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8:00 AM ET With six first-round series done in the 2020 NBA playoffs, let’s bounce around some positives and negatives we haven’t covered in other places (i.e., enough about The Process). We’ll have more on the Jamal Murray–Donovan Mitchell firestorm before Tuesday’s Game 7. The Mavs are here … right? Through four games against perhaps

2:04 AM ET The Western Conference quarterfinals matchup between the No. 3 Denver Nuggets and No. 6 Utah Jazz is going to a Game 7. After the Nuggets swept the regular-season series against their Northwest Division rivals 3-0, the Jazz took a 3-1 series lead — only for the Nuggets to tie the series. While

4:46 PM ET LA Clippers forward Marcus Morris Sr. was ejected late in the first quarter of Game 6 due to a flagrant 2 foul committed against Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, a continuation of the heated rivalry that has developed between the two players in the first-round series. As Doncic drove to the basket,

12:19 PM ET Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry is set to play in Sunday’s Game 1 against the Boston Celtics after previously being uncertain because of a sprained left ankle. Coach Nick Nurse told reporters that he didn’t expect any limitations on Lowry in Sunday’s game. “We’re going to have to see how it goes

3:38 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — As Jacob Blake Sr. remembers it, barely any time had passed from the time the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play their game Wednesday in protest of the shooting of his son by the police to when his phone rang and the Bucks were on the line.

7:28 PM ET Jamal Murray had a pair of Adidas shoes with Breonna Taylor’s and George Floyd’s likeness on each shoe placed in front a Zoom camera. For exactly two minutes, the pair of shoes sat on a stool before Murray sat down in front of the camera. “My skin color should not determine whether

7:17 AM ET After three days off, the 2020 NBA playoffs resume Saturday when the Milwaukee Bucks face the Orlando Magic. These games were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday but were postponed after the Bucks chose not to play Wednesday afternoon in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, with teams across the

10:25 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Following a contentious players’ meeting Wednesday that left the NBA bubble on the verge of bursting, LeBron James and Chris Paul led a subcommittee of players who reached out to former President Barack Obama for advice. The Los Angeles Lakers star, along with his good friend and

4:12 PM ET Before the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced Friday that the postseason will resume with players and the league working collectively toward social justice goals, we reached out to more than a dozen leaders to ask how they would advise NBA players to use their influence to translate political passions

7:24 AM ET NBA Insiders NBA players spent the past week publicly and privately grappling with the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, before refusing to play in games Wednesday, setting off protests by athletes across American sports. What does this historic week mean for the NBA and other leagues? What were

4:00 PM ET THE FIRST TIME someone called me the N-word on a basketball court was in seventh grade. I remember dribbling the ball on the wing in front of the visitors bench. This girl, whose name I never knew, said I was a “stupid n—–.” I looked over my shoulder, still dribbling, at her

9:36 AM ET This story was reported and written by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Malika Andrews and Zach Lowe. WE HEARD IT in their voices. The pain. The anger. The desperate cry for justice. The video of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black father of six, being shot seven

12:02 PM ET NBA players have decided to resume the playoffs, a source tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Thursday’s three playoff games will be postponed. A resumption of the season could come as soon as Friday, but there is expected to be a return to the play by the weekend according to sources. Players held a

1:51 AM ET For the last six years, the NBA has bathed in the congratulatory spirit of compromise, the model for commissioner-player communication. In ousting the racist former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling, both the players and the league could claim satisfaction. The player voice was heard so powerfully that for the first time in

4:10 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Milwaukee Bucks‘ decision to not take the floor for Game 5 of their first round playoff series against the Orlando Magic promoted the NBA to postpone all three games scheduled for Wednesday. The NBA said the three Game 5s (Bucks-Magic, Houston Rockets–Oklahoma City Thunder,

11:39 AM ET The Indiana Pacers have fired coach Nate McMillan after his team was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Miami Heat. The move comes a week after the Pacers had reworked McMillan’s final year on his contract for 2020-21 and added a team option for 2021-2022 in form of

1:58 AM ET It took 13 months from when they started believing they were going to win a championship that the LA Clippers had to finally play a truly meaningful game. Oh, there were important games, like the first few in their series with the Dallas Mavericks. There were games they badly wanted, like opening

6:53 PM ET Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was named the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday. Antetokounmpo won the award in a landslide, receiving 75 first-place votes from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters and earning 432 points total. The 2018-19 MVP, Antetokounmpo becomes just the fifth player to win

6:45 AM ET Tim MacMahon Close ESPN Staff Writer Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009 Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM Kevin Pelton Close ESPN Senior Writer Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus series Formerly a consultant with the Indiana Pacers Developed WARP rating and SCHOENE system We hear you,

11:00 PM ET Game 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers was always going to be memorable. It was taking place on August 24 — 8/24, the numbers that the late Kobe Bryant wore. Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among nine people who died in a helicopter crash in January. The

5:00 PM ET The Philadelphia 76ers have fired coach Brett Brown, the team announced Monday. Brown’s dismissal is expected to be a precursor for more upheaval for the 76ers, whose senior leadership — including general manager Elton Brand — will begin exploring changes in the front office structure, sources said. The franchise’s plan is that

9:20 PM ET When Luka Doncic first stepped foot on the AdventHealth Arena court Sunday afternoon, he hoped to prove to himself and the Dallas Mavericks’ medical staff that he could play in Game 4, about 40 hours after spraining his left ankle. Doncic received clearance to play and then proceeded to deliver a historic

2:17 AM ET Moments after Paul Millsap blocked his shot and stared him down, Donovan Mitchell had the ball on the left wing, a one-point Utah Jazz lead and Millsap standing in his way. Mitchell sized up the Denver Nuggets power forward, dribbled between his legs and drilled a 25-footer before staring at the Denver

6:15 PM ET With coach Brett Brown’s job status in question, Joel Embiid wondered about his future with the Philadelphia 76ers after they were swept out of the playoffs in a 110-106 loss to the Boston Celtics. “I don’t make the decisions. I’m here in Philly. Whatever happens, happens,” said Embiid, responding to a question

2:51 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — As LeBron James sat in front of a video conference screen following the Los Angeles Lakers‘ Game 3 win on Saturday, a falsetto voice could be heard off camera saying, “Oooh, LeBron,” as James was asked about passing Tim Duncan for No. 2 on the all-time playoff

1:21 AM ET Over his 17 seasons in the NBA, LeBron James has developed a system to prepare for the playoffs. There is a ramp up at some point in the last third of the NBA season. A handful of games where he pushes himself to play more minutes than most observers would probably like

4:05 PM ET Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic is officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s Game 4 due to a sprained left ankle that caused him to exit Friday night’s 130-122 loss to the LA Clippers in the fourth quarter. Coach Rick Carlisle said he anticipates that the Mavs will not know whether Doncic is

6:34 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic was on the ground. He had just driven to the basket against the Milwaukee Bucks but didn’t get the foul call. His coach, Rick Carlisle, stepped in to defend him, as coaches do. “Four f—ing times!” he repeatedly yelled at

11:43 PM ET Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic sprained his left ankle late in the third quarter of Friday’s 130-122 loss to the LA Clippers in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series and was ruled out after briefly returning in the fourth quarter. Doncic, a 21-year-old All-Star, said he will have an MRI on

5:41 PM ET Golden State Warriors president Rick Welts issued a public apology Friday to Toronto Raptors counterpart Masai Ujiri for an altercation with a deputy sheriff that happened as Ujiri was trying to walk onto the court in Oakland after the deciding game of the 2019 Finals. “To my personal and professional friend Masai