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Warriors swat Hornets, 128-92, for fourth straight win

Sports / Basketball /

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry jumped up and down in front of his seat on the Warriors’ bench early in the first quarter, playfully taunting his brother for missing a technical free throw.

What’s really funny is how much the Warriors’ outlook has changed since acquiring Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline.

Had the Warriors stayed on their ...Read more

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Luka Doncic has his struggles against his old team, but Lakers beat Mavericks

Sports / Basketball /

The emotion inside the building was impossible to ignore, the crowd oohing and aahing at every crossover, gasping at every shot and desperately trying to will the ball into the basket each time a Lakers player launched it.

It felt like the playoffs.

It was the first quarter.

The crowd had met the moment, Luka Doncic’s first game against the...Read more

No. 14 Missouri bounces back to breeze past South Carolina

Sports / Basketball /

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Caleb Grill returned to his usual shooting form, turnover issues evaporated into the springtime thaw and No. 14 Missouri men's basketball cruised past South Carolina on Tuesday.

The Tigers beat the struggling Gamecocks, 101-71 — the heavy home favorites leaving no doubts in securing a bounce-back victory.

Mizzou (21-7, 10-5...Read more

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Magic shellacked by top-seeded Cavs in playoff rematch

Sports / Basketball /

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Cavaliers on Tuesday night accomplished something at Kia Center that they didn’t do in all seven games during last year’s first-round playoff series against the Magic.

Cleveland won at Orlando.

In front of a national TV audience on TNT, the Cavs led the entire game and by as many as 42 points in the 122-82 road ...Read more

Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Another costly win: 3 takeaways as Duke routs Miami, loses starter to injury

Sports / Basketball /

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — No. 2 Duke winning yet another ACC game in lopsided fashion took a backseat to an injury to a starter on Tuesday night.

While the Blue Devils routed Miami, 97-60, junior guard Tyrese Proctor missed the second half after injuring his left knee late in the first half.

Proctor limped off the court with 36 seconds left in ...Read more

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Depleted Celtics rotation no problem for Boston in 111-101 win over Raptors

Sports / Basketball /

Joe Mazzulla’s core rotation consists of nine Boston Celtics players. Nearly half of them were unavailable Tuesday night in Toronto.

No Jrue Holiday and Al Horford, who both sat out on the first night of a back-to-back. No Luke Kornet, who was ruled out for personal reasons. No Kristaps Porzingis, who was expected to play before being ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Bill Plaschke: Mick Cronin can coach, but can he chill? His long-term UCLA future may depend on it.

Sports / Basketball /

LOS ANGELES — He has the uncanny ability to coach toughness into overachieving teams.

He also has the audacity to publicly humiliate them.

He wins games, one Final Four and two Sweet 16 appearances in his first four seasons that featured postseasons.

He also loses fans, longtime boosters fed up with his unhinged sideline behavior, his rude ...Read more

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Nets' Nic Claxton suspended one game without pay for excessive technical fouls

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — The NBA suspended Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton one game without pay for accruing his sixth Flagrant Foul point of the 2024-25 regular season. He will serve his suspension on Wednesday when Brooklyn hosts the Oklahoma City Thunder at Barclays Center.

In Brooklyn’s 107-99 road loss to the Washington Wizards on Monday, Claxton ...Read more

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Diana Taurasi officially announces retirement from WNBA after 20 seasons, three titles

Sports / Basketball /

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Phoenix Mercury’s final home game of the 2024 WNBA season was a celebration of UConn legend Diana Taurasi’s legacy after 20 years with the franchise, marketed under the slogan, “If This Is It.”

Family, friends and former teammates from more than two decades of basketball came together in Phoenix on Sept. 19, ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LeBron and Bronny James file response to car crash lawsuit, denying 'each and every allegation'

Sports / Basketball /

LOS ANGELES — LeBron and Bronny James have denied "each and every allegation" made in a lawsuit that claimed they had some involvement in a 2022 car crash in the town of Littlerock in the Antelope Valley.

That lawsuit, filed last fall in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged that the father-son Lakers teammates "negligently owned, ...Read more

Yong Kim/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Fans can buy $2 tickets and opposing announcers are laughing at the team. That's the current reality for the Sixers.

