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9:08 PM ET ESPN News Services SAN ANTONIO — Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell had 29 points each, and the San Antonio Spurs rallied from a 24-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Hawks 126-118 on Sunday, spoiling Dejounte Murray‘s homecoming. Murray had 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds in his first game in San

9:59 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Three weeks to the day since LeBron James suffered a tendon injury in his right foot, and with exactly three weeks remaining in the regular season, Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham offered the most encouraging update on James’ status to date. “We anticipate him coming back at some

Mar 17, 2023 Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — Tuesday night was another head-scratcher in the Crescent City. The New Orleans Pelicans went into one of their biggest games of the season, a home matchup against the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers, needing a win. The teams entered the night tied in the standings, and a

5:47 PM ET Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star guard Anthony Edwards will miss his first game of the season Saturday against the Toronto Raptors as he continues to deal with a right ankle sprain. Edwards suffered the injury in Friday night’s loss to the Chicago Bulls; he landed awkwardly and collapsed after leaving his feet to deliver

5:17 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — After the Denver Nuggets struggled down the stretch of a 116-110 loss to the New York Knicks on Saturday afternoon, giving the Western Conference leaders a fifth loss in their last six games, Nikola Jokic declared Denver needs to be concerned about how it’s currently playing. “It

7:22 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Russell Westbrook took the blame for the LA Clippers‘ four-game winning streak coming to a halt against the Orlando Magic and was already looking forward to redeeming himself in Portland on Sunday. After the Clippers surrendered 39 points in the fourth quarter and were stunned 113-108 by the Magic

3:12 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Over and over again, sitting in front of his locker after the game, Lakers star Anthony Davis repeated how tough it was to stomach Friday night’s 111-110 loss to the Mavericks at the buzzer. Tough because his closeout wasn’t enough of a deterrent to stop Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber

11:13 PM ET ESPN News Services SAN ANTONIO — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 28 points and the Memphis Grizzlies completed the largest comeback in the NBA this season, rallying from a 29-point deficit in the third quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 126-120 in overtime Friday night. Memphis faced a nine-point deficit in the

6:57 PM ET The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers combined to pay more than $88 million in revenue sharing receipts to smaller-market teams for the 2021-2022 season, according to a memo obtained by ESPN on Friday. Eight more larger-market teams — including New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami, the LA Clippers and

6:53 PM ET Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan is engaged in serious talks to sell a majority stake in the franchise to a group led by Hornets minority owner Gabe Plotkin and Atlanta Hawks minority owner Rick Schnall, sources told ESPN on Thursday. No deal is imminent, but there’s significant momentum on a sale that

12:15 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — As the final seconds ebbed away in the Sacramento Kings‘ 101-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Thursday night, Kings fans began a loud “Light The Beam!” chant. It was a celebratory night on a few levels. The victory was Sacramento’s eighth in its

4:43 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Exactly one month ago, ESPN released its second of three straw polls tracking the NBA’s Most Valuable Player race for the 2022-23 season, and it had a very clear result: Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as the heavy favorite to claim his third straight award. Thursday saw Las Vegas tell

1:05 AM ET HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets came into Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers tied with the Detroit Pistons for fewest wins in the NBA this season with 16. They proceeded to go up by as many as 18 points in the first half en route to a 114-110 victory. “We’ve

11:49 PM ET ESPN News Services CLEVELAND — Joel Embiid went from fouling out to staying in. And the Cleveland Cavaliers were none too happy about it. Philadelphia’s All-Star had 36 points and 18 rebounds and played the final 4:12 after a charging call for his sixth foul was overturned, leading the 76ers to their

6:42 PM ET Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant, in an interview Wednesday, said he realized how much he is risking with his pattern of poor off-court decisions during the week and a half since the incident that resulted in his eight-game suspension from the NBA. Hours after the Grizzlies played the Nuggets in Denver on

7:35 AM ET It’s crunch time in the NBA regular season, as players on contenders fight through late-season fatigue to put their teams in the best position possible for the playoffs. The Eastern Conference is currently a three-team race at the top between the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, with the young postseason

12:45 AM ET ESPN News Services TORONTO — Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone was critical of his team’s effort following Tuesday night’s 125-110 loss to the Toronto Raptors, saying that being in first place for so long has made them complacent. The slumping Nuggets (46-23), who have lost four straight but maintain a four-game lead

5:48 PM ET Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic will miss his third consecutive game because of a left thigh strain, having been ruled out Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs. Fellow All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, who was sidelined by right foot soreness the past two games, is listed as questionable. The Mavs lost twice to

6:33 AM ET Marc J. Spears SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown wasn’t exactly sure what happened in a skirmish between both teams toward the end of a 133-124 loss to the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. But Brown had a message for any NBA team hoping to test his Kings as

8:35 PM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Adrian Wojnarowski Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Tim MacMahon Close Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009 Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has entered a

5:38 PM ET ESPN News Services The NBA on Monday fined Marcus Smart $25,000, with head of basketball operations Joe Dumars saying the veteran Boston Celtics guard initiated an on-court altercation and pulled Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young to the floor during the teams’ game over the weekend. With 1:25 remaining and Boston leading 129-121,

8:09 AM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — The sounds of Nickelback coming from the portable speaker inside the Miami Heat locker room were unmistakable. As the rest of his teammates and Heat staffers quietly showered, got dressed and picked over a postgame pizza spread following a 126-114 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday, Jimmy

1:51 AM ET LOS ANGELES — The surging Los Angeles Lakers lost 112-108 to the New York Knicks on Sunday, and Anthony Davis blamed himself for the halt in momentum as his team squandered a chance to get back to .500 for the first time since opening the season schedule at 0-0. “My play,” Davis

6:26 PM ET Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic will miss his second consecutive game Monday because of a left thigh strain. Fellow All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, who is dealing with right foot soreness, is listed as questionable for Monday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Doncic and Irving both missed Saturday’s 112-108 loss to the

6:56 PM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry did something during the start of Saturday night’s 126-114 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic that he hadn’t done in over 10 years: He sat on the bench. Lowry, who hadn’t played since Feb. 2 because of left knee soreness, entered Saturday’s game with

1:39 AM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry brought the ball over midcourt with Jevon Carter of the Milwaukee Bucks right in his face. Curry accelerated, and then quickly stopped at the top of the 3-point arc, making Carter skid a few feet away. Curry had just enough space

3:21 PM ET Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss his third straight game Saturday night when the Milwaukee Bucks take on the Golden State Warriors on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET. Antetokounmpo was questionable with a sore right hand, an injury that also sidelined him for Thursday night’s win over the Brooklyn Nets. He missed Tuesday’s game

3:00 AM ET LOS ANGELES — It wouldn’t be a stretch to describe D’Angelo Russell‘s return to the lineup in the Lakers’ 122-112 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday as perfect. Russell, who missed L.A.’s previous six games with a sprained right ankle, scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter —

12:48 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — When Joel Embiid caught the ball with 7 seconds to go in Friday night’s game at Wells Fargo Center between his Philadelphia 76ers and the Portland Trail Blazers, he had one thing on his mind: Get to his favorite spot on the floor — the free throw line

3:23 PM ET Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will not play in Saturday night’s road game against the Memphis Grizzlies because of his left thigh strain, and Kyrie Irving‘s status is in question after he missed Friday’s practice for personal reasons. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to join us in Memphis,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd told