SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry and Draymond Green each hugged Klay Thompson after a heartfelt pregame tribute to their former teammate.

It was all love. Then the ball was tipped. It didn’t take long for Curry and Green to treat Thompson like they would any other opponent: with ferocious competitiveness.

Curry defended Thompson, and both he ...Read more

ATLANTA — Kentucky threw the first punch, then Duke built a double-digit lead. In the end, the latest edition of this blue-blood college basketball rivalry came down to the final seconds.

Otega Oweh came up with a big steal at the end, taking it the other way to score the game’s winning points on two free throws, ultimately giving the No. ...Read more

DETROIT — Erik Spoelstra called timeout.

His team did not have one.

That is how the Miami Heat lost Tuesday night to the Detroit Pistons.

So despite Tyler Herro’s 40 points, despite a fourth-quarter rally, despite a go-ahead basket with 1.8 seconds to play, this 123-121 overtime loss will be remembered for none of that.

It will be the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks and 76ers met on Tuesday night with much-changed rosters but an all-too-familiar goal — establishing a new level of dominance in the Eastern Conference, especially with both teams retooling to challenge the Boston Celtics.

Tuesday’s NBA Cup clash underscored just how different these teams look from their playoff ...Read more

DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons continue to showcase that they are different from the egregious team from last year. Despite an embarrassing performance against the New York Knicks on Nov. 1, each game the Pistons have played to open the 2024-25 season has been winnable.

On Tuesday night, the Pistons won their fifth game of the season by ...Read more

BOSTON — Eight days after handing the Hawks a 30-point home loss, the Celtics couldn’t put away a depleted version of the same Atlanta team.

Boston squandered a 15-point second-half lead Tuesday night and lost, 117-116, at TD Garden in their 2024 NBA Cup opener.

Onyeka Okongwu’s put-back with six seconds remaining proved to be the game-...Read more

ATLANTA — For 34 minutes, the Kansas Jayhawks played in a manner that was antithetical to how coach Bill Self wants his teams to play basketball.

No. 1 KU took ill-advised shots, let Michigan State get key rebounds and looked lackadaisical on the court. During one timeout, Self told his team it didn’t come ready to play in the second half. ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The court inside Kia Center might have looked different than usual for Orlando‘s first NBA Cup group play matchup against the Hornets — it was light gray with a large gold trophy in the center and a blue outline — but the Magic‘s pathway to victory looked much the same Tuesday night as it did in their last two.

Missing...Read more

BOSTON — Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said he likes the idea of the NBA Cup, which is aimed at injecting more excitement and competitiveness into a traditionally dull section of the schedule.

There’s one change he would make, however. He wants to see it turned into a true standalone tournament that is separate from the regular season.

�...Read more

Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors were together for 13 mostly glorious years, but it just didn’t work out at the end. Thompson needed a fresh start, and the Warriors understood. They’ll always have a special place in their hearts for one another.

Since Thompson left the Warriors for Dallas, he and the Warriors have had time to ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Lakers star center Anthony Davis will not miss time because of his latest eye injury, he said Tuesday after practice.

“The eye is fine,” he said.

Davis got poked in the left eye during the third quarter Sunday night in the team’s win over Toronto while blocking Jakob Poeltl’s dunk attempt. Davis fell to the court in ...Read more

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Embattled Florida men’s basketball coach Todd Golden took the sideline Monday night and received a warm reception from the O’Connell Center crowd.

Golden — amid accusations that he stalked and sexually harassed multiple women, including UF students — received louder cheers during introductions than any UF player ...Read more

The Brooklyn Nets nearly beat the defending champion Boston Celtics and the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers over the weekend, so Monday’s game against the gutted New Orleans Pelicans was supposed to be one of their easier matchups of the season — at least on paper.

No team in the NBA had suffered more injuries than New Orleans this season. ...Read more

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum did not leave his run-in with Giannis Antetokounmpo unscathed.

The Celtics added Tatum to their injury report on Monday, listing him as questionable for Tuesday night’s NBA Cup matchup against the Atlanta Hawks with a left ankle sprain.

Tatum suffered the injury when he landed on Antetokounmpo’s foot during Sunday�...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Time has this tendency to fly, but it has been three years almost to the day since the last time college basketball royalty Kentucky and Duke, no mere blue bloods, have played each other on a hardwood floor.

In fact, the Cats and Blue Devils, forever linked in hoops lore, have met just twice since 2018. Both games were in the...Read more

DENVER — Nikola Jokic was in the Nuggets’ training room last Friday night, going through his usual postgame workout routine when his head coach paid him a visit.

Michael Malone doesn’t feel any need to apologize to Jokic for the heavy minutes — “You see his paycheck? I mean, come on, man,” the coach wisecracked — but he did want ...Read more