12:24 AM ET DALLAS — With the media swarmed around Dennis Smith Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith walked to his locker in the next stall Sunday night and jokingly greeted his Dallas Mavericks teammate: “Ruthless toothless!” Smith had most of his right front tooth fly out of his mouth when it was broken near the top by
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3:35 PM ET DETROIT — Already down a big man, Steve Kerr doesn’t expect Draymond Green to be able to play on the remainder of Golden State Warriors‘ current five-game road trip. Green has missed the last eight games with a right toe sprain and was hopeful that he could return on this trip. Now
Here’s how you should be setting your FanDuel lineup for today’s games. Sunday’s FanDuel slate: 6 p.m. ET: Utah at Miami, Memphis at Philadelphia7 p.m. ET: LA Clippers at Dallas, Portland at San Antonio My favorite plays of the day can be found on the following slides in FanSided’s FanDuel daily picks. Each day in order
Devin Booker wants to build a superteam in Phoenix — which might be a little easier said than done — but at least he’s committed. If there’s one thing Phoenix Suns fans can’t question about Devin Booker, it’s his determination. Though Booker has spent the early years of his young career playing for a borderline
As this season began, several NBA teams had to make huge decisions about offering extensions to players nearing the end of their rookie contracts. Twenty games later, how are those decisions looking? Before this year’s Halloween deadline for NBA teams to sign players in the fourth year of rookie contracts signed in 2015 to extensions,
12:28 AM ET Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — That gruesome ankle injury that put Gordon Hayward through a grueling year of rehab forced him to adjust his game. However he’s able to make it happen, the Boston Celtics are more than happy to have him making the significant impact they envisioned all along. Hayward had a
Physical anomalies are always some of the most interesting players in the NBA Draft. The league is full of players who have weird or outlandish physical traits that enhance or limit their abilities on the court, and these are often the first things that stick out to us. Everything from JaVale McGee’s 7-foot-7 wingspan, to
As November draws to a close, the NBA has broached the quarter-season mark. Twenty games may not seem like a lot, but there is plenty that can be taken away from the play of any team through this point in the season. The 2018-19 season has been quite a surprising one so far, even more
A while back, I saw the motion picture adaptation of the Uncle Drew series of commercials, presumably for work, I was writing about it or doing a podcast about it or something. It’s a pretty lousy movie, weird from seed to stem, Shaq’s giant nude bottom is in it, and it has a plot that
The Jimmy Butler saga in Minnesota has finally come to a close with a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Timberwolves can finally get back to basketball. It isn’t often losing one of the best players in the NBA qualifies as a relief, but then it isn’t often we see the sort of drama that
2:31 PM ET Malika AndrewsESPN Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen has been upgraded to probable and could make his season debut in Saturday’s game against the Houston Rockets. Markkanen has been sidelined with an elbow sprain since September. Initially, he was scheduled to be out six to eight weeks. He has missed 23 games. He
SAN ANTONIO, TX – JANUARY 5: Kawhi Leonard Jimmy Butler wants Andrew Wiggins to be more like Jimmy Butler by Jeremy Lambert Belgium 3-0 Panama: World Cup highlights and recap by Kristofer McCormack The Los Angeles Clippers could be in the mix for Kawhi Leonard, and they appear to have their starting point in any
The Memphis Grizzlies could potentially end up right back in the playoffs next season with Mike Conley coming back from injury. So maybe they don’t really need the No. 4 pick. The Memphis Grizzlies have the No. 4 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. It’s been a few years since they’ve had a pick this
We’re only a quarter of the way through the NBA season, but already, there are some intriguing races shaping up for some of the end-of-season awards. For perhaps the first time ever, there is even a wildly intriguing race for Most Improved Player, with several candidates who deserve recognition. With apologies to the injured Caris
The best high salary and value picks for DraftKings fantasy basketball on Saturday, Dec. 1. Saturday’s DraftKings slate: 7 p.m. ET: Golden State at Detroit, Brooklyn at Washington8 p.m. ET: Toronto at Cleveland, Chicago at Houston, Boston at Minnesota10 p.m. ET: Indiana at Sacramento My favorite plays of the day can be found on the
At the conclusion of Thursday morning’s summit meeting between the Knicks brain trust — team president Steve Mills, general manager Scott Perry and head coach David Fizdale — and gathered reporters, it was impossible to ignore what wasn’t present at the introductory presser for the season. The trio spoke with one voice. No real outstanding
A little more than a year ago, the New York Knicks signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year offer sheet with a maximum value of $71 million. From all but the most die-hard of Knicks fans, the deal was met with swift and brutal criticism. It had been just two years since the Knicks had
For former Knicks David Lee and Nate Robinson, a return to their old home couldn’t have come at a better time, as things are finally looking up. “I had six steals.” Nate Robinson sat sixteen floors up from Seventh Avenue, in an office building adjoined to the arena he once called home. Behind him is
Tim Hardaway Jr.’s huge offer sheet seemed like a classic New York Knicks gaffe, but THJ is scoring like a $70 million player should. When the New York Knicks signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year, $70 million-plus offer sheet in free agency, the Atlanta Hawks were stunned. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton reported that Atlanta expected
1:56 AM ET J.J. Barea got ejected from the Dallas Mavericks‘ bench late in Friday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers by referee Scott Foster for saying only, “That was a disaster,” the 13-year veteran guard told ESPN. “[On the first techical, Foster] said I was talking too much, but I never said a bad
4:54 PM ET Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo is be out indefinitely with a sore right knee, the team announced Friday. Oladipo has not played since a Nov. 17 game in which he played just five minutes before exiting after falling into a broadcast cameraman and fans sitting courtside. An All-Star last year, the 25-year-old
Basketball Insiders “First Quarter Grades” series continues by examining the Atlantic Division. And while grading teams is challenging given how every team has its own timeline for success and development, it’s a necessary part of evaluating progress. The division appears to be the Raptors’ to lose. The Celtics have struggled mightily, whereas the 76ers upgraded
DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 11: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets tries to block the shot of Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks at the Pepsi Center on November 11, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting
This version of the Milwaukee Bucks — a night-to-night force capable of burying its opponent on either end of the floor — serves as a testament to what effect coaching and environment can have on an NBA team. It is striking to juxtapose this team with the stagnant, imprecise bunch that limped into the playoffs
12:52 PM ET The Memphis Grizzlies are working through contract language on a one-year deal with free-agent center Joakim Noah and expect to reach a deal early next week, league sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The New York Knicks waived Noah and stretched the final season of his four-year, $72 million contract prior to the
2:49 AM ET LOS ANGELES — If it seems like LeBron James has been shouldering a disproportionate part of the load for the Los Angeles Lakers so far this season, that’s because he has. The four-time MVP admitted after Thursday’s 104-96 win over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday that he’s struggled with striking the right
Jontay Porter will miss the college basketball season with an ACL and MCL tear. While it shouldn’t hurt his draft stock, the injury dampens an already weak 2019 NBA Draft class. The 2019 college basketball season was dealt a big blow on Sunday night, as the Missouri Tigers’ basketball team announced that sophomore center Jontay
LeBron James’ son will most likely have to play college basketball if he intends to go to the NBA, and there is a good chance he might join the Duke Blue Devils. LeBron James never had to worry about what college he would go to because the one-and-done rule wasn’t implemented yet, but his son, LeBron
Just minutes into the Clippers’ Tuesday night matchup with the Thunder, Avery Bradley collected an errant and ill-advised Paul George wrap-around pass to Steven Adams and turned to push the ball up court. Danilo Gallinari, just below the free throw line, worked to get his 6-foot-11 frame moving in the opposite direction, using his long,
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is not the most modern point guard of his draft class. That honor belongs to Stephen Curry descendant Trae Young. Nor is he the most skilled floor maestro. Luka Doncic holds that title, rattling off 19.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game on 58.1 percent true shooting. But Gilgeous-Alexander is not