Toronto took down Golden State 123-109 at Oracle Arena on Wednesday in Game 3 despite a Herculean effort from Stephen Curry. It now leads the series, 2-1. The two-time MVP scored 47 points on 14-of-31 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out seven assists for Golden State. He tried his absolute best to will his team to victory, but in the absence of Klay Thompson, there was little Curry could do....
Rapaport earlier this week tweeted that he often gets threats, but never figured Durant would be one making them. “I receive threats and disgusting messages DAILY, but never in my wildest dreams did I think @KDTrey5 would be among them,” Rapaport’s Tuesday tweet said. “The (snake emoji) himself is now threatening me, bringing up my wife and wants to fight. This is supposed to be America’s sweetheart right? #ImDaRealMVP”....
MORE: Contract advice for the top 18 free agents His opinion carries a little more weight than most others’: He owns the Grizzlies, and his team on Friday committed about $250 million combined to point guard Mike Conley and forward Chandler Parsons. GREER: Conley deal another win for Grizzlies That makes this tweet . . . interesting: Buyer’s remorse already (i.e., “We’re throwing money away”)? Or, is Pera saying the owners can do this because they’re stacking so much paper?...
During ESPN’s mock draft special Tuesday, NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said the Lakers, Knicks and Mavericks are the three teams other than Charlotte most interested in signing Walker, who was named third-team All-NBA this season. If Charlotte slides a supertax deal across the table to Walker, it would be hard to pass up. The maximum contract other teams can offer him is four years and $140.6 million, but the Hornets can offer up to five years and $221....
According to league sources, some of the potential Holiday suitors have seen their interest drop off in recent weeks, and a glut of point guards available either by trade (Ricky Rubio, Eric Bledsoe) or free agency (George Hill, Jeff Teague) has watered down the market. TRADE TRACKER: Biggest rumors, reported deals ahead of free agency That’s strengthened the bargaining position of the Pelicans once free agency opens this weekend. The New Orleans brass remains concerned that Holiday fully intends to test the market in the coming days, and that he might have already convinced himself that he should be elsewhere....
According to a report from The Athletic, the Magic put together a four-year deal that will exceed $100 million and that was good enough for Nikola Vucevic. He is planning on committing to the offer when free agency begins 6 p.m. ET Sunday. A previous report hinted that the deal would exceed $90 million, which would have been under the amount the All-Star was hoping for. According to an earlier report from The Dallas Morning News, Vucevic was eyeing $25 million per year, which is what he’ll get with the team’s newest terms....
Several players still haven’t reached agreements with teams, but 13 of Sporting News’ top 20 free agents are already off the market. Kawhi Leonard, the No. 1 player in SN’s rankings, is technically available, but he is widely expected to sign a new deal with the Clippers at some point in the near future. A surprise signing or trade could pop up later this week because, well, that’s how the NBA offseason works....
This year’s NBA Christmas uniforms represent the latter. What makes these uniforms as delicious as a big bowl of rich figgy pudding? Let’s start with the script letterforms. They are elegant and festive, the perfect visual fit for the holiday. Even though each team effectively follows a template, all of the wordmarks are individually crafted — no “off the rack” fonts here. Look at the “C” in “Cavaliers, then look at the “C” in “Chicago....
ESPN reported on Saturday that the league is looking into the Bulls’ deal for Lonzo Ball from the Pelicans, plus the Heat’s move for Kyle Lowry, to find out if illegal contact was made between the teams and players before free agency officially opened at 6 p.m. ET on Monday. The Bulls had agreed to a deal with the Pelicans where Ball was signed to a four-year, $85 million deal and sent to Chicago for Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky....
LIVE: Follow SN’s draft tracker for grades and analysis No. Wrong. Very wrong. As of Tuesday morning, there isn’t even a consensus on what the Timberwolves will do with the No. 1 pick Wednesday night, let alone how the first round will play out. This particular group of prospects doesn’t have any can’t-miss superstars. Multiple teams appear willing to trade picks. Free agency begins later this week. All of these elements have taken the usual draft-related chaos and turned it up to 11....
