Basketball Page 254 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Magic pull away from Hawks, earn playoff date with Celtics
Cole Anthony scored 13 of his 26 points in a fourth-quarter surge Tuesday night, allowing the Orlando Magic to claim a playoff berth via a 120-95 romp over the visiting Atlanta Hawks in an Eastern Conference play-in game.,Wendell Carter Jr. chipped in with 19 points, Paolo Banchero put up 17 and Ant...
WNBA Draft audience second best ever, down from 2024
The WNBA Draft pulled in its second largest television audience Monday with an average of 1.25 million viewers, according to ESPN.,The broadcast peaked at 1.46 million viewers and was up 119 percent, on average, from the 2023 WNBA Draft. UConn's Paige Bueckers was the No. 1 overall selection Monday ...
Mavericks limping, Kings surging into play-in matchup
The Dallas Mavericks reached the NBA Finals last season when Luka Doncic carried an otherwise average team through the treacherous Western Conference waters.,This season, the Mavericks traded the generational star to the Los Angeles Lakers and the franchise sank for most of the second half of the se...
Mavericks GM: 'No regrets' on trading away Luka Doncic
Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison didn't back down on his decision to trade star guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, a move that sparked outrage among the team's fanbase.,The Lakers officially acquired Doncic on Feb. 2 for perennial All-Star forward Anthony Davis in ...
Bulls host Heat but injuries could make Chicago a play-in underdog
By virtue of a better overall record than the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls earned home-court advantage for their Eastern Conference play-in game Wednesday night.,Despite winning all three meetings with Miami this season, the ninth-seeded Bulls (39-43) could be considered the underdog against the 10...
Report: Bucks' Damian Lillard to miss start of playoffs
Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard will miss the start of the playoffs as he continues to recover from a blood clot, ESPN reported Tuesday.,Lillard has not played since March 18 and the team announced on March 25 that he is dealing with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf.,"Damian's most recent ...
Report: Joe Dumars to become Pelicans' president
The New Orleans Pelicans are finalizing a deal to make Hall of Famer Joe Dumars their president of basketball operations, ESPN reported Tuesday.,Dumars, who has been the NBA's executive vice president and head of basketball operations since 2022, would replace David Griffin, who was fired Monday aft...
Welcome to the Atlanta Hawks Invitational (a.k.a. the NBA Play-In Tournament)
The NBA Play-In Tournament is back — and so are the Hawks, for the fourth straight year in the league’s favorite pre-playoffs ritual....
Wings choose UConn star Paige Bueckers with No. 1 overall pick
The Dallas Wings chose All-American guard Paige Bueckers of UConn with the No. 1 overall selection in Monday night's WNBA draft in New York.,The 6-foot Bueckers was the overwhelming choice in a draft in which there is no clear-cut No. 2 pick.,Bueckers is the sixth UConn player to be selected first i...
Luka Doncic’s No. 77 Lakers jersey is NBA’s best-seller
Luka Doncic's trade from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers shook the basketball world, and apparently motivated the fans, too.,Doncic's No. 77 Lakers jersey was the top seller for the 2024-25 regular season according to NBAStore.com sales, the NBA announced Monday.,A native of Slovenia,...
Veteran Warriors 'flying' toward West play-in vs. Grizzlies
The Golden State Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline in an attempt to land a top-six Western Conference playoff berth.,Butler made the appropriate impact, but Golden State fell short of its goal and was relegated to the play-in tournament. The seventh-seeded Warriors now take the ha...
Lynx acquire G Karlie Samuelson from Mystics
The Minnesota Lynx acquired veteran guard Karlie Samuelson from the Washington Mystics on Monday.,In exchange, the Mystics will receive a first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft.,The Lynx acquired that additional first-round pick from the Chicago Sky on Sunday, trading their No. 11 slot in the 2025 ...
Nuggets' Josh Kroenke shares what went wrong in Denver
Nuggets vice chairman Josh Kroenke was apologetic for changes made last week, when coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth were fired without warning.,But he also hinted that the changes have already brought upon the desired result.,"The season is not over yet," Kroenke said Monday. "W...
Reports: Lynx acquire G Karlie Samuelson from Mystics
The Minnesota Lynx acquired veteran guard Karlie Samuelson from the Washington Mystics on Monday, multiple outlets reported.,In exchange, the Mystics will receive a first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. ,Samuelson, who turns 30 next month, joins her sixth team as she enters her seventh season in ...
Suns fire coach Mike Budenholzer after one season
The Phoenix Suns fired head coach Mike Budenholzer on Monday, less than 24 hours after the team with the NBA's highest payroll finished with a 36-46 mark.,"Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season. Our fans deserve better. Change is needed," the...
Magic, Hawks meet again, this time as East's top play-in seeds
The Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic are on the play-in route with intentions of earning a first-round matchup with the defending champion Boston Celtics as they vie for the No. 7 position in the Eastern Conference playoffs Tuesday in Florida.,The regional rivals split their season series 2-2, with e...
Pelicans miss playoffs, fire VP David Griffin
The New Orleans Pelicans fired executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin on Monday after a 61-loss season.,Owner Gayle Benson made the announcement but did not address the future of head coach Willie Green, who was hired by Griffin in 2021. Green has a 148-180 record.,Griffin h...
Report: Paige Bueckers signing 3-year Unrivaled deal
Former UConn star Paige Bueckers is signing a three-year deal with the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league, ESPN reported.,Bueckers, expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on Monday, signed a name, image and likeness deal with Unrivaled last year that gave her equity in the fledgling league. ,The 6-foo...
NBA roundup: Clippers take 5th in West, push Warriors to play-in
James Harden had 12 of his game-high 39 points in overtime Sunday afternoon, delivering the Los Angeles Clippers a 124-119 win over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco that sends the Clippers into the playoffs while relegating the Warriors to the play-in bracket.,Kawhi Leonard contributed 33 ...
Kings defeat Suns, will host Mavericks in 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...