News

6:48 AM ET The Brooklyn Nets and LA Clippers have taken home-court advantage heading into pivotal Game 3s on Thursday. What adjustments do the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors need to make? Let’s start in Philadelphia, where all eyes are on the Sixers’ point guard. 76ers-Nets The Har-Ben-ger of things to come If Joel

7:00 AM ET “POP WANTS TO talk to you.” The server is speaking to a man named Jeremy Threat — and from the tone in his voice, something is clearly amiss. Threat hustles back to the main dining room of Spataro Restaurant & Bar, an Italian restaurant in Sacramento, California, that has been overrun by

2:52 AM ET HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets firmly believe they were the NBA’s best team last season, robbed of a championship by the basketball gods when Chris Paul strained his hamstring when they were one win away from dethroning the Golden State Warriors. But nobody in the Houston locker room is worried about what-ifs

7:32 PM ET The Memphis Grizzlies are adding two former general managers to their front office, hiring Rich Cho as VP of Basketball Strategy and Glen Grunwald as Senior Advisor, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Memphis is expected to make more hires as well. Cho was GM of the Charlotte Hornets from the 2014-15

4:20 AM ET PORTLAND, Ore. — After a deflating 114-94 loss Tuesday to the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2, the Oklahoma City Thunder are heading back home in an 0-2 series hole with Russell Westbrook taking responsibility for the team’s poor performance and vowing to play better in Game 3. “Starting with myself, I’ve

8:21 AM ET The No. 7 seeds in each conference enter Tuesday’s Game 2s having stolen home-court advantage — for now. Here are the key adjustments and matchups to watch in Raptors-Magic and Nuggets-Spurs. Raptors-Magic Traditions must be honored. And so it is that sphincters will be a-tightening for Game 2 of a first-round series

3:39 PM ET Virginia star Kyle Guy announced in a statement Tuesday that he is declaring for the NBA draft and will sign with an agent. “I set a goal with my brothers when we committed to UVA. Three years later we accomplished that goal of winning a National Championship,” Guy said. “I also set

1:40 AM ET OAKLAND, Calif. — The Los Angeles Clippers pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA postseason history Monday night when they rallied from a 31-point deficit to win Game 2 135-131 over the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Previously, the largest comeback in NBA playoff history was when the Lakers rebounded from

7:07 PM ET DENVER — The San Antonio Spurs held Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic to just nine shot attempts and 10 points with timely double teams in Game 1 yet Jokic still became the fourth player ever to record a triple-double in his first playoff game, adding 14 rebounds and 14 assists in Saturday’s

1:58 AM ET HOUSTON — The desperate 36-footer by Donovan Mitchell sailed over the backboard, a miserable moment that epitomized the Utah Jazz’s offensive woes in their 122-90 Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. Mitchell had no choice but to toss up a prayer after receiving a pass so far from

8:48 PM ET PORTLAND, Ore. — Some 50 minutes before tipoff, Paul George walked onto the floor at the Moda Center on Sunday with black tape canvasing both shoulders and picked up two basketballs. As is his pregame routine, standing on the baseline, he pounded both balls into the floor, shifting them between hands. He

2:00 PM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN The Cleveland Cavaliers will begin conducting interviews in their coaching search this week, including meetings with Miami assistant Juwan Howard and Dallas assistant Jamahl Mosley, league sources told ESPN. The Cavaliers are expected to meet with assistants on teams involved in the playoffs later, sources said. Cleveland general manager Koby

3:42 AM ET DENVER — Derrick White saw an opening, rose up and threw down a thunderous one-handed dunk all over Paul Millsap that shook the Pepsi Center in the third quarter Saturday. But that wasn’t even the San Antonio point guard’s biggest play of the night. Redeeming himself after a turnover he committed with

9:49 PM ET PHILADELPHIA – About an hour before the Philadelphia 76ers tipped off Game 1 of their first round series against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, Sixers owner Josh Harris tried to project an air of triumph. Only there was plenty of cause for trepidation when examining his team. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia’s force-of-nature center,

10:16 AM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer has been elected the National Basketball Coaches Association’s 2019 Coach of the Year, the league announced. The Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award, named in honor of Goldberg, the group’s late president, polls the 30 NBA head coaches and mandates that no

11:53 PM ET Dave McMenamin Close ESPN Staff Writer Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN. Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09. Ohm Youngmisuk Close ESPN Staff Writer Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006.