The Spurs coach has been selected by the league to guide the Western Conference team, the Spurs announced. MORE: All-Stars who won’t be | Spurs make sure Western Conference still a battle “Well, everybody looks forward to the All-Star break for a variety of reasons,” Popovich told reporters Wednesday, via ESPN.com. “But in my case, it’s a pretty awesome feeling to know that you’re going to be in the locker room with some of the best athletes in the world, and it’s pretty humbling....
Next up are the Wizards, who finished up a sweep of the Raptors earlier this week. MORE: Can Donovan fix Thunder? | Thompson: Warriors will go for Durant | PHOTOS: Playoffs gallery Hawks 111, Nets 87 (Atlanta wins series 4-2) Takeaway The Hawks exposed the Nets by imposing their will on the offensive end of the court. Kyle Korver jumped out of the gates hot from beyond the arc, but it was the inside presence of Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll and Al Horford that iced the game in the second half....
During media availability ahead of Game 1 of the Warriors’ series against the Jazz, a reporter asked Golden State guard Stephen Curry what he’ll do on his off-days in Utah. MORE: Bumgarner explains ‘freak’ accident that injured throwing shoulder Curry, of course, was tweaking Giants ace pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who suffered shoulder and rib injuries last month when he fell off a dirt bike during an off-day visit to the mountains outside Denver....
Kyrie Irving and LeBron James combined for the type of dunk that’s usually reserved for the fourth quarter of blowouts, not the opening minutes of the first quarter in Game 1. DEVENEY: Can the Raptors stop LeBron, Cavs? If those two were trying to tell Toronto the defending champs aren’t messing around, then message delivered. But, geez, guys, maybe wait until the W is secure.
The first quarter of the regular season has been predictable in some ways (the Lakers and Clippers are — shocker — doing just fine) and surprising in others (the Suns are better than the Warriors). The races to the top of each conference should remain competitive, even as a few basement-dwellers lean into tank jobs. MORE: Evaluating the top candidates for Rookie of the Year It’s important to note these rankings are not completely reliant on wins and losses....
It’s still too early to deem anything we’ve seen so far as concrete, but there are trends starting to set in across the league, both good and bad. In this week’s edition of our NBA Power Rankings, we highlight each team’s biggest concern through the first four weeks of the season. As a reminder, these power rankings are a reflection of where teams stand up to this point in the season and not a projection of where they may land later in the season....
Here, you can find projected win totals, predictions on the best player and best rookie, under-the-radar storylines to follow and a bold prediction among the five teams. Today, the focus shifts to the Atlantic Division. 2021-22 NBA season preview: Atlantic Division Projected win totals Over/under win totals provided by Action Network. Best player: Kevin Durant There’s no shortage of star power in the Atlantic Division. The Nets alone have three active All-Stars on their roster in Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving....
Among the ideas being formally explored: — A midseason cup-style tournament — A postseason play-in tournament — A shorter regular season from the current 82 games Per ESPN.com: “According to those with knowledge of the conversation, which sources regard as very exploratory, the proposed reforms would be adopted initially as a pilot program. The NBA would have the chance to observe the trial run and evaluate the long-term viability of such a schedule design....
The deal was agreed upon in principle by both the NBA and its Players’ Association on Monday night ahead of Tuesday’s vote. Among the changes is a reduced 72-game schedule, which will begin on Tuesday, Dec. 22. Some players, including 2020 Finals MVP LeBron James, weren’t thrilled about the Dec. 22 start date, just 72 days after the Lakers clinched the title in Game 6 of the NBA Finals....
That didn’t happen because the Heat ran into the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals. Since then, James moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the pull of his supreme talent was indicated in the GM survey for the 2014-15 NBA season. MORE: Under pressure in ‘14-15 | The year after: Following up 20-win jumps | Impact rookies The Cavaliers were predicted to win the Eastern Conference and Central Division, while also being named the team that made the best offseason acquisitions....
