1:40 AM ET OAKLAND, Calif. — The Los Angeles Clippers pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA postseason history Monday night when they rallied from a 31-point deficit to win Game 2 135-131 over the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Previously, the largest comeback in NBA playoff history was when the Lakers rebounded from
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It was a matter of time, and a mere formality, but Zion Williamson has officially declared for the 2019 NBA Draft. The NBA Draft Lottery is just less than a month away (May 14) and the draft will take place in June. A bunch of college players have declared early, but the one everyone has
As the Detroit Pistons try to get an upset bid off on the right foot, they look likely to be without Blake Griffin for Game 1 against the Bucks. The Detroit Pistons needed a win in their regular season finale to earn a playoff spot, and they easily dispatched the New York Knicks 115-89 without Blake
DETROIT, MI – APRIL 7: Blake Griffin #23 of the Detroit Pistons looks on during the game against the Charlotte Hornets on April 7, 2019 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions
7:07 PM ET DENVER — The San Antonio Spurs held Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic to just nine shot attempts and 10 points with timely double teams in Game 1 yet Jokic still became the fourth player ever to record a triple-double in his first playoff game, adding 14 rebounds and 14 assists in Saturday’s
The Jazz had become a trendy upset pick but the Rockets made clear in Game 1 that they’ll have their work cut out for them. The greatest downside of the first round of these NBA playoffs is that one of Houston or Utah – the two most dominant teams in the entire league since the
The NBA Playoffs are finally here, but at what cost? This week, the community said goodbye to two certain Hall of Famers — Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki. Beyond their cemented statuses as adored fan favorites for nearly 20 years, the pair also boast an insane amount of professional achievements. Wade finishes his career with
After securing the second seed in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets are looking to make a deep playoff run, here is why they can do it. The Nuggets impressed many this season as they played their way to the second seed in the West, and the fourth-best record in the NBA. They were able
1:58 AM ET HOUSTON — The desperate 36-footer by Donovan Mitchell sailed over the backboard, a miserable moment that epitomized the Utah Jazz’s offensive woes in their 122-90 Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. Mitchell had no choice but to toss up a prayer after receiving a pass so far from
Texas Tech star Jarrett Culver took his team to the National Championship game this season, but will he look to head to the NBA Draft after finishing up his sophomore year as a Red Raider? The decision on whether or not to enter into the NBA Draft is almost never an easy one—affiliations with schools,
MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 14: Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks smiles against the Detroit Pistons during Game One of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs on April 14, 2019 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User
When it finally happened, I was happier for him than I was myself. We may as well start there, because that isn’t how the social contract between athletes and the people who watch them tends to operate. Ordinarily, the former are compensated with large sums of money and the latter pay decidedly smaller figures to
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 08: Kemba Walker #15 of the Charlotte Hornets looks on during the game against the LA Clippers at Staples Center on January 08, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms
8:48 PM ET PORTLAND, Ore. — Some 50 minutes before tipoff, Paul George walked onto the floor at the Moda Center on Sunday with black tape canvasing both shoulders and picked up two basketballs. As is his pregame routine, standing on the baseline, he pounded both balls into the floor, shifting them between hands. He
The Nets weren’t supposed to be this far along this fast. Even Coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t foresee a playoff berth so soon after bottoming out. “Never envisioned it. Not in my wildest dreams.” But as we enter the 2019 NBA Playoffs, the Nets season will continue on into the postseason for the first time since
2:00 PM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN The Cleveland Cavaliers will begin conducting interviews in their coaching search this week, including meetings with Miami assistant Juwan Howard and Dallas assistant Jamahl Mosley, league sources told ESPN. The Cavaliers are expected to meet with assistants on teams involved in the playoffs later, sources said. Cleveland general manager Koby
DENVER, CO – APRIL 13: Will Barton #5 of the Denver Nuggets goes to the basket against the San Antonio Spurs during Game One of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs on April 13, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or
I am currently at the library. The library is named after some local hero. His last name is or was Porter. I don’t know if he’s living or dead. I don’t know anything about him. What does any of this have to do with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the number one-seeded Milwaukee Bucks? I don’t know.
3:42 AM ET DENVER — Derrick White saw an opening, rose up and threw down a thunderous one-handed dunk all over Paul Millsap that shook the Pepsi Center in the third quarter Saturday. But that wasn’t even the San Antonio point guard’s biggest play of the night. Redeeming himself after a turnover he committed with
In a draft class devoid of much star power beyond Zion Williamson, Jarrett Culver has ridden a breakout sophomore season to emerge as arguably the second-best prospect. With a versatile offensive game and stout defensive capabilities, Culver looks to be one of the safer lottery picks, combining a high floor with lower-level star upside. His
In this latest edition of Basketball Insiders’ “Fixing” series, we’re going to take a look at the one team that arguably has the least fixing to do: The Sacramento Kings. Just saying that feels so unordinary knowing the Kings’ reputation. In a season that had no shortage of surprises, the Kings’ sudden uprise ranks among
9:49 PM ET PHILADELPHIA – About an hour before the Philadelphia 76ers tipped off Game 1 of their first round series against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, Sixers owner Josh Harris tried to project an air of triumph. Only there was plenty of cause for trepidation when examining his team. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia’s force-of-nature center,
The first round of the 2019 NBA playoffs features a bevy of intriguing, star-studded matchups. Thanks to some late-season luck, the Denver Nuggets escaped with the Western Conference’s No. 2 overall seed, which allows them to dodge both the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets until the conference finals. But before looking that far ahead,
Previewing the first-round series between the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets with shot charts, assist maps, offensive style charts and expected win probabilities. Shot charts While it’s well established that the post-deadline starting five for the Sixers has more talent than the rest of the league (non-Warriors division) with a +20.3 points per 100 possessions
The NBA playoffs are finally here. There are interesting series of both sides of the bracket, but I find the No. 3- No. 6 matchups in each conference to be the most interesting. So we’re going to break down six major questions (three for each team) that will matter in Sixers vs. Nets (below) and
10:16 AM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer has been elected the National Basketball Coaches Association’s 2019 Coach of the Year, the league announced. The Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award, named in honor of Goldberg, the group’s late president, polls the 30 NBA head coaches and mandates that no
Philadelphia 76ers fans’ worst fears are becoming reality as the oft-injured center may not be ready for the team’s first-round playoff series. Joel Embiid, the All-Star center who played just 64 games with an assortment of injuries and load management, is questionable (to say the least) for Game One of the Sixers’ playoff series against
In this latest edition of Basketball Insiders’ “Fixing” series, we’re going to take a look at the one team that arguably has the least fixing to do: The Sacramento Kings. Just saying that feels so unordinary knowing the Kings’ reputation. In a season that had no shortage of surprises, the Kings’ sudden uprise ranks among
Previewing the first-round series between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers with shot charts, assist maps, offensive style charts and expected win probabilities. Shot charts In the chart below, Jayson Tatum’s shots (as of April 4) are displayed in terms of relative density by distance. The shot areas are broken up as less than eight
Last year in this space, we introduced a metric called Wins Above Age-Derived Expectation, or WAADE. It measures exactly what it sounds like: how many more wins an NBA team actually gets than you would have expected them to based on their minutes-weighted age. In introducing the metric, we highlighted several teams that stood out