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12:00 PM ET KARL ANTHONY-TOWNS backed down Aaron Gordon in the post, as Jamal Murray was lurking with an eye locked on the Minnesota big man the entire possession. The moment Towns went to pass out of the ensuing double-team by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Murray jumped the passing lane, intercepted the ball and slammed down a

1:54 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN CAMDEN, N.J. — Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers said Saturday afternoon that “if I was a betting man” superstar center Joel Embiid will be doubtful to play in “at least” Monday’s Game 1 of the titanic Eastern Conference semifinal against the Boston Celtics. “There is no latest,” Rivers said Saturday,

3:30 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach Darvin Ham arrived early to Crypto.com Arena Friday afternoon. He’d had less than 48 hours to process the situation his team found itself in after a demoralizing Game 5 loss in Memphis on Wednesday night. His team had looked exhausted and disjointed in that game. The schedule

1:26 AM ET LOS ANGELES — LeBron James vowed to be better for Friday’s Game 6 of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies. He kept his word, and his teammates kept up the pressure on the Grizzlies from the opening tip, destroying the No. 2-seeded Grizzlies 125-85 to win the series

DOMANTAS SABONIS IS the funnel through which the NBA’s best offense flows, and it all begins when he grabs a defensive rebound and dribbles up the court, his 7-foot body proceeding with its uniquely equine gait. He generally picks up his dribble near the top of the key, holding the ball in one hand away

10:59 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Ever since the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers opened the 2022-23 NBA season, the two rivals seemed destined to meet in the playoffs. Here we are. After the Celtics dispatched the pesky Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 Thursday night — and 11 days after the 76ers swept the Brooklyn Nets

11:18 PM ET ATLANTA — After they were hurt by the last six minutes of Game 5 on Tuesday, the Boston Celtics played that same end-of-game stretch in Thursday’s Game 6 with added urgency, leading to a win that pushed them into the next round of the playoffs. Effective defense and timely 3s from a

4:03 AM ET SACRAMENTO — Over the years, these Golden State Warriors have sent and delivered a lot of messages. Sometimes the coaching staff will splice in a funny video clip with a particular theme, hoping it cuts through and lands. Other times one of the veteran players will speak up, publicly or privately. There

4:02 AM ET Jamal CollierESPN MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair before answering a question at his news conference Wednesday night following the Milwaukee Bucks‘ stunning 128-126 overtime loss to the Miami Heat in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. The Bucks, who owned the

12:59 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN MILWAUKEE — Less than two weeks ago, the Miami Heat were trailing with under five minutes to go in the final Eastern Conference play-in game against the Chicago Bulls. At that point, it was easy to see a world in which the Heat wouldn’t even make the playoffs — and

8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN New York Knicks fans spent the summer dreaming Donovan Mitchell would lead their team to playoff victories inside Madison Square Garden. Mitchell was on the court for a pair of Knicks playoff victories at the Garden over the weekend — just not in the uniform anyone around the NBA expected.

10:47 AM ET The Portland Trail Blazers will begin operating a G League franchise in the 2023-2024 season — leaving only the Phoenix Suns without a minor-league affiliate team, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. The Blazers are fast-tracking a team that’ll play its home games at the University of Portland and conduct practices at the

2:09 AM ET BOSTON — It was a scene Trae Young had rehearsed in his mind as a kid. Less than 10 seconds remaining. A must-win game. His team on the road, down one point. Basketball in his hands. Make a play. As TD Garden’s fourth-quarter game clock ticked down in Tuesday’s Game 5 against

5:28 PM ET Sacramento Kings star guard De’Aaron Fox says he is planning to play Game 5 against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday despite a fractured index finger on his shooting hand. Fox participated in a non-contact practice on Tuesday and told reporters afterward there’s “no ifs, ands or buts. I’m playing.” Fox suffered

