LEXINGTON, Ky. — Get on out of here with your gloom and doom about how the game just isn’t what it used to be.

In the end, college basketball always delivers.

Surely this past weekend was proof, with its incessant nail-biting Final Four, starting with Florida’s 79-73 upset of overall No. 1 seed Auburn, then Houston’s furious rally to ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Julius Erving had a problem. It was not basketball-related. He was more than fine in that department. This was something different: the shoe department.

Erving wore size 16, and for most of his career, he had trouble finding dress shoes that fit him. So, he decided to be proactive. In September 1980, just before an MVP season ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Villanova’s pep band, stationed in the lobby of the Finneran Pavilion, blasted out one fire-you-up song after another late Wednesday morning. And all the interested parties — the alumni and boosters and media and staff members, some of them newly hired within the last week — mingled in the arena’s lower level. And Kevin ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Dallas has lost one basketball megastar, and has not been too happy about it. Barring something unforeseen, Big D’s about to get another.

Paige Bueckers, you may have heard, is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft on Monday and, with UConn’s national championship still fresh in minds, would go to the ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors didn’t need this one, but it would have made it a whole lot easier.

Golden State started fast, its stars played their best basketball after halftime but still wasn’t able to put away what looked to be the easiest game left on its schedule.

Despite scoring the first 11 points of the game, the first six of the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The makeshift 76ers have something to feel good about.

The players fully aware of the tanking assignment. But that doesn’t take away their desire to win at least one of the remaining three games.

That victory came Wednesday in a 122-103 decision over the equally tanking Washington Wizards at the Capital One Arena.

The victory...Read more

DALLAS — The Lakers fans cheered and the Mavericks fans cheered.

Because they were Luka Doncic fans.

The uniforms were Lakers purple and Lakers gold. They were Dallas navy and Mavericks retro green. They were from the Slovenian national team and a Spanish club basketball.

All of them had the same name across the back.

During the game, they...Read more

CHICAGO – For their efforts Wednesday night at the United Center, the Miami Heat earned a likely return trip next Wednesday to the United Center.

No, it was not the outcome sought or desired, but one likely assured after Wednesday night’s 119-111 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

So play-in the hard way it will be for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Regardless of who took the court for the Celtics on the second night of a road back-to-back, the Magic viewed defending-champion Boston as dangerous and treated the contest like a playoff game.

Orlando, which took the driver’s seat for the No. 7 spot in the East with a win against the Hawks less than 24 hours earlier, didn�...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic heard the story and barely could believe it.

Tim Marovt also was once a prodigy, identified early as one of the best athletes in Slovenia. Marovt had a goal to become a world-class skier along with the skills and passion to become one of the best to come out of his country. Doncic had lived that life too, moving from...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas’ soul, and a great portion of its identity, will forever be tied uncomfortably tight to football, but our real success is actually becoming in basketball.

Texas’ win over USC in the 2006 national title game is the only championship this state has produced in NCAA FBS football since the Longhorns won it in 1969; ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Fueled by its suffocating late-game defense, Florida edged Houston 65-63 in Monday night’s men’s basketball NCAA Tournament finals. The tense victory gave the Gators their third NCAA title of the 21st century.

Since calendars flipped to Jan. 1, 2000, only Connecticut, with five men’s NCAA championships in that time ...Read more

PHOENIX – With tricky layups, sky-scraping threes and even one improbable flip shot that wowed the home crowd with the clock stopped at PHX Arena in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday night, Steph Curry shook off his nightmare performance against Houston.

After shooting 1-for-10 and scoring only three points in Sunday’s streak-snapping loss to the...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Throughout the past five days, coach Jamahl Mosley and multiple members of the Magic continued to stress the importance of Tuesday’s matchup with the Hawks.

And, with postseason positioning on the line, Orlando played with a sense of urgency at Kia Center in their first of potentially three games with Atlanta over the next ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Nets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 119-114, on Tuesday, snapping a two-game losing streak at Barclays Center. They improved to 26-53 with three regular-season games left and retained the sixth-best NBA draft lottery odds.

Seven Nets finished in double figures, led by Trendon Watford, who had 22 points on 7-for-8 shooting ...Read more

NEW YORK – It wasn’t the rollicking beatdown that the first three installments were, but the Boston Celtics completed a season sweep of the rival New York Knicks on Tuesday.

After trailing for the entire first half, Boston rallied to win 119-117 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.

Kristaps Porzingis’ 3-pointer over Jalen Brunson with ...Read more

MILWAUKEE — The Timberwolves entered the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game against Milwaukee ahead by 20. All they had to do was not collapse to come away with a much-needed win in the logjammed playoff race in the Western Conference.

But disaster happened. The Wolves picked the worst time to have their worst fourth-quarter calamity of the ...Read more