News

10:55 PM ET OAKLAND, Calif. — The worst-case scenario for the NBA, its fans and the game itself is for the Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets series to come down to a he said, he said on officiating. This is a series rematch that has been a year in the making, perhaps the series

6:00 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN MILWAUKEE — The Boston Celtics have known for the better part of three months now that, if they were going to make it to the NBA Finals, they were going to have to go through the Milwaukee Bucks. And, more specifically, they were going to have to try to slow

3:45 AM ET DENVER — The Denver Nuggets watched a 17-point lead shrink to two with 52 seconds left Saturday night against San Antonio Spurs, and suddenly Game 7 and what had been an incredible 54-win season was on the verge of slipping away. But then Nuggets guard Jamal Murray rose up and sank a

1:19 AM ET TORONTO — Five minutes into the Toronto Raptors‘ 108-95 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series, the crowd at Scotiabank Arena roared in anticipation. The player with possession wasn’t Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry or Pascal Siakam, because Toronto was defending in half court. Sixers center

5:16 PM ET TORONTO — The Philadelphia 76ers won’t have one of their most prominent fans in the stands when they open up the second round of the playoffs on the road against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, and Sixers limited partner Michael Rubin is not happy about it. Meek Mill, the popular Philadelphia-native rapper

8:46 AM ET Which two teams will win the Eastern Conference semifinals, and how many games will each series go? Our ESPN Forecast panel predicts Celtics-Bucks and 76ers-Raptors. Note: All predictions made before Game 1 of each series. Forecast predictions represent percentage of total votes. BPI and 538 predictions represent likelihood to win. (2) Raptors

1:01 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant scored 50 points in a dominating 129-110 series-clinching win over the LA Clippers on Friday night in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round playoff. Durant’s performance put him in rarefied air within NBA history. With his 38 first-half points, Durant tied Phoenix

8:33 AM ET ESPN.com Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print Will the Milwaukee Bucks coast through another series? Are the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers destined to go seven games? Our experts make their picks for the Eastern Conference semifinals. Note: Experts’ picks for the Western Conference semifinals will be added following the Nuggets-Spurs

7:59 AM ET While the East gets ready for the conference semifinals this weekend, spots in the West are still up for grabs. What are the biggest things to watch in Game 6 of Golden State Warriors vs. LA Clippers (10 p.m. ET, ESPN)? Do the Warriors have a defense problem, and are their title

9:40 PM ET Hall of Famer John Havlicek, the Boston Celtics‘ all-time leading scorer, died Thursday in Jupiter, Florida. He was 79. Havlicek spent all 16 seasons of his NBA career with the Celtics and won eight NBA titles. He was named to the All-Star team 13 times. He had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

4:03 PM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — After a contentious series against the Trail Blazers that ended in another first round elimination and what some perceive as a dent in his reputation, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook shrugged off criticism on Thursday. “If you want to determine my career and what I’ve done over two,

3:26 AM ET OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant acknowledged one of the hard truths about his team’s up-and-down season in the wake of a surprising 129-121 Game 5 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night — the group doesn’t show a consistent killer instinct when it needs one, and

10:13 PM ET The NBA informed teams Tuesday that 233 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2019 NBA draft, including 175 from the college ranks and a record 58 internationals. The deadline for underclassmen and international players to submit paperwork to the league office making themselves eligible for the draft was Sunday night.

3:32 PM ET NEW YORK — All Star guard D’Angelo Russell “definitely” hopes to return to the Brooklyn Nets next season but knows that, as a restricted free agent, much of what happens in the offseason will be beyond his control. “I definitely want to be here. But I also know it’s a business, too.

