News

1:35 AM ET ESPN News Services PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard set a franchise record with 61 points, including a career-best 11 3-pointers, and the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers outlasted the equally depleted Golden State Warriors 129-124 in overtime Monday night. Lillard’s previous career high was 60 points earlier this season against Brooklyn. He now

10:30 PM ET HOUSTON — There were no puns intended with the stormy metaphors used by some members of the Houston Rockets after their fourth-quarter collapse in a 112-107 loss Monday to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Forward Danuel House Jr. described it as feeling like the Rockets were in a “dark cloud” after their fourth

2:01 PM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is being held out of Monday’s matinee against the Philadelphia 76ers in the hope that resting his tight left hamstring will prevent another extended absence. Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said that Irving first presented with the hamstring symptoms on Sunday. He underwent treatment to

5:48 PM ET ESPN News Services Dallas Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed the last 10 games because of right knee soreness, said he is targeting a return to the lineup on Tuesday against the LA Clippers. 2 Related “The way I’m feeling, I don’t see why there should be any hurdles,” Porzingis told

6:12 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson is officially listed as doubtful for Monday’s contest against the Memphis Grizzlies. The team announced the change in the injury report on Sunday evening, but don’t read too much into it. Williamson is still expected to make his NBA debut on Wednesday night against

12:09 PM ET Utah Jazz forward Royce O’Neale has agreed to a four-year, $36 million contract extension, agents Ty Sullivan and Steven Heumann of CAA Sports told ESPN. O’Neale plans to sign the deal on Sunday, the agents said. Although he could’ve become a restricted free agent this summer, O’Neale and his reps negotiated a

1:45 AM ET HOUSTON — It was halftime in Houston. The Rockets led by six, and Russell Westbrook was rolling, already up to 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, when Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo made a coaching suggestion. Why not try putting Kyle Kuzma on him? Kuzma, known more for his scoring potency than

9:05 PM ET Associated Press PULLMAN, Wash. — Whenever Isaac Bonton drained a 3-pointer or dished out an assist, NBA and Washington State great Klay Thompson was on his feet, cheering on the young point guard. Thompson ended up spending a lot of time on his feet as Bonton scored a career-high 34 points and

2:15 PM ET Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum will not play in Saturday’s road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of a left ankle sprain, the team announced. McCollum was injured in Friday’s 120-112 loss against the Dallas Mavericks, on a drive when his foot landed on the foot of Dallas forward Maxi

7:15 AM ET FRANK VOGEL WAS introduced as the Los Angeles Lakers‘ head coach in the midst of a profoundly bizarre week for the franchise. And it was about to get even stranger. Last May, alongside general manager Rob Pelinka, Vogel took the podium on the team’s practice court. Just hours earlier, Magic Johnson had

6:44 PM ET ESPN News Services INDIANAPOLIS — Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, back in the starting lineup after missing 15 games because of a sprained left knee, had a team-high 27 points Friday night, but Minnesota lost 116-114 to the Indiana Pacers. Coach Ryan Saunders, who told reporters before the game that the Timberwolves would

8:50 AM ET How about a fresh serving of 10 NBA things: 1. The tricks of Ja Morant Morant’s athleticism and fearlessness strike you first. He is so fast. He wants to dunk on everyone — to humiliate victims, the bigger the better. All that is cool. But what is most impressive about Morant —

9:40 PM ET Shooting guard RJ Barrett of the New York Knicks left Thursday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns with what the team said was a sprained right ankle. He will not return. Barrett limped off the court and went directly to the locker room for evaluation in the middle of the third quarter

10:10 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray will be out for the “foreseeable future” after injuring his left ankle in Wednesday night’s victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Coach Mike Malone made the announcement before Thursday’s game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, adding that Murray would remain in Denver

12:35 PM ET The 2020 NBA trade deadline is Feb. 6. After nearly five months between NBA trades — a rare break in the transaction game — the action opened up on Dec. 23 when the Jazz and Cavaliers agreed to a deal centered around guard Jordan Clarkson. Get the latest intel and analysis from