Sports / Basketball /

PHILADELPHIA — Going to a Sixers game has rarely been cheaper. On Monday, Process-era pricing appeared to be in effect with tickets available on the secondary market for just $2, not including fees, which would bring you a bit closer to $4 per person.

Of course, then you had to watch the Sixers.

And if you were one of the Sixers fans who ...Read more

Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

Mark Story: In evaluating Mark Pope's first season, don't lose sight of bigger picture

Sports / Basketball /

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mark Pope assumed the Kentucky men’s basketball head coaching position five years into what seems likely to go down as the least successful decade in UK’s regal hoops history.

Since the Southeastern Conference formed in 1932-33, Kentucky men’s hoops has won at least three SEC regular-season championships in every decade...Read more

Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Ken Sugiura: Time is fleeting for Hawks to make use of Trae Young's brilliant season

Sports / Basketball /

ATLANTA — In a breakthrough season, Trae Young’s game Monday night stood apart and provided evidence of what the Hawks could be.

Young’s scoring touch was way off. The high-scoring guard failed to make a 3-pointer for only the fourth time this season and contributed a mere 11 points.

But the Hawks still won, taking a gritty 98-86 win ...Read more

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Dawn of the Warriors' dynasty: How Steve Kerr built a new culture

Sports / Basketball /

Three hours at the Oklahoma City airport is usually a recipe for a bad day, but they were some of the most pivotal moments in Steve Kerr’s post-playing career.

It was May 2014, and Kerr was in town to call the Thunder-Clippers Western Conference semifinals for TNT. He’d been itching to get out of the broadcast booth and onto a sideline. The...Read more

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Earlier this season, UNC quietly extended coach Hubert Davis' contract. Here are details.

Sports / Basketball /

Hubert Davis’ first three seasons as head basketball coach at North Carolina ended with a trip to the NCAA Final Four, the Tar Heels missing the NCAA Tournament and then a regular-season ACC title that earned them a No. 1 seed in the tournament.

It also has earned Davis two contract extensions, the second signed in December 2024 that extends ...Read more

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Dom Amore: A study in accountability, Alex Karaban puts another UConn loss on himself

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — Alex Karaban stared downward as he spoke Sunday, down at the floor in the basement of the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” using the low monotone that he uses in such moments.

It was another loss for the UConn men, a game in which Karaban found his long lost shooting stroke, but found it too late to change the outcome. The ...Read more

Hunter Dickinson carries KU basketball to road win at Colorado. Here are 3 takeaways

Sports / Basketball /

Hunter Dickinson was determined to make sure his Kansas Jayhawks walked out of CU Events Center with a victory Monday.

Whenever KU found itself in trouble against Colorado, Dickinson answered with a timely bucket. He scored five of the Jayhawks’ last seven points and erupted for 32 overall in one of the best offensive performances of his KU ...Read more

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Timberwolves pull off big comeback, beat Thunder 131-128 in overtime

Sports / Basketball /

OKLAHOMA CITY – Monday was not shaping up to be a thriller.

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ injuries looked like they had finally caught up to them against the best team in the Western Conference, and they were down as much as 25 in the second half.

Even coach Chris Finch pulled Anthony Edwards with 3 minutes, 41 seconds to play. But from that...Read more

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Nikola Jokic sets career-high with 19 assists as Nuggets bounce back at Pacers

Sports / Basketball /

INDIANAPOLIS — The Denver Nuggets’ loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday was of the high-exposure variety. National television. A matchup they had dominated in recent years.

They needed a bounce back, and they got one Monday night. Aaron Gordon scored 25 points, Nikola Jokic set a career-high with 19 assists, and Denver won its 10th ...Read more

Yong Kim/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

76ers drop 8th straight game with 142-110 blowout loss to the Bulls

Sports / Basketball /

PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers had another negative night … depending on who you ask.

For those wanting them to reach the postseason, Monday night’s loss to the Chicago Bulls could be a detriment.

The Sixers missed out on an opportunity to clinch the season’s series over the Bulls following the 142-110 decision at the Wells Fargo Center.

...Read more