MIAMI – The Miami Heat already were at an emotional loss watching Dru Smith being escorted off the court in the second period with a leg injury.

For a while, they also seemed at a loss against a team trying to lose.

Eventually, if not emotionally, order was restored enough for Erik Spoelstra’s team to snap a three-game losing streak with ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid lost his cool and was ejected.

Andre Drummond had his ejection rescinded only to miss the second half with a left big toe contusion. And their 76ers held on to get a much-needed victory over a team with a winning record.

Friday’s 111-106 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at the Wells Fargo Center was indeed one ...Read more

ATLANTA – Before Monday’s game in Atlanta, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said his team’s offense was “going through it” after two rough outings at home. The Wolves’ first quarter backed that up as they fell behind Atlanta by 19.

They got it together for the middle quarters before their shooting dried up again in the ...Read more

NEW YORK — All aboard the Knicks Express. The train just keeps rolling at Penn Station.

The Knicks picked up their 14th win in the last 18 games with a dominant wire-to-wire 139-125 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, extending their winning streak to four games.

With Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs set to visit ...Read more

The Boston Celtics expected to have their entire roster available Monday night for just the second time this season.

Minutes before tipoff, plans changed.

Jayson Tatum, two nights removed from his sensational 43-point triple-double against Chicago, was added to Boston’s injury report with what the team called a non-COVID illness. That was at...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif.— Stanford and Oregon aren’t members of the Pac-12 Conference anymore.

But for one Saturday night in San Jose, the two longtime Pacific Coast rivals could play against each other and pretend.

“It was just nice,” said Stanford coach Kyle Smith. “It was a Pac-12 game, an old throwback. We’d like to play some of those...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Big Blue Express was rolling. Kentucky basketball owned a 10-1 record. A No. 4 ranking in the AP Top 25. Enviable positions in both the KenPom and NET metrics. Universal praise for what new coach Mark Pope had accomplished. Then splat — New York happened.

Call it the Big Apple Bashing. The Cats delivered lumps of coal ...Read more

Every Denver Nuggets comeback needs a stroke of inspiration, and this one fittingly occurred without Nikola Jokic on the floor. With 9:18 remaining in a game Denver trailed 100-90, Julian Strawther was barreled over away from the ball while Jamal Murray buried a corner 3-pointer.

A flagrant foul. A free throw for Strawther. A lob from Russell ...Read more

LAWRENCE, Kan. — No matter what shot Kansas guard Zeke Mayo took on Sunday, it felt like it was going in.

While Mayo wasn’t perfect against Brown, it sure felt like it. A week after setting a KU career-high with 26 points against NC State, the South Dakota State transfer followed that up with 25 points.

No. 8 Kansas defeated Brown 87-53 on...Read more

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Wolverines entered the holiday break on a cheerful note.

No. 24 Michigan turned in a dominant performance and snapped a two-game skid by steamrolling Purdue Fort Wayne, 89-58, in a matinee matchup on Sunday at Crisler Center.

Following four consecutive games that went down to the wire and were decided by three points ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Magic‘s worst fear came true Sunday afternoon after center Moritz Wagner suffered a left knee injury in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against the Miami Heat at Kia Center.

Wagner underwent an MRI on Sunday and results revealed he sustained a torn ACL in his left knee, the Orlando Sentinel learned.

Wagner will ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — This was yet another moment of maturity, of which there have been many for Tyler Herro this season.

In the wake of Monday night’s crushing overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons, Herro was asked in the intervening days about his chances for an All-Star breakthrough in this sixth Miami Heat season.

Amid a selfless season that ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — By the summer of 2020, former Duke basketball star Mike Gminski had been hiding how much alcohol he consumed for years. His drink of choice was vodka.

“Looks like water,” Gminski says now. “Clear. Easy to fool people with.”

What was harder to hide were the vodka bottles stacking up in the recycling bin of the ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — What happens when your Friday flight is canceled, you overnight in Newport Beach so you can fly out of Orange County the next morning, then that flight is canceled, you bus part of the traveling party to Ontario for a third different Southwest Airlines flight while the rest bused the 388 miles north, then that flight is ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Before the game, Steve Kerr was asked how long it might take for the Golden State Warriors to rediscover the identity they established during their 12-3 start.

The legendary coach had a surprising answer: one game.

“We know who we are,” Kerr said. “We know what we’re capable of. We’ve got to find the confidence again,...Read more

PHOENIX — Jaden Ivey spent the last six days dejected because he could not help his team. About 15 minutes before the Detroit Pistons’ opening tipoff against the Miami Heat on Monday, Ivey was a late scratch due to inflammation in his left knee. The injury kept Ivey sidelined for two games.

But Saturday night at the Footprint Center, Ivey ...Read more

NEW YORK — There were plenty of empty seats inside Barclays Center on Saturday night. Those who did pay the price of admission to watch the Brooklyn Nets face the Utah Jazz witnessed quite a stinker.

The Jazz emerged from