News

5:07 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — A year ago, James Harden entered the playoffs with the Philadelphia 76ers having played 21 games with his new team, and still was acclimating to a new environment after arriving here via a blockbuster midseason trade. On Saturday afternoon, Harden and the 76ers opened up this year’s playoffs

12:28 AM ET ESPN News Services MINNEAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota into the playoffs, as the Timberwolves muscled and hustled their way past the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 to finish the play-in tournament Friday night. Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 10 rebounds in his return from

6:58 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Two-time defending NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo were named the three finalists for the league’s MVP award for a second straight season Friday night. The awards finalists for all seven of the league’s major individual honors, which are voted on by media members, were

9:52 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Max Strus and Jimmy Butler scored 31 points apiece, and the Miami Heat got into the playoffs by rallying in the final minutes to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in an Eastern Conference play-in game Friday night. Tyler Herro added 12 points and Bam Adebayo grabbed 17 rebounds

1:18 PM ET DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks have been fined $750,000 by the NBA for “conduct detrimental to the league” after an investigation into the franchise’s decision to sit several key players for the April 7 loss that eliminated the team from play-in contention. The NBA commenced an investigation the day after the Mavs

6:18 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins has been cleared to play in Game 1 of the team’s first-round series against the Sacramento Kings. “Andrew looks great, feeling good and is ready to go,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after practice Thursday afternoon. Wiggins hasn’t played since Feb.

5:11 PM ET Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — – Rudy Gobert rejoined the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday after a team-imposed suspension for their first play-in game, but lingering back trouble has compromised his status for the second one. Gobert was dismissed from the arena Sunday after throwing a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson in an argument in

12:46 AM ET Associated Press NEW ORLEANS — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander highlighted his 32-point night with a go-ahead baseline jumper and four clutch free throws in the final 29 seconds, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 123-118 on Wednesday night to remain alive in the Western Conference play-in tournament. Josh Giddey had 31

11:59 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN TORONTO – As Fred VanVleet stepped up to the free throw line with 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Wednesday’s play-in game between the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors, the home crowd went silent as the Raptors guard took a few hard dribbles and spun the ball in

3:43 PM ET Arkansas freshman Anthony Black, a projected top-10 pick, will enter the 2023 NBA draft and forgo his remaining college eligibility, he said on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Wednesday. “Being one and done was always a goal of mine, but it wasn’t something I necessarily expected to happen,” Black told ESPN. “Coming in,

10:13 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN The NBA sent a memo to its league office staff Tuesday instructing them to reduce expenses and limit hiring for the remainder of the fiscal year because of economic constraints, sources confirmed to ESPN. “Like other businesses in the US and globally, the league office is not immune to macroeconomic

1:24 AM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — LeBron James had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers claimed the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a grueling 108-102 overtime victory over the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA’s play-in tournament Tuesday night. Dennis Schroder scored 21 points and iced

5:57 PM ET DALLAS – General manager Nico Harrison expressed optimism that the Dallas Mavericks would accomplish their top offseason priority of re-signing Kyrie Irving following the All-Star guard’s exit interview with the franchise. “I think the things that he said along the way about how he feels here, how he feels appreciated, how he

7:00 AM ET NBA insiders The regular season has come to an end, but there are still key seedings being fought for ahead of the 2023 NBA playoffs. The play-in tournament is in its third year and will feature perhaps the most high-stakes matchups in its existence. Editor’s Picks 2 Related In the Eastern Conference,

7:46 PM ET ESPN News Services Bradley Beal, speaking Monday at the Washington Wizards‘ end-of-season availability, addressed the postgame incident with a fan in Orlando, Florida, last month that landed him under police investigation. After a loss to the Orlando Magic, Beal and the Wizards were exiting the court and in the visitors’ tunnel headed

1:43 PM ET Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has been hit with a one-game suspension, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, for his verbal and physical altercation with a teammate in Sunday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Gobert will not travel to Los Angeles with the team and will not play against the Lakers on

5:02 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves lost two starters before locking up the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference on Sunday with Rudy Gobert being sent home for swinging at teammate Kyle Anderson and Jaden McDaniels fracturing his right hand, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Gobert was escorted to the

12:00 AM ET The NBA postseason is here, with 20 teams still fighting for the 2022-23 title. And after a campaign of blockbuster trades, record scoring numbers, the end of a historic playoff drought and a wild race to the finish to decide play-in tournament seeding, who is going to win this thing? The No.

7:20 AM ET The NBA’s play-in tournament adds a fascinating wrinkle to the end of the 2022-23 regular season and the start of the postseason. Teams were already less incentivized to tank games down the stretch because of the flattened lottery odds instituted in 2019. Now that the top 10 teams in the standings will

12:04 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The Lakers are signing two players — including LeBron James‘ former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Tristan Thompson — on the final day of the regular season to add depth for the playoffs, sources told ESPN on Sunday. Thompson joins the Lakers having last played in 2021-22 for the Chicago Bulls,

1:17 AM ET PORTLAND, Ore. — With his parents and sister in attendance at the Moda Center, Bronny James scored 11 points and made key plays in the late stages as a USA Basketball team of the nation’s top high school seniors defeated a World team of international players age 19 or younger, 90-84, in

12:26 AM ET The 2023 NBA playoffs are almost here. The Golden State Warriors are the defending champions but are still battling to qualify for the postseason, in which 16 teams will face off in four rounds of action to determine the 2023 NBA champion. The top six teams in each conference automatically qualify for

2:57 AM ET DALLAS — ONCE AGAIN, the Dallas Mavericks changed plans during a bizarre final week of what Luka Doncic described as “a very disappointing season.” A few days after declaring he’d play so long as the Mavs had even the slimmest of postseason hopes, the franchise announced Doncic would sit out after playing

1:04 PM ET DALLAS – All-Star guard Kyrie Irving and four key Dallas Mavericks role players will sit out Friday night’s home game against the Chicago Bulls, a game the Mavericks must win to avoid being eliminated from the play-in scenario. The Mavs announced late Friday morning that Irving (right foot injury recovery), shooting guard

2:42 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said that Zion Williamson will not practice with the team on Saturday and would not play in any play-in tournament games next week if the Pelicans are still in the play-in. Griffin, speaking to local media

8:00 AM ET All of a sudden, Jaren Jackson Jr. found himself on an island. It was midway through the third quarter on March 18, and after Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry had used a pump fake to get Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks to fly by him on the right wing, Jackson was

2:05 PM ET DALLAS — The NBA denied the Dallas Mavericks‘ protest of their March 22 loss to the Golden State Warriors, the league announced Thursday. Dallas protested the 127-125 loss because of their claim that the officials did not properly administer an out-of-bounds call with approximately two minutes remaining in the third quarter, resulting

8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN No player is more synonymous with the modern NBA’s offensive evolution than Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry. He is the only player in NBA history to make more than 400 3-pointers in a single NBA season, and the only one to make more than 3,000 in his career. For

8:00 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN HOUSTON — Coming out of the All-Star break, the Houston Rockets knew they weren’t going to be in contention for a spot in the NBA play-in tournament. They were 13-45, had lost seven straight games heading into the break, and were two weeks removed from trading disgruntled veteran Eric Gordon

9:31 PM ET DALLAS — During an unscheduled pregame media availability Wednesday evening, Mavericks Governor Mark Cuban blamed Jalen Brunson‘s father for the point guard’s departure from Dallas and declared that re-signing Kyrie Irving would be the franchise’s top offseason priority despite the team’s lackluster results since the blockbuster trade to acquire the All-Star guard.