Basketball Page 166 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

2025 NBA Draft: Top 30 prospects -- and a few to know for Day 2
Cooper Flagg planted his flag as the No. 1 prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft long before he guided Duke to the Final Four as an 18-year-old freshman. ,The 6-foot-9 forward is viewed as the surefire top pick in the draft Wednesday, but how the rest of the class will develop behind him is anyone's guess....

Report: Wizards' Khris Middleton picks up $33.3M option
Three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton picked up his $33.3 million player option for the 2025-26 season with the Washington Wizards, ESPN reported Monday.,Middleton was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks, where he played for 12 seasons, to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma in a four-team deal ...

Kevin Durant trade, Tyrese Haliburton injury shift NBA futures
Two major NBA events on Sunday caused a shift in the league's balance of power, at least in the eyes of oddsmakers.,The first was the reported trade of 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant from Phoenix to Houston. Hours later, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton went down in Game 7 of the NBA Finals with...

Report: Torn Achilles for Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sustained a torn right Achilles tendon in Sunday night's NBA Finals Game 7 loss at Oklahoma City, ESPN reported Monday.,The All-NBA guard was helped off the court and immediately taken to the locker room in obvious pain during the first quarter.,With the game ti...

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander earns Finals MVP, cements historic season
Named NBA Finals MVP ollowing Oklahoma City's 103-91 Game 7 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night, Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has earned the crown jewel of one of the NBA's most decorated seasons at only 26 years old. ,Gilgeous-Alexander won the regular-season MVP and Finals...

Thunder best Pacers in Game 7 to bring 1st NBA crown to Oklahoma City
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points, Jalen Williams added 20, and the Oklahoma City Thunder became NBA champions by wearing down the Indiana Pacers with a withering defense to pull off a 103-91 win on Sunday night in Game 7.,The NBA championship is the franchise's first since m...

Thunder huge favorites, books split on Eastern Conference in '26 odds
Before the Oklahoma City Thunder made the acquaintance of the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the first time as NBA champions, they were already big favorites to get the next one in 2025-26.,Consensus futures odds for the 2025-26 NBA title heavily favor Oklahoma City, which has few offseason questions outs...

Valkyries leverage torrid second-quarter to win over struggling Sun
A 36-point second quarter blew up the game open as the Golden State Valkyries rolled to a 87-63 rout of the visiting Connecticut Sun on Sunday in San Francisco. ,Golden State (7-6) shot 10-of-18 from the floor (55.6 percent) in the pivotal period, while holding the sputtering Sun to a 4-of-16 clip i...

Storm stay hot by fending off short-handed Liberty
Nneka Ogwumike scored a season-high-tying 26 points, including a key 3-pointer in the last two minutes, as the Seattle Storm subdued the short-handed New York Liberty 89-79 on Sunday.,Ogwumike's 3-pointer off a busted play late in the shot clock gave Seattle (9-5) a six-point advantage with 1:29 lef...

Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton helped off court after Game 7 injury
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton was helped off the court and immediately taken to the locker room after suffering what appeared to a be a serious injury to his right leg during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.,With the Oklahoma City Thunder leading 18-16, Haliburt...

Sonia Citron guides Mystics to OT win over Wings
Sonia Citron made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds left in overtime and the host Washington Mystics held off the Dallas Wings 91-88 in a back-and-forth contest Sunday afternoon.,Following a missed free throw by Citron late in the fourth quarter, Dallas star Paige Bueckers laced her first 3-p...

A’ja Wilson sparks Aces past Caitlin Clark, Fever
A'ja Wilson scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half as the Las Vegas Aces executed in the fourth quarter and extended their winning streak over the visiting Indiana Fever to 16 games with an 89-81 victory on Sunday afternoon.,In her second game back from a concussion, Wilson finished with her ...

Big fourth quarter propels Dream past struggling Sky
Rhyne Howard scored 22 points and Allisha Gray added 19 as the Atlanta Dream knocked down six 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter and pulled away for a 93-80 home victory over the Chicago Sky on Sunday at College Park, Ga.,Gray and Te-Hina Paopao (16 points) each hit five 3s, while Howard convert...

Report: Rockets to acquire Kevin Durant from Suns
The Houston Rockets are acquiring 15-time All-Star forward Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for guard Jalen Green, forward Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and five second-round picks, ESPN reported Sunday.,Durant has one season left on his current deal and ...

Dream face struggling Sky in Atlanta, seek sixth straight home win
Chicago knows first-hand how tough it's been to beat the Atlanta Dream on their home floor this season. ,Aiming for a sixth straight home victory, the surging Dream look to take down the Sky for the second time in a little more than a week on Sunday. ,Atlanta (9-4) has the league's fourth-best recor...

Without Napheesa Collier, Lynx still rally to top Sparks
Kayla McBride scored 29 points on 9-for-13 shooting and the Minnesota Lynx rallied for an 82-66 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday night in Minneapolis.,Courtney Williams added 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting for Minnesota (12-1), which won its third game in a row. Maria Kliundikova made her...

Liberty All-Star center Jonquel Jones (ankle sprain) out 4-6 weeks
New York Liberty All-Star center Jonquel Jones will be sidelined four to six weeks because of a sprained right ankle, the team announced on Saturday night.,Jones, 31, injured the ankle in the second quarter of an 89-81 loss Thursday night to the Phoenix Mercury. She sprained the same ankle on June 5...

Reports: Bucks' Pat Connaughton picks up $9.4M player option
Milwaukee Bucks wing Pat Connaughton has picked up his player option for the 2025-26 season worth $9.4 million, according to multiple reports on Saturday.,Connaughton, 32, had until Tuesday to exercise the option for the final season of a three-year, $28.5 million extension he signed in 2022, per th...

Liberty searching for answers as they travel to hot-shooting Storm
If you're wondering how the Seattle Storm have perhaps exceeded expectations early in the WNBA season after parting ways with leading scorer Jewell Loyd, look at the 3-point line.,The New York Liberty might want to be aware of their prowess outside the arc Sunday when the teams meet for the first ti...

Sun, Valkyries enter matchup heading in opposite directions
The Connecticut Sun and host Golden State Valkyries come into their meeting on Sunday in San Francisco on much different trajectories.,The expansion Valkyries (6-6) responded to a sluggish first month of the season, rebounding from a 2-5 start to win four of their last five. In its most recent outin...