6:56 PM ET OAKLAND, Calif. — As their quest for a third straight NBA championship begins on Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors are confident that after several weeks of contentious disagreements with officials, they will be able to focus more and not let whistles affect them as

8:20 AM ET Phoenix police have closed their case into sexual abuse allegations against former University of Arizona and NBA player Mike Bibby. Phoenix police Sgt. Vince Lewis told the Arizona Republic on Thursday that an investigation “did not reveal probable cause to recommend charges against anyone in the case.” In February, Bibby was fired

10:29 PM ET THESE ARE GOING to be anxious playoffs. There are stresses within the high-stakes games naturally, but there’s also another layer that is perhaps unique to this season. It’s the pressure of the aftermath and it will mount by the day, by the loss and, oddly in this unusual season, even by the

5:43 PM ET ESPN News Services CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers are not bringing back coach Larry Drew for a second season, the team announced Thursday. Drew led the Cavs to a 19-57 record; he took over when Tyronn Lue was fired Oct. 28 after an 0-6 start. The team said it reached a mutual

3:07 AM ET Playoff basketball is back! It has been a long regular season (177 days, to be exact), but the postseason has arrived, and it looks a lot different than it did a year ago. For the first time since 2010, a team not led by LeBron James will emerge from the Eastern Conference,

12:53 AM ET EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Looking into the rearview mirror at a season that went awry, several members of the Los Angeles Lakers spoke openly about the affect trade-deadline rumors surrounding the team’s pursuit of Anthony Davis had on the locker room. “At the trade deadline, everybody kind of lost themselves,” Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

3:21 PM ET ESPN News Services The Detroit Pistons, who are in a win-and-in scenario for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, could be without Blake Griffin for their regular-season finale against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night. Detroit overcame a 19-point halftime deficit to beat the Grizzlies on Tuesday night and

7:50 AM ET The 2019 NBA draft comes with the debut of new odds throughout the lottery — giving more teams a reasonable chance of winning the No. 1 overall pick and a chance to select consensus top prospect Zion Williamson. The lottery will occur on on May 14 on ESPN, and the draft itself

11:58 PM ET DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons overcame a 19-point halftime deficit for the first time in more than 30 years, beating the Memphis Grizzlies 100-93 on Tuesday night to keep their playoff hopes alive entering the final day of the NBA regular season. The last time Detroit accomplished this feat was March 31,

11:27 AM ET Israeli wing Yovel Zoosman has submitted paperwork to the league office to make himself eligible for the 2019 NBA draft. “I am extremely happy to share that I will be declaring for the 2019 NBA draft in June,” Zoosman told ESPN. “Until then, I am totally committed and focused on helping my

4:47 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball has committed to work with Creative Artists Agency after mutually parting ways with his previous agent, Harrison Gaines, last week. “After thinking about this decision over the last few weeks, I concluded that CAA made the most sense for my career both on and off the

9:39 PM ET Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni has been hospitalized since Friday due to an intestinal virus but expects to be released Tuesday and rejoin the team before the playoffs. D’Antoni, 67, has been under observation since Friday at Memorial-Hermann Hospital in Houston and will miss his third consecutive game when the Rockets play

1:41 PM ET Utah Jazz guard Kyle Korver, in a first-person piece published Monday on the Players Tribune, reflected on race relations in America and pondered his position as a white man playing in the NBA. In the piece titled, “Privileged,” Korver touched on a variety of race-related topics and shared his own experiences, citing

1:04 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — Dwyane Wade’s career all but ended Sunday. Yes, Wade and his Miami Heat still are mathematically alive with two games remaining in this final regular season of the Hall of Fame shooting guard’s career. But after the way Sunday played out — with Miami losing a heartbreaker in