News

12:59 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN With time ticking away in the fourth quarter and the New Orleans Pelicans trailing the Minnesota Timberwolves, CJ McCollum joked that the Pelicans’ game plan became quite simple. “Get the ball to Z and get the f— out the way,” he said. Zion Williamson finished with a career-high 43 points,

12:24 AM ET MIAMI — Back in the arena where he played arguably the best basketball of his career, LeBron James was asked to look to the future rather than back into the past and share how much longer he plans to play in the NBA. “I don’t have a number,” James said Wednesday after

2:13 PM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker will miss at least four weeks with a left groin strain. The team confirmed Booker’s injury on Wednesday and said he’ll be reevaluated after the four weeks. Booker, 26, has missed six of the past nine games because of hamstring and groin ailments.

8:00 AM ET One Eastern Conference contender is streaking up the NBA standings. With a win on Monday over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Brooklyn Nets have run their streak to nine games, tying the longest in the league this season. (The other two teams to pull it off, the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, sit

11:35 PM ET Luka Doncic is unreal. Get exclusive access to more than 3,000 premium articles a year from top writers.• Miller: Ranking CFB’s top players »• Givony: New 2023 NBA mock draft »• Doolittle: Post-FA MLB stock watch » More ESPN+ content » The Dallas Mavericks star put up a triple-double for the ages

12:16 AM ET CLEVELAND — Prior to leading his team to its ninth straight win — a 125-117 triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night — Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn acknowledged what he thought was the key to his team’s recent hot play. “Basketball,” Vaughn said before the game. “We have not steered

7:04 PM ET ESPN staff Top 2023 NBA draft prospect Victor Wembanyama continues to catch the eye of the basketball world with his superstar potential. The 18-year-old, 7-foot-4 sensation has consistently produced for his team, Paris-based Metropolitans 92, and that trend continued in his latest outing against Strasbourg. Wembanyama put up a 26-point,18-rebound double-double in

7:51 PM ET Sacramento Kings All-Star center Domantas Sabonis has been diagnosed with an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament of the right thumb, the team announced Monday. The Kings said he will be listed as questionable for Tuesday’s home game against the Denver Nuggets, indicating he may try to play through the injury.

10:38 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN BOSTON — Jayson Tatum scored 41 points, including 20 during the third quarter, to lead the Boston Celtics to a 139-118 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, turning a marquee Christmas Day matchup featuring the two teams with the best records in the league into a blowout. Boston held a one-point

2:23 AM ET ESPN News Services DENVER — Nikola Jokic authored a triple-double, and the Denver Nuggets outlasted the short-handed Phoenix Suns 128-125 in overtime Sunday night, bringing a grand conclusion to the NBA’s annual Christmas Day slate. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Jokic’s effort, which closed with 41 points, 15 rebounds and

7:55 PM ET DALLAS — The Los Angeles Lakers‘ Christmas Day took a turn for the worse after halftime, with the Mavericks blitzing L.A. in the third quarter to win 124-115, L.A.’s fourth straight loss without Anthony Davis. Lakers coach Darvin Ham has continued to start the 6-foot-1 Patrick Beverley alongside the 6-1 Dennis Schroder

3:53 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — After a Joel Embiid tip-in put the Philadelphia 76ers up by 14 with under five minutes remaining Sunday afternoon, the superstar center stretched his arms out wide above his head and soaked in the boos from the partisan crowd at Madison Square Garden. Thanks to dominant performances

3:32 PM ET Sacramento Kings All-Star Domantas Sabonis suffered a right hand injury and will undergo further testing and evaluation on treatment options that will help determine how much time — if any — Sabonis will miss, sources told ESPN on Saturday. X-rays confirmed the injury and the need for further examination after Friday’s loss

9:47 PM ET Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker is expected to return from a groin injury Sunday for the Christmas Day matchup with the Denver Nuggets, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Booker last played one week ago, when he scored 58 points in a comeback win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He landed on the

Dec 21, 2022 Christmas Day is often filled with holiday cheer, presents and, most importantly, basketball. The NBA will host five games throughout the day airing on ABC, ESPN and the ESPN app, and this year’s matchups are worth the watch. Joel Embiid and James Harden will tip things off and are sure to bring

