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10:50 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — At halftime of Friday night’s game here at TD Garden between the Celtics and San Antonio Spurs, the only history anyone would’ve thought might happen on this night would be Boston setting one for margin of defeat. Instead, a dismal first half only set the stage for a

2:40 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who has been out since March 20 with a high-ankle sprain, could return from the longest absence of his career against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. James plans to test his ankle and make a game-time decision, sources said. He

12:49 AM ET Steve Kerr believes there is a fundamental flaw plaguing this era’s NBA game. After watching his Golden State Warriors get outrebounded 57-34 in Thursday night’s 126-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kerr spoke matter-of-factly about the lack of boxing out he sees in today’s game. Brushing off the idea that his team

11:02 PM ET ESPN News Services HOUSTON — Kevin Porter Jr. scored a career-high 50 points to go along with 11 assists, becoming the youngest player ever to log a 50-point double-double with assists. The performance helped Houston snap a five-game losing streak as they beat the the Milwaukee Bucks 143-136 on Thursday night. Porter

1:37 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson is second in the NBA in free throw attempts and fourth in the league in free throw attempts per game, but head coach Stan Van Gundy thinks he should be shooting even more. On Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets, Williamson had a chance

12:49 AM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Chris Paul scored 28 points, Devin Booker added 21 and the Phoenix Suns beat the LA Clippers 109-101 on Wednesday night to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The Suns finally figured out a way to beat the Clippers, who won

12:26 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has apologized for his on-court tantrum Monday night, saying his behavior was out of line and out of character. “That wasn’t me,” Love said. The five-time All-Star spoke Wednesday following Cleveland’s shootaround practice before facing the Orlando Magic. Love did not take any questions

7:00 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN HEATHER MAYFIELD WAS five months pregnant when she went to Mercy Health Saint Mary’s hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, Brian, accompanying her for an ultrasound appointment on a chilly January day in 2000. Upon the revelation that their first child would be a boy, the couple quickly

12:10 AM ET The Brooklyn Nets clinched a playoff berth on Tuesday night, after defeating the Toronto Raptors 116-103. They are the first Eastern Conference team to confirm a spot in the postseason. Now, the Nets can slip no lower than sixth in the Eastern Conference standings. “It’s great,” Nets coach Steve Nash said of

7:00 PM ET Josh Giddey — a 6-foot-8 Australian playmaking guard — is entering the 2021 NBA draft, his agents Daniel Moldovan and Alex Saratsis of Octagon Sports told ESPN on Tuesday. Giddey is the No. 13 prospect in ESPN’s Top 100 NBA draft rankings, and could climb higher in the lottery. Giddey, 18, has

9:02 AM ET The Golden State Warriors launched a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection on the OpenSea platform Tuesday morning, becoming the first professional sports team to do so. “This is the wave of the future,” new Warriors president Brandon Schneider said. “So we’ve been studying what the best way for us to get involved and

1:07 AM ET Chants of “Defense!” echoed through Madison Square Garden when Chris Paul pulled out a cross over, spun and then flung up an 18-foot fadeaway over Julius Randle that silenced the Garden and ultimately snapped the New York Knicks’ nine-game winning streak. The Phoenix Suns’ All-Star point guard scored seven points in the

7:07 PM ET Houston Rockets point guard John Wall is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain, sources told ESPN. The typical recovery time for such an injury is approximately three weeks, and the Rockets have no intention of rushing Wall back with the team

7:00 AM ET If the NBA season ended today, Madison Square Garden would be hosting Game 1 of a first-round playoff series. The New York Knicks have won nine straight games for the first time since the 2012-13 season, the year they finished as the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed. While Julius Randle & Co.

3:01 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry‘s record-setting month of April rolled on Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings, as Curry hit seven 3-pointers in a 117-113 Warriors victory to set a new NBA record for most 3s in a calendar month with 85 and counting. The previous record was held by Brooklyn’s James

7:23 PM ET After missing the past three games because of a bruised thigh, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant returned on Sunday and erupted for 33 points in 28 minutes in a 128-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns. “It’s like riding a bike,” Durant said. “You get your footing right and just get your rhythm

10:34 AM ET Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is planning to return to the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarwoski. Durant missed three games with a left leg contusion. He injured himself early in the first quarter of the Nets game against the Miami Heat last weekend. Durant

2:07 AM ET There’s only a dozen games left in the regular season for the Los Angeles Lakers after Saturday’s 108-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. And even though the defending champions have been playing together for more than four months since the start of training camp, Lakers star Anthony Davis said the critical juncture

8:48 PM ET The already-depleted Denver Nuggets will be without starting guard Will Barton for “the foreseeable future,” according to head coach Michael Malone. Barton suffered a right hamstring strain early in Friday night’s 118-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco. The veteran guard pulled up awkwardly after driving to the basket,

3:08 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry paid Draymond Green the ultimate compliment after watching the forward tie a career high with 19 assists in Friday’s 118-97 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, calling him the “smartest basketball player I’ve played with.” “When he gets in a groove

11:58 PM ET Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox has been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols and is expected to miss at least 10-14 days, sources told ESPN on Friday. The Kings, winners of two out of their last three games to stop the bleeding following a nine-game losing streak, enter the weekend

4:06 PM ET Marc J. Spears Phoenix Hillcrest Prep senior forward Michael Foster told The Undefeated on Instagram Live on Friday that he will be joining the G League Ignite next season. Foster is currently the seventh ranked high school player in the 2021 ESPN Class of 100. The 6-foot-8, 215-pounder chose joining the G

10:28 PM ET Terrence Clarke, a freshman guard for the Kentucky Wildcats this past season, died following a car accident in the Los Angeles area on Thursday, it was announced. Clarke’s mother was at his side when he died, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Clarke was 19 years old. Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant John

11:20 PM ET There were 67 days, 30 missed games and five missed shots for Anthony Davis before he could finally officially stamp his return from injury with a bucket Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks. After the Los Angeles Lakers star’s 19-foot stepback jump shot fell through the net with 4:51 remaining in the first

7:00 AM ET NBA Insiders It’s been nearly a month since the NBA trade deadline passed, and the dust has settled on a flurry of deals and free-agent signings. Teams such as the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat took big swings to beef up their roster by trading for former All-Stars Nikola Vucevic and

12:17 AM ET Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry‘s 11-game streak of scoring at least 30 points ended Wednesday night during a 118-114 loss to the Washington Wizards. Curry shot 7-for-25 from the field, including a season-worst 2-for-14 from beyond the arc, and finished with 18 points. Despite the loss and the poor performance in

9:42 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James posted and later deleted a tweet responding to the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio. In a series of tweets Wednesday afternoon, James explained why he deleted the tweet. ANGER does any of us any good and that includes

7:41 PM ET Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. will miss time due to a violation of the NBA’s health and safety protocols stemming from visiting a Miami strip club with teammate Sterling Brown that resulted in Brown being assaulted, sources told ESPN. Porter will likely be out until at least Sunday, Rockets coach Stephen

3:31 AM ET The Minnesota Timberwolves dedicated their game ball to George Floyd’s family after defeating the Sacramento Kings 134-120 on Tuesday night. The win came hours after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the murder of Floyd in Minneapolis last May.

1:05 AM ET Right before Devin Booker stood up to finish his postgame videoconference Monday, he had one more thing he wanted to say. He first had to call for the ball. Someone off camera flipped it over to him, and as Booker caught it, he unleashed a megawatt grin. “Yessir, here it is, y’all!”