3:58 AM ET LOS ANGELES — With his game uniform bunched up in a plastic bag in one hand and a satisfied smile across his face, Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz walked out of Staples Center victorious on Wednesday. The Magic edged the Los Angeles Lakers 119-118, snapping L.A.’s nine-game winning streak and Fultz —

8:00 PM ET ESPN News Services ATLANTA — Atlanta Hawks forward Chandler Parsons was involved in an automobile accident after practice Wednesday. The team says Parsons sustained a concussion and whiplash. Parsons will enter the NBA’s concussion protocol and won’t travel with the Hawks for Friday’s game at San Antonio. The Hawks provided no additional

1:00 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors swingman Klay Thompson said his rehab from a torn ACL in his left knee is ‘going great,’ but it remains unclear if Thompson will return this season. Speaking publicly to reporters for the first time since Warriors media day in late September, Thompson seemed pleased with

3:16 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard reached the halfway point of the season for the LA Clippers with his most explosive game, scoring 43 points in just under 29 minutes Tuesday night at Staples Center. But after helping the Clippers temporarily bust out of their recent funk and make quick work of the

7:35 PM ET EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — As Anthony Davis stood by the wall at the Los Angeles Lakers‘ practice facility and spoke to reporters for the first time since taking a nasty fall against the New York Knicks last week that has caused him to miss L.A.’s last three games, he said he was

12:25 PM ET ESPN News Services Trailing by 16 in the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night, Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey benched center Andre Drummond. And Detroit responded, rallying to force overtime. “It wasn’t a message for Andre as much as a message for everyone who wasn’t on the floor,”

3:30 AM ET LOS ANGELES — LeBron James and Kevin Love shared an intricate postgame handshake — a flurry of patted hands, fist pounds and high-fives — then hugged and made their way to separate locker rooms. The Los Angeles Lakers‘ 128-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday was the first time James and

9:06 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers said forward Anthony Davis will remain out Monday night against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, while guard Rajon Rondo is listed as day-to-day with a fracture on his right ring finger. This will be the Davis’ third consecutive missed game since suffering what the team is calling a gluteus

9:22 AM ET What has changed in the NBA Power Rankings this week? Our experts rank the best teams in the league, from No. 1 to No. 30, with the Utah Jazz rising and the Brooklyn Nets sliding. Throughout the regular season, our panel (ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Andre’ Snellings, Royce Young and Bobby Marks, and

5:46 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN TORONTO — Before the Raptors faced the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at Scotiabank Arena, Raptors coach Nick Nurse was concerned about Pascal Siakam needing to shake off several weeks’ worth of rust in his first game back from a groin injury. “I think it’ll be a challenge, to be

5:11 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Kyrie Irving is back for the Brooklyn Nets, and his impact was immediate. Irving had 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting to go with four rebounds and three assists, leading the Nets to a 108-86 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday at Barclays Center. Although he

12:52 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — With LeBron James and Anthony Davis sitting out the same game for the first time all season, there was a new big two for the Los Angeles Lakers in Saturday’s 125-110 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder: Rajon Rondo and Kyle Kuzma. The pair combined for 57 points —

2:16 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN The Milwaukee Bucks boarded their private plane to take them to San Antonio sporting a 32-5 record, the best in the NBA this season. Their .865 win percentage had them on pace to win 71 games, putting them on par with the 1996-96 Chicago Bulls (72-10) and the 2015-16 Golden

8:51 PM ET ESPN News Services HOUSTON — James Harden scored 32 points in three quarters to surpass 20,000 and the Houston Rockets rolled to an easy 139-109 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. Not everything went smoothly for Harden, though, as he turned it over 11 times in the first half, the most

2:57 AM ET DALLAS — While outdueling Luka Doncic on the court Friday, LeBron James also managed to one-up Michael Jordan in the record books. James passed Jordan for fourth place on the all-time field goals made list en route to a 35-point, 16-rebound, 7-assist night in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 129-114 win over the