Basketball Page 51 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Fire take down Tempo in first battle of expansion franchises
The Portland Fire used an 11-point run in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 99-80 victory over the host Toronto Tempo on Saturday in the first meeting between the WNBA's new expansion teams.,Emily Engstler posted 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to pace a balanced effort for the Fire (3...
Knicks hammer Cavs again, take 3-0 series lead
CLEVELAND -- Jalen Brunson scored 30 points and Mikal Bridges added 22 as the New York Knicks never trailed in a 121-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.,The third-seeded Knicks have won a fran...
Kelsey Plum burns former team for 38 points as Sparks outlast Aces
Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum had to watch her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, unveil the first championship banner the franchise has earned without her before Sunday's matchup at her old Michelob Ultra Arena home.,In true Plum fashion, she responded by torching the Aces for 38 points while l...
Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell (calf) ruled out for Game 4
The Oklahoma City Thunder have ruled guard Ajay Mitchell out for Sunday's Western Conference finals' Game 4 due to a right calf strain.,Mitchell, a second-year player who has started in place of All-Star Jalen Williams seven times through the first three rounds of the postseason, suffered the injury...
Fire takes down Tempo in first battle of expansion franchises
The Portland Fire used an 11-point run in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 99-80 victory over the host Toronto Tempo on Saturday in the first meeting between the WNBA's new expansion teams.,Emily Engstler posted 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to pace a balanced effort for the Fire (3...
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder eye commanding 3-1 lead over Spurs
Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn't fazed by the repeated chants of "flopper" from the opposing crowd in the second half of Friday's 123-108 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.,"They're not going to like me," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "They...
Liberty G Sabrina Ionescu to make season debut vs. Wings
Sabrina Ionescu told reporters she plans to make her season debut Sunday when the New York Liberty host the Dallas Wings.,The four-time All-Star guard has been sidelined by a left foot injury suffered in a May 3 preseason win at Connecticut.,However, she has been practicing since Monday and told rep...
Liberty close to full strength as they host Wings
The New York Liberty got Satou Sabally back, and it looks like Sabrina Ionescu will be next.,New York, which will play host to Dallas on Sunday, is coming off an 87-70 loss to visiting Golden State on Thursday. One of the few bright spots for New York in that game was the Liberty debut of Sabally, a...
Natasha Howard's double-double leads Lynx over Sky
Natasha Howard scored 22 of her 26 points in the first half and pulled down 14 rebounds as the visiting Minnesota Lynx posted a big second quarter then held off a fourth-quarter Chicago Sky surge to win 85-75 on Saturday. ,Less than a week after Chicago won 86-79 at Minnesota, Howard helped make sur...
Young Mystics squad aims to get in sync as they take on Storm
The Washington Mystics have proven to be a tough team to deal with in the paint this season, averaging around 47 points per contest.,But in Monday's game against Dallas, the Mystics (2-2) struggled with it in a 92-69 loss and look to shake that performance off in Sunday's road matchup with the Seatt...
Mercury looking for reset as they hit the road to face Dream
The Mercury's week at home didn't go as planned. As the struggling team begins a three-game road trip with a Sunday afternoon tilt against the Atlanta Dream in College Park, Ga., Phoenix can't afford to fall any further behind.,Since opening the season with a surprising 99-66 blowout of the Las Vega...
Zia Cooke scores 25 to propel Storm past Sun
Zia Cooke scored a career-high 25 points as the Seattle Storm defeated the visiting Connecticut Sun 77-59 Friday night.,Rookie Flau'jae Johnson, a first-round pick out of LSU who was benched for the fourth quarter of Wednesday's 80-78 loss to the Sun, added 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists an...
Behind big bench contributions, Thunder overtake Spurs in Game 3
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder once again dominated with their bench, overcoming a sluggish start to beat the host San Antonio Spurs 123-108 in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Friday.,The Thunder lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 going into Game 4 i...
Aces hope return matchup with Sparks proves just as beneficial
The Las Vegas Aces return home in search of a fifth straight win following an unbeaten four-game road trip, taking on a Los Angeles Sparks team that has had a more turbulent start to the season than expected.,The Aces' trip began with a 27-point win over the Sparks on May 10 and was punctuated by Ch...
Caitlin Clark scores 22 in return as Fever fend off Valkyries
Aliyah Boston had 20 points and 16 rebounds, Caitlin Clark added 22 points and nine assists and the Indiana Fever defeated the Golden State Valkyries 90-82 on Friday night in Indianapolis., ,Kelsey Mitchell added 19 points and Sophie Cunningham scored 11 for the Fever (4-2)., ,Tiffany Hayes scored 1...
Expansion teams Fire, Tempo set for first-ever matchup
The WNBA's two newest teams will battle on Saturday in Toronto, with both teams looking to build momentum in their inaugural seasons.,Portland (2-3) has posted a pair of close wins and three relatively lopsided defeats. The Fire are coming off a 90-73 loss at Indiana on Wednesday. Even with Caitlin ...
Rhyne Howard, back from concussion, powers Dream past Wings
Rhyne Howard returned from missing one game with a concussion to log season highs of 25 points and eight assists on Friday as the Atlanta Dream led almost wire to wire in an 86-69 win over the Dallas Wings at College Park, Ga.,Howard hit 7 of 12 field-goal attempts and went 9 for 9 at the foul line....
Victor Wembanyama a unanimous All-Defensive first-team selection
After being named the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year last month, dominant San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama was also the lone unanimous pick for the All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced on Friday night. ,Wembanyama, 22, was joined on the first team by one of his opponents ...
Still adjusting to life without star, Sky prep for rematch vs. Lynx
The Chicago Sky know maintaining any momentum earned from a solid start will be a serious challenge. ,That said, the Sky will try to defeat the visiting Minnesota Lynx for the second time this week on Saturday afternoon.,The revamped Sky (3-2) have been an early surprise but lost leading scorer Rick...
Fever's Caitlin Clark (back) 'probable' to face Valkyries
The Indiana Fever did just fine in their first game without Caitlin Clark this season.,And they're likely to have their All-Star back on the floor when they face the Golden State Valkyries on Friday night in Indianapolis.,Clark, who played in just 13 games last season because of multiple injuries, w...