit down at the negotiating table, but they aren’t ready to offer much, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe:...

With the March 25 trade deadline fast approaching, the Celtics, just 18-17 overall this season, will be calling multiple teams in the hopes of landing an impact player who fits alongside franchise cornerstones Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. They may need to lower their expectations a bit, though. TRADE RUMORS: Kyle Lowry to the 76ers? One of Boston’s top trade targets is Detroit forward Jerami Grant, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania....

Minor deals on Tuesday and Wednesday (Bojan Bogdanovic to Washington, Ersan Ilyasova to Atlanta, Lou Williams to the Rockets) have filled in some gaps on playoff teams, but there’s still a chance teams could further electrify this deadline period with big-time deals on Thursday. Heck, even Paul George leaving Indiana is a possibility. TRADE DEADLINE: Follow along with all the NBA’s deadline deals And there’s more. Among star players and role-fillers, there are still some potentially important deals coming....

Los Angeles is the most obvious destination because of the connection between Davis and LeBron James (they share an agent in Rich Paul of Klutch Sports) and the Lakers’ determination to acquire Davis knowing he would likely sign an extension. A Davis-James combination would make LA a true title threat and bring back the “Showtime” element that’s been missing. MORE: Pelicans’ patience with Davis is bad news for Lakers...

Oh, how times have changed. It’s impossible to predict how an NBA season will go, but looking back, it’s clear that some things are harder to predict than others. We had no idea whether or not the Lakers’ experiment would work and completely underestimated the leap that Ja Morant and the Grizzlies could make. We did, however, carve a specific lane for the teams that could thrive in the absence of injured stars, some of whom are just as scary as they were before the season nearly six months later....

The NBA announced Wednesday that certain types of reviews will be handled by referees in the league’s replay center in Secaucus, N.J. MORE: Derrick Rose to return in two weeks | NBA Utopia Project mailbag Decisions made from the replay center will include: whether a field goal was a 2- or 3-point attempt, end-of-quarter made field goals, out-of-bounds calls, goaltending, potential shot-clock violations and the number of players on the court....

Consor said that he mistakenly assumed that Porter was the son of former NBA player Kevin Porter, who played for the then-Washington Bullets from 1979 to 1983. Porter’s actual father was not an NBA player but did spend four years in prison following his 1990s manslaughter conviction and was later fatally shot while trying to help a friend during a bar fight in 2004, when the future professional basketball player was only 4 years old....

The NFL has long played host to some really bizarre halftime and pre-game shows — Ed Sheeran is still stuck in the public’s craw from last year — but they finally seemed to have gotten it right during the Bills vs. Rams season opener. During the 2022 NFL season kickoff game airing on NBC, the adoring public was treated to one of music’s all-time greats, when Ozzy Osbourne took the stage to play the halftime show....

From Friday, June 5, to Monday, June 8, the 16 regional winners will battle for eight spots in the 2015 College World Series. MORE: College World Series dates, times, TV | Top plays from Day 3 of the NCAA Baseball Tournament The Super Regionals are typically hosted by the top eight seeds in the tournament, but some circumstances have dictated otherwise. No. 8 Missouri St., for instance, did not submit a bid as a host site because the local minor league team will be hosting a series at their shared stadium this weekend....