4:25 AM ET PORTLAND, Ore. — It’s a shot that will be replayed for years to come, one of the all-time postseason moments as Damian Lillard closed the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games from almost 40 feet out to give himself an even 50 points and berth in the second round. The official play-by-play

11:14 PM ET TORONTO — Raptors guard Kyle Lowry injured the ring finger on his right hand Tuesday night in Toronto’s 115-96 series-clinching win over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of their first-round matchup. Lowry’s ring finger was struck by the ball in the second quarter. During the subsequent timeout, the Raptors’ medical staff

7:00 AM ET IT’S SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, in Tyler, Texas, and it is officially “Jimmy Butler Day.” The chancellor of Tyler Junior College has just bestowed an honorary degree on its most famous alumnus, followed by the city council handing the key to the city to the Sixers swingman, an honor not even bestowed upon

4:08 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — “Determination over negativity” isn’t just a marketing slogan for Donovan Mitchell‘s Adidas signature shoe. It’s a mantra for the young Utah Jazz star. So Mitchell wasn’t thinking about how much he had struggled during this Western Conference playoff series when the fourth quarter of Game 4 began with

9:57 PM ET DENVER — Nikola Jokic remembers feeling helpless on that April night in 2016. The Denver Nuggets center was a rookie facing Tim Duncan, who was in his 19th and final NBA season. Duncan scored a season-high 21 points and left an unforgettable impression on the young Jokic. “He could not move that

7:48 AM ET IN OKLAHOMA CITY’S locker room on April 5, Russell Westbrook took his usual place in front of a blank whiteboard for his postgame media availability. He had his new favorite postgame prop with him — a cup of ice water — and answered questions about the Thunder‘s much-needed win over the Detroit

2:45 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — With their starters heading to the bench with 40 seconds left, Game 4 in hand and a 3-1 series lead in their pocket on the way back home, the Portland Trail Blazers had an opportunity to bask in their 111-98 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder a little. But

9:51 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The text landed a little after 9 on Friday night. The Golden State Warriors players had decided — of their own volition — to move practice up from 11 a.m. to 9 a.m. the following morning. “I got the text at night, 9:15 or so, and it was like,

1:13 AM ET Malika AndrewsESPN DETROIT — The sea of blue and red erupted each time Blake Griffin thundered toward the basket, stepped back for a 3-pointer or sprung upward to snatch a rebound. Detroit Pistons fans had yet to see their franchise power forward check in this postseason, and they knew he was their

4:06 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — James Harden claimed he had no clue that he missed his first 15 field goal attempts in Saturday’s Game 3, the most consecutive misses from the floor in any game of his career. It certainly didn’t impact the reigning MVP’s confidence. Harden scored 14 of his 22 points

8:25 PM ET SAN ANTONIO — Spurs star DeMar DeRozan was ejected with 5:01 remaining in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets for throwing the ball in the vicinity of official Scott Foster. With the Spurs down 110-92, DeRozan drove to the hoop and was called for a charge on Nuggets

9:45 AM ET What James Harden has done to the Utah Jazz through two blowouts goes back to his greatest humiliation — Harden’s meltdown, and Houston’s collective disintegration, against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2017 conference semifinals. Harden eviscerated the Spurs in Game 1 of that series — a 27-point Rockets win that seemed

2:40 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook vowed to be better in Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers, and with 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting and 11 assists in a 120-108 win Friday night, he followed through. “Man of his word,” Paul George said. “He came out, he led, we got behind him

6:49 PM ET The Oakland Athletics, in what appeared to be a clever if not wry dig at soon-to-be free agent and Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant, took out a full-page advertisement in Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle that reads “KD commits to Oakland.” The ad came with Durant set to hit free agency this

1:06 PM ET The NBA has rescinded technical fouls called against the Warriors‘ Kevin Durant and the Clippers‘ JaMychal Green during Thursday’s Game 3, the league announced Friday. Both players appeared surprised by the third-quarter call, since they were just exchanging a few words when the double-technical was given. Durant said after the game that

4:22 AM ET LOS ANGELES — When Kevin Durant first joined the Golden State Warriors nearly three years ago, he went through a bit of an adjustment period with his new teammates and coaches. They’d go out of their way to make him feel comfortable in his new surroundings, often at their own expense on