Basketball Page 201 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Trail Blazers maul Lakers to end on high note
Dalano Banton matched a season high with 23 points to fuel the host Portland Trail Blazers to a convincing 109-81 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday in the teams' regular-season finale.,While the Trail Blazers (36-46) have long since been removed from playoff contention, the third-seeded ...

Timberwolves ensure top-six playoff spot by beating Jazz
Anthony Edwards made the most of a second chance, scoring 43 points to help the Minnesota Timberwolves clinch a playoff spot with a 116-105 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday in Minneapolis.,With the win, the Timberwolves (49-33) earned either the fifth or sixth seed in the upcoming Western Confer...

Grizzlies rout Mavericks in battle of the backups
Lamar Stevens, Marvin Bagley III, Cam Spencer and Jay Huff combined for 101 points to lift the host Memphis Grizzlies to a 132-97 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday afternoon.,Stevens had 31 points and six rebounds, Bagley added 25 points and 12 boards, Spencer contributed 23 points and seven a...

Kings defeat Suns, will host 9-10 play-in game
The Sacramento Kings capitalized on the visiting Phoenix Suns playing a depleted roster and secured home-court advantage for their upcoming Western Conference play-in matchup with a 109-98 decision on Sunday.,Sacramento (40-42) was already locked into a No. 9 vs. No. 10 contest with Dallas in the pl...

Pacers rally from 27 down to dispatch Cavaliers
Two-way player RayJ Dennis scored seven straight points in the second overtime as the fourth-place Indiana Pacers rallied from 27 down to beat the first place Cleveland Cavaliers 126-118 in a battle of Eastern Conference playoff teams Sunday in Cleveland., ,Rookie Johnny Furphy added six points in t...

Pat Connaughton's career day guides Bucks past Pistons
Pat Connaughton saved 10 of his career-high 43 points for overtime, Kyle Kuzma chipped in with 22 in just 12 minutes and the Milwaukee Bucks outlasted the visiting Detroit Pistons 140-133 on Sunday afternoon in a meaningless regular-season finale that took a back seat to Malik Beasley's pursuit of t...

Knicks' reserves lead comeback win over Nets
Landry Shamet came off the bench to score 29 points, and the short-handed New York Knicks rode a 17-0 third-quarter run to hold off the host Brooklyn Nets 113-105 in the regular-season finale for both teams Sunday.,New York (51-31), already locked into the Eastern Conference's No. 3 seed for the pla...

Bub Carrington beats the buzzer, Wizards top Heat to finish season
Bub Carrington made a heavily contested floater at the buzzer to lead the visiting Washington Wizards over the short-handed Miami Heat 119-118 on Sunday.,Down seven with four minutes remaining, the Heat went on an 11-0 run featuring an alley-oop finish and a game-tying and-one from Keshad Johnson. T...

Payton Pritchard helps Celtics end regular season with win vs. Hornets
Payton Pritchard tossed in a game-high 34 points to help the Boston Celtics defeat the visiting Charlotte Hornets 93-86 Sunday on the final day of the NBA's regular season.,Charlotte, which trailed by 21 early, tied the game 86-86 on a Moussa Diabate layup with 2:13 to play, but Boston regained cont...

Kevin Huerter helps Bulls roll past 76ers
Kevin Huerter scored 18 points as the visiting Chicago Bulls topped the Philadelphia 76ers 122-102 on Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams., ,Talen Horton-Tucker chipped in 17 points and Jalen Smith had 12 points and 10 boards for Chicago (39-43), which matched its win total from last ...

Hawks beat Magic ahead of rematch in play-in round
Keaton Wallace had a triple-double with 15 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds to lift the Atlanta Hawks to a 117-105 win over the visiting Orlando Magic on Sunday afternoon.,The two teams will meet again Tuesday in Orlando in the play-in tournament with the winner claiming the seventh seed and a fir...

Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell (ankle) expected to practice in full this week
The Cleveland Cavaliers have apparently avoided disaster, as head coach Kenny Atkinson provided an update Sunday on star Donovan Mitchell, saying the six-time All-Star would participate fully in practice this week.,Mitchell had to exit a 120-113 loss to the Sacramento Kings on April 6 with a spraine...

Bulls optimistic Josh Giddey (wrist) will be OK for play-in game
Guard Josh Giddey, who helped propel the Chicago Bulls to a spot in the NBA play-in tournament, did not travel to Philadelphia for the final game of the regular season, instead staying home to get treatment on his ailing right wrist.,Speaking with reporters Sunday, coach Billy Donovan said there is ...

Blazers coach Chauncey Billups agrees to multi-year extension
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has agreed to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Sunday morning.,Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed for Billups, who is concluding the final guaranteed year of his contract.,The move comes six days after the Trail Blazer...
Los Angeles Lakers Are Masquerading as NBA Title Contenders
The Lakers may have Luka now, but with no bigs and two stars clashing, they're more likely to exit early than win it all....

NBA-best Thunder aim to 'build habits' in finale vs. Pelicans
The Oklahoma City Thunder have clinched the best record in the NBA.,So the Thunder (67-14) have nothing tangible at stake in their regular-season finale against the lottery-bound Pelicans on Sunday afternoon in New Orleans.,But Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said he believes there's still somet...

NBA rescinds technical foul against Wolves G Anthony Edwards
After review by the league office, the NBA on Saturday rescinded a technical foul given to Minnesota Timberwolves Anthony Edwards in Friday's win over the Brooklyn Nets.,Edwards had been scheduled to sit out Sunday's game against the Utah Jazz after acquiring his 18th technical foul of the season fo...

Kings can earn home play-in game with win over Suns
The Sacramento Kings close the regular season at home on Sunday against the Phoenix Suns with a guaranteed place in the Western Conference play-in -- but with their seeding still up in the air.,Sacramento (39-42) will face Dallas in the play-in, but still to be determined is which team will host. Th...

UConn's Paige Bueckers tops list for Monday's WNBA draft
There is no doubt that Paige Bueckers will be the No. 1 selection of Monday's WNBA draft in New York.,The Dallas Wings own that pick and hope Bueckers will pump energy into the franchise the way Caitlin Clark did last season for the Indiana Fever.,In other words, be a big hit on and off the court.,"...

Clippers, Warriors battle for playoff positioning in season finale
The Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors have a chance to secure a playoff berth while at the same time sending the other into the Western Conference play-in bracket when they duel in the regular-season finale Sunday afternoon in San Francisco.,The Clippers (49-32) enter the road affair ti...