basketball Page 183 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Here's A Cool Play The Trail Blazers Use To Ambush Unsuspecting Opponents
In the second quarter of an eventual home win over the Pacers, Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts dialed up a delicious little inbounds play to get reserve center Enes Kanter a point-blank look at the basket. The play involves very little movement and trickery, and mostly relies on two tall dudes...

Steph Curry Busts Out Of A Slump With A Damn 60-Footer
Steph Curry opened up Monday night’s road game in San Antonio freezing cold, by his standards. He missed seven of his first eight shots, including all four of his three-point attempts. He blew a point-blank layup, and had another slapped off the glass, and bricked a wide open three from the top of t...

How Not To Write About Kobe Bryant
SLAM magazine has a cover story about Kobe Bryant out today titled “MAMBA 101: Welcome to Kobe Bryant’s Next Chapter [book emoji].” Tzvi Twersky’s profile is half sycophantic run-through of Bryant’s new projects as a self-appointed visionary-style filmmaker and storyteller and half soft-focus look ...

Zion Williamson—And I Can't Stress This Enough—Could Rebound Me Off The Back Iron And Dunk Me Through The Floorboards
The rate of improvement seems frankly unsustainable. But Zion Williamson, who was once known for his comically improbable high school basketball highlight reels, is now cutting similarly ridiculous ones at the damn ACC Tournament. Can he just keep scaling up to new plateaus of competition? It’s hard...
![ESPN Apologizes For Releasing The Women’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Hours Too Early [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/nj3mzwjzmlyhb4xdvof5.jpg)
ESPN Apologizes For Releasing The Women’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Hours Too Early [Update]
If you tuned in to ESPNU this afternoon for a show called Bracketology, you apparently got an added bonus: A reveal of most of the bracket for this year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament!...

Giannis And Embiid, Just A Couple Of Giant Space Monsters Smashing Everyone Else Into Hell
The Bucks played the 76ers yesterday, in Milwaukee. The game had an outcome; the outcome had no effect on the standings. I am here to call to your attention the two giant space monsters, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid, who combined for 92 points and 31 rebounds in the game and made everybody ...

LeBron James Suffers Latest Humiliation At The Hands Of Mario Hezonja
It was all set up for LeBron James, nearing the end of a crappy first season with the Los Angeles Lakers, to have another one of his moments. He loves to craft highlights on the Knicks’ home floor, and to talk afterwards about how much “the Mecca” means to him as—as a student of basketball history o...

Mike Scott Enjoys Overpriced Cocktail In Between Possessions
Late in the first quarter against the Bucks, Sixers forward Mike Scott fell into the crowd while chasing after a rebound he was trying to save for his team. Without looking where to throw it, Scott somehow got the ball to T.J. McConnell who immediately made the midrange shot he attempted. Scott, cl...

The Pelicans Gave The Suns A Masterclass On The Dumbest Possible Way To Lose A Basketball Game
With 7.6 seconds to go in overtime, down 136-133, Suns guard Devin Booker tried to hit a game-tying three but airballed the shot completely and gave possession back to his opponents. The Pelicans then used their final timeout—keep that in mind—to advance the ball for an inbounds play that would at l...

This Weird Zion Williamson Three-Pointer Somehow Makes Sense
It doesn’t take a whole lot of intelligence to notice a strong correlation between Zion Williamson’s presence on the floor and the likelihood of Duke winning a basketball game. It certainly helps that he’s stronger and faster than every one of his opponents, but he’s also a smart enough player that...

Good Lord, Florida Got Screwed
With 6.2 seconds left in the game, No. 22 Auburn’s Jared Harper missed an important free throw that would have killed any chance at a Florida comeback. Instead, it left enough time for the Gators to get something up to try and tie this game up, down just 65-62....

High School Playoff Game Ends With Rare Double Court Storming After Officials Wave Off Presumed Buzzer-Beater
Minnesota high schools Albany and Melrose faced off on Friday with a section championship and a spot in the state tournament on the line. Albany had only 2.3 seconds left in the game to get up a game-winning shot after Melrose had just put themselves up by one point. Albany inbounded the ball to And...
![Bradley University Reduced A Beat Writer's Access To The Men's Basketball Team Because He Didn't Promote The School's "Brand" Enough [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/jmw9bcna2pvi9cizrwro.jpg)
Bradley University Reduced A Beat Writer's Access To The Men's Basketball Team Because He Didn't Promote The School's "Brand" Enough [Update]
The Bradley University men’s basketball team is heading back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years after winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday against Northern Iowa. The automatic bid should have made the Braves a mid-major sweetheart, but some recent actions mi...

Where Do The Rape Allegations Against Corey Maggette And Justin Fairfax Go From Here?
On February 11, Deadline.com reported that Corey Maggette had been taken off the air by Fox Sports West, where he works as a commentator for Los Angeles Clippers games....

The Sports Media Is Doing Nike’s Damage Control For Free
Last night college basketball fans were treated to a comeback that, just a few weeks ago, seemed impossible. I’m talking, of course, about Nike shoes. We were all rooting for that scrappy little outfit out of Beaverton, Oregon, to overcome the odds, AMIRITE? Sure, Duke supernova Zion Williamson retu...

Utah Jazz Permanently Ban Another Fan, Who Called Russell Westbrook "Boy" In 2018 Playoffs
The Jazz are cracking down on their vilest hecklers after Monday night’s provocation, which got a rise out of a visiting Russell Westbrook and resulted in Utah fan Shane Keisel getting a permanent ban. Team owner Gail Miller addressed fans directly before Thursday’s home game, and today the Deseret...

Nikola Jokic Is The God Of The Hideous Game-Winner
Nikola Jokic won a game at the buzzer for the Denver Nuggets last night, erasing what should have been an iconic, game-winning dunk from Luka Dončić with an objectively ugly fall-away jumper that somehow went in:...

Zion Williamson Is JUST FINE
Thursday night Zion Williamson made his first appearance for Duke since the shoe explosion seen ‘round the world, helping the Blue Devils to a comfortable 84–72 win over Syracuse in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. For those who were concerned a knee sprain might sap some of Williamson’s brain-scra...

Cowardly High School Team Bleeds Over Two Minutes Off Clock By Standing At Half-Court
Enjoy this inspiring sports action, from Wednesday’s second-round playoff game between two Pittsburgh high school basketball teams:...

College Basketball Player Sets Up Game-Winner With The Classic Off-The-Butt Play
The Eastern Washington Eagles are headed to their first Big Sky championship game in over 30 years thanks to a clever play involving a butt. Trailing by a point with 4.6 seconds left in Wednesday’s semifinal against two-seed Northern Colorado, freshman point guard Jessica McDowell-White had to inbou...