4:11 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Hours after coach Taylor Jenkins’ pregame admission that the Grizzlies are “far from where we need to be from a maturity standpoint,” shooting guard Desmond Bane blamed a lack of game-plan discipline for the defensive failure that allowed the Los Angeles Lakers to force overtime in Memphis’ 117-111 Game

1:47 AM ET ESPN News Services LOS ANGELES — LeBron James made the tying layup with 0.8 seconds left in regulation before scoring four of his 22 points in overtime, and the Los Angeles Lakers surged to a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series with a 117-111 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday

5:30 PM ET Ime Udoka has agreed to a deal to become the next Houston Rockets coach, sources told ESPN on Monday. The Rockets probed the circumstances around Udoka’s departure from the Boston Celtics with the team and league office, sources said. Udoka — who led the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals in his

10:01 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry was trapped with 40 seconds to go in Game 3 of the series against the Sacramento Kings. He had nowhere to move and no one to pass to. He saw the trap and realized there were no real outlets, so instead

11:08 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — By the time Draymond Green made it to the Chase Center late Thursday night, he knew what needed to be done. Green had watched the Golden State Warriors’ season-saving win against the Sacramento Kings in Game 3 of their best-of-7 first-round series from home after serving a one-game suspension

3:48 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN MIAMI — Giannis Antetokounmpo (back) did individual work on the court at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Sunday afternoon, but Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer did not have further details on his star’s status for Game 4. “We’ll continue to monitor him,” Budenholzer said following a team film session

7:13 AM ET Jeremy WillisESPN.com Is Dillon Brooks just asking to get cooked in Game 3? After Game 2, when the Memphis Grizzlies evened their NBA playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 103-93 win, Brooks, who said LeBron James called him “dumb” for picking up his fourth foul, then Brooks called James

12:01 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks earned a premature exit in Saturday’s Game 3 for poking the bear below the belt. Brooks was called for a flagrant 2 only 17 seconds into the second half after he swiped his left hand into LeBron James‘ groin area as the Los Angeles

12:24 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers said his message to both injured superstar Joel Embiid and the rest of his team ahead of Game 4 of their first-round series with the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center was the same: dealing with Embiid’s latest postseason injury is just another

1:17 AM ET NEW YORK — The New York Knicks didn’t just beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Friday night, they made a statement on how they hope the rest of the series plays out. The Knicks won 99-79, holding the Cavs to the fewest points by any

12:00 AM ET ATLANTA — For at least one night, the Atlanta Hawks appeared to have finally found the fearsome twosome they tried to form last offseason, when they traded for All-Star Dejounte Murray. The late June swap with the San Antonio Spurs was intended to pair Murray with fellow guard Trae Young, Atlanta’s All-NBA

3:42 PM ET NEW YORK — Donovan Mitchell still remembers the noise. As a young fan sitting inside Madison Square Garden during a playoff game years ago, he was watching the New York Knicks, his hometown team, play on the game’s biggest stage. On Friday, before a pivotal Game 3 (the series is tied 1-1;

8:00 AM ET IT’S MARCH 31 and the revitalized New York Knicks are in Cleveland to face the equally upstart Cavaliers. The stakes are high. New York, at 44-33, sits four games behind the Cavs in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings. But tonight’s showdown offers more than just another checkmark at the end

8:28 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid received a flagrant foul 1 after kicking Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton in the first quarter of Thursday night’s game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Claxton fouled Embiid less than three minutes into Game 3 of the first-round series, and then stepped

8:00 AM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN Midway through the second quarter of Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown huddled his team up. Up 11, his message was clear: Keep. Pushing. These guys can’t keep up with us. Here’s the bad news for the Warriors: Brown might be right. For years

12:39 AM ET MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Dillon Brooks exchanged words with LeBron James during the third quarter of the Memphis Grizzlies‘ series-tying 103-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Wednesday’s Game 2 and had plenty more to say about the NBA’s all-time leading scorer postgame. The confrontation occurred after the Grizzlies called a timeout