8:00 AM ET The NBA’s star-studded slate of Christmas Day games will pit the game’s best against the best in a high-stakes day of action between top contenders. The surging New York Knicks, with their newest star point guard, Jalen Brunson, and a revitalized Julius Randle, will host MVP candidate Joel Embiid, James Harden and

5:33 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Forward Draymond Green had a blunt assessment about what is holding the Golden State Warriors back following the team’s 1-5 road trip. “Right now, I think we are very fragile,” Green said Friday after practice. “You start going through these things and then you start believing them.

3:29 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Lakers star big man Anthony Davis has a stress injury in his right foot and will continue to be sidelined indefinitely, the team announced Friday. Davis injured his foot last week during a game against the Denver Nuggets after his lower leg bumped with Nikola Jokic while the two

Dec 21, 2022 Tim BontempsESPN The NBA announced Wednesday afternoon that the New York Knicks would lose their 2025 second-round pick as a result of the league’s investigation into the team’s signing of guard Jalen Brunson this summer as a free agent. “This outcome reflected a finding, following an investigation, that the Knicks engaged in

Dec 21, 2022 Kendra AndrewsESPN NEW YORK — As the Golden State Warriors‘ road struggles boiled over in a 143-113 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, head coach Steve Kerr said his team has hit rock bottom. The Warriors are depleted, playing without five rotational players, including three starters, and there is no

6:30 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols and will not play Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs. Williamson has been a driving force this season for the Pelicans, who are 18-12 and in third place in the Western Conference. He’s averaging

10:44 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Pascal Siakam scored a career-high 52 points and the Toronto Raptors snapped the New York Knicks‘ NBA-leading eight-game winning streak 113-106 Wednesday night. “It’s cool,” Siakam said of posting his first 50-point game at Madison Square Garden. “I’m not a super basketball historian. I didn’t start

3:55 PM ET Associated Press Gregg Popovich has been at the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony many times over the years, always there to show support for someone on the stage. Next year, he might be there in a different capacity. The NBA’s all-time winningest coach — who has quietly declined overtures from the Hall

8:00 AM ET It’s not too early to put Jacque Vaughn in the NBA Coach of The Year conversation. The Brooklyn Nets head coach has helped spearhead one of the league’s most dramatic turnarounds in the early season, as the Nets have gone from controversy-laden underachievers to one of the hottest teams in the Eastern

11:40 PM ET ESPN News Services The only yells in the Chicago Bulls‘ locker room on Tuesday night were happy ones. Nikola Vucevic had 29 points and 12 rebounds, DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, and Chicago stopped a four-game slide by beating the short-handed Miami Heat 113-103. The Bulls looked nothing like the team that

8:00 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN ORLANDO, FLA. — PAOLO BANCHERO was only five years old when the SuperSonics left his hometown of Seattle to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, despite growing up in a city without an NBA team, Banchero was raised by the NBA. Long before the Orlando Magic made Banchero the No.

1:33 PM ET Billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia is finalizing a purchase of the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Mercury for a record price of $4 billion, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. The deal, expected to be announced as soon as Tuesday, will end the tumultuous tenure of owner Robert Sarver. Ishbia is well-known and

1:50 AM ET PHOENIX — With the Phoenix Suns‘ lead already ballooning to begin the second half, Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley scored a layup while being fouled by Chris Paul early in the third quarter on Monday. After the whistle, Beverley placed his right hand a few inches from the floor, suggesting Paul

9:47 PM ET ESPN News Services Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard passed Clyde Drexler to become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Drexler, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, had 18,040 points in 867 games for the Trail Blazers from 1983-95. Lillard, 32,

12:00 PM ET ON THE AFTERNOON of Sept. 21, Phoenix Suns employees logged onto an all-hands Zoom session led by team president and CEO Jason Rowley. Hours earlier, Robert Sarver had announced he was selling the Suns and Phoenix Mercury amid continuing and widespread anger over his conduct as majority owner. While employees eagerly anticipated