NBA news for Wednesday morning, includes LeBron James needing to miss more time, the Nets suddenly look vulnerable, Tyrese Haliburton is out for the year and Damian Lillard is big mad. The NBA season is in the homestretch of the regular season and playoff positioning is heating up, especially in the Western Conference with the Los
6:50 PM ET Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell will miss at least one more week after having his sprained right ankle re-evaluated by the Jazz’s medical staff Friday, the team announced. Utah said Mitchell “continues to make progress towards a return” and would be re-evaluated in one week. Mitchell suffered the injury April 16 against
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors. (Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports) Kansas City Royals: 1 prospect to call up, 1 veteran to demote by Brad Berreman Shaquille O’Neal could not be more impressed by what Stephen Curry is doing leading the Golden State Warriors this season. Despite the Golden State Warriors likely bound for the play-in tournament, Shaquille
Miami Heat standout Bam Adebayo came up huge for the Miami Heat on Sunday by drilling a buzzer-beater to take down the Brooklyn Nets. There is simply no one happier for Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo right now than Jimmy Butler. With the game on the line against the Brooklyn Nets, Adebayo, with ice in
Jimmy Butler had off-the-chart levels of confidence (and sass) about the Miami Heat’s upcoming games and roasted one sorry reporter on Sunday night. Even if the Miami Heat were dead-last in the NBA standings, Butler would probably still think he could make the playoffs. That’s how much confidence he had when he was asked about
4:25 AM ET In what’s too early to call a complete collapse but too stunning to label a mere stumble, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers are now slated to compete in the NBA’s play-in tournament with a little more than a week remaining in the regular season. Friday’s 106-101 loss to the Portland Trail
De’Anthony Melton’s improvements as a shooter and ball-handler in year three, when paired with his stout defense, make him invaluable to the Grizzlies. De’Anthony Melton will not win Most Improved Player this season. He does not deserve the award. That honor is Julius Randle‘s. But Melton is, nonetheless, among the crop of vastly improved players
10:02 PM ET With the addition of play-in games to the 2021 NBA playoffs, the scramble for seeding is wilder — and more important — than ever, with almost every game down the stretch having significant postseason implications. Here’s a breakdown of all the key games from Friday night and what the results mean for
The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The Los Angeles Lakers are cratering toward a place no one expected even two months ago. Coming off a title run in the Orlando bubble and a start to the
Los Angeles Lakers fans are freaking out after Anthony Davis left Thursday’s game against the Clippers. The Los Angeles Lakers were already dealing with the news of star LeBron James sitting out after returning prematurely from his high right ankle sprain. With the team trying to avoid the Western Conference’s play-in round, the last thing
Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers. (Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports) Nick Saban will make Jimbo Fisher regret poking the bear by John Buhler Anthony Davis suffered yet another injury playing for the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. After missing two months’ worth of action for the Los Angeles Lakers, big man Anthony Davis had
5:13 PM ET New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson is out indefinitely with a fractured left ring finger, the team announced on Friday. Williamson underwent a CT scan on Thursday that revealed the injury. A treatment plan and timetable for his return will be determined after further evaluation. The Pelicans (30-36) entered Friday’s game against
With the NBA season winding down, there is limited left time for rookies to make their cases for the Rookie of the Year award. In all, three rookies are leading the charge and will likely be named the top three rookies of the season. Without further ado, let’s take a look at how the race
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 06: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers handles the ball defended by Norman Powell #24 of the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center on April 06, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is
Patrick Beverley’s fractured hand could disrupt the LA Clippers’ rhythm heading into the playoffs. The LA Clippers have been struggling to get healthy all season. Unfortunately, they were dealt yet another blow on the injury front on Friday. According to the team, point guard Patrick Beverley suffered a fracture of the fourth metacarpal bone in
