Basketball Page 252 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

As Knicks soar into Game 2, Pistons hope lessons were learned
With the New York Knicks facing an eight-point deficit to the upstart Detroit Pistons entering the fourth quarter on Saturday, Jalen Brunson returned to the locker room to change his sneakers and watched the first few minutes from the bench.,After the fleet-footed Brunson helped the Knicks rally to ...

NBA roundup: Jalen Brunson leads Knicks' 4th-quarter rally past Pistons
Jalen Brunson overcame a slow start to score 34 points as the New York Knicks dominated the fourth quarter in a 123-112 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Saturday.,Game 2 will be Monday in New York before the series shifts to Detroit on Th...

Wolves put aside slow first quarter, take playoff opener from Lakers
Jaden McDaniels collected 25 points with nine rebounds and Anthony Edwards added 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves rolled to a 117-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the opener of a first-round Western Conference playoff series., ,Naz Reid score...

Knicks go on 21-0 burst in 4th quarter, beat Pistons in playoff opener
Jalen Brunson overcame a slow start to score 34 points as the New York Knicks dominated the fourth quarter in a 123-112 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.,Game 2 will be Monday in New York before the series shifts to Detroit on Thursday.,The ...

Rockets' rise leads to meeting with former nemesis Warriors
Before entering a protracted rebuild that required five seasons to complete, the Houston Rockets' postseason history was inextricably linked to the Golden State Warriors.,During one five-year stretch last decade, the teams squared off four times in the playoffs. The Warriors won each series, includi...

Nuggets rally late in Game 1, upend Clippers in OT
Aaron Gordon had six of his 25 points in overtime, Russell Westbrook came up with a big defensive play in the final seconds and the host Denver Nuggets rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-110 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Saturday.,"Russ is Russ," said interim Nuggets hea...

Nuggets rally late, upend Clippers in OT in Game 1
Aaron Gordon had six of his 25 points in overtime, Russell Westbrook came up with a big defensive play in the final seconds and the host Denver Nuggets rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-110 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Saturday.,Nikola Jokic finished with 29 points, 12...

Battle-tested Heat ready for top-seeded Cavs
Fifteen years after LeBron James left Northeast Ohio to take his talents to South Beach, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat meet in the playoffs for the first time.,Miami locked up its berth with a 123-114 road victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, becoming the initial 10th seed to qualify t...

Top-seeded Thunder face Grizzlies with more left to prove
For much of the season, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has downplayed his team's accomplishments, even as the team ran away with the best record in the Western Conference. ,Oklahoma City needs to prove itself in the postseason, Gilgeous-Alexander said. Starting Sunday, the top-se...

Pacers outclass Bucks in series opener
Andrew Nembhard and Pascal Siakam combined for 27 points in a run-away first half, Tyrese Haliburton directed a high-efficiency offense with a game-high 12 assists and the Indiana Pacers opened their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with a 117-98 thumping of the visiting Milwaukee B...

Defensive tussle ahead as Celtics open title defense vs. Magic
The Boston Celtics will continue their quest to win back-to-back NBA championships Sunday when they open the playoffs against the visiting Orlando Magic.,The Celtics, who beat the Dallas Mavericks in the 2023-24 NBA Finals, are the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and are trying to become the fi...

Report: Bucks' Damian Lillard targeting Game 2 or 3 return
Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, who missed the final 14 games of the regular season due to a medical issue, could return for Game 2 or 3 of the team's first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, ESPN reported Saturday.,Lillard, 34, was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his righ...

Ja Morant guides Grizzlies past Mavs, into playoffs
Ja Morant recorded 22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals while playing on his sprained right ankle and the Memphis Grizzlies earned the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a convincing 120-106 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks in the play-in round on Friday...

Grizzlies star PG Ja Morant (ankle) playing vs. Mavericks
Memphis star point guard Ja Morant was cleared to play in the Grizzlies' Friday play-in game against the Dallas Mavericks about 30 minutes before the scheduled tipoff.,Morant sprained his right ankle on Tuesday in Memphis' 121-116 road loss against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.,Morant ...

Heat pull away from Hawks in OT, secure 6th straight playoff berth
Tyler Herro had a game-high 30 points, Davion Mitchell buried three 3-pointers in overtime and the Miami Heat advanced into the NBA playoffs with a 123-114 road victory over the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference play-in finale Friday night.,The No. 10 Heat, who began the four-team playoff-qual...

Reports: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich resting after medical emergency
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich fainted at a San Antonio steakhouse earlier this week and was taken out of the restaurant on a stretcher and whisked away via ambulance, according to multiple reports.,TMZ first reported on the Tuesday night incident that reportedly occurred around 8:20 p.m CT. TMZ reporte...

Lakers' Luka Doncic gets the 'big games' he covets vs. Wolves
The season series seems to show the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves are even heading into their first-round playoff series although the reality is something much different. ,The teams head into Game 1 of their series at Los Angeles on Saturday having split four games against each other...

After posting identical records, Nuggets, Clippers open 4-5 series
The Denver Nuggets didn't win the NBA Cup in December, but the tournament gave them a chance to secure home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers.,Denver won the extra game scheduled between the teams after both were eliminated -- meaning the Nuggets fi...

Lakers extend GM Rob Pelinka, add president to title
On the eve of the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers extended the contract of general manager/vice president Rob Pelinka, with a promotion included, just over two months after star Luka Doncic was acquired from the Dallas Mavericks.,Under the new deal, Pelinka now becomes the president of basketba...

Knicks know all about Pistons' rise as Game 1 approaches
On their way to making the playoffs for the third straight season and the fourth time in five seasons, the New York Knicks had multiple up-close encounters with the massively improved Detroit Pistons.,More meetings are ahead in a first-round matchup between the teams starting Saturday when Jalen Bru...