7:00 AM ET IT WAS NOV. 5, 2017, game nine for the newly formed superteam in Oklahoma City. After a bumpy 4-4 start, the Thunder were in Portland to take on a division rival. Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts had taken his spot in the narrow hallway of the Moda Center pregame to talk with
The Phoenix Suns were founded in 1968, and their simple nickname has a very simple reason. The Phoenix Suns nickname history stretches back 53 years to when the team was first introduced into the NBA. In the 1968-69 season, the Suns joined the NBA alongside the Milwaukee Bucks. At the time, the Suns were the
The Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers find their head coaches on the hot seat. Several NBA teams have their head coaches on the hot seat, including Nate Bjorkgren of the Indiana Pacers, Mike Budenholzer of the Milwaukee Bucks and Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers. While Budenholzer and Stotts have been
T.J. Warren, Indiana Pacers. (Mandatory Credit: Ashley Landis/Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports) James Harden provides promising update on his return from injury by Braulio Perez T.J. Warren wanted out of the Indiana Pacers after the team hired Nate Bjorkgren as their next head coach. With Indiana Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren expected to be one-and-done, this story about
12:04 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis was ruled out of the second half of Thursday’s game against the LA Clippers because of back spasms, giving the Los Angeles Lakers two stars — along with LeBron James — who made their return from a long-term injury only to go back on the mend with
After a disappointing and confusing start to the season, the Boston Celtics have seemingly turned things around. Boston went 11-5 in April but is still a full game out of the coveted sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The ultimate goal is to avoid the new Play-In Tournament. To do that, they will need to
Star guard John Wall won’t play another game for the Houston Rockets this season after being shut down with a tight hamstring. The Houston Rockets aren’t taking any risks with John Wall’s hamstring. Wall didn’t play in Houston’s loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday after tweaking his hamstring against the LA Clippers on Friday
The Timberwolves, Thunder and Rockets are all well outside the NBA playoff race as the season winds to its end. How do they plan to improve before next season? With the NBA expanding the playoff field this year by adding the play-in tournament, more teams have a shot at the postseason than ever before. Teams
2:25 PM ET Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden, who has been out for over a month with a hamstring strain, says he is “very confident” he will return before the playoffs begin. “The plan is to hopefully get an opportunity to play a couple games before the postseason,” Harden said Thursday. “We’re just taking one
Elena Delle Donne recovering from two back surgeries is ready to embark on another run at a WNBA championship and Olympic gold medal. WNBA training camp could not come soon enough for Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne. The offseason was an especially long Covid-induced time which also included multiple back surgeries, making her return
Golden State Warriors guard Kelly Oubre Jr. is key to the team’s playoff hopes. That’s why the latest development on his wrist injury is causing concern. For the Golden State Warriors to feel confident in their chances of a playoff push, they needed all the chips to fall their way. The universe had other ideas.
NBA fans had some positive and negative thoughts about ESPN’s “Marvel Arena of Heroes” broadcast of the Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans game. Earth’s mightiest heroes haven’t gathered on screen for Marvel fans in over a year, but on the small screen, they’ve been giving fans of the superhero genre plenty to enjoy.
1:55 PM ET Luca Vildoza, an Argentinian guard with Baskonia of the Spanish ACB League, has agreed in principle to a four-year, $13.6 million deal with the New York Knicks, his agent, Alex Saratsis of Octagon Sports, told ESPN. Vildoza, one of the premier playmakers in Europe, will fly to New York once he clears
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports The Whiteboard: How are teams trying to stop Zion Williamson? by Ian Levy He’s operating off the radar on a bad team, but Saddiq Bey is making NBA rookie history as a 3-point shooter. In a battle of the teams with the two worst records in the Eastern Conference, the Detroit
6:48 PM ET Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets each have been fined $35,000 for violating the NBA’s media access rules, the league announced on Wednesday. “The fines result from Irving’s repeated refusal to participate in postgame media availability,” the league said in a statement. The NBA requires that healthy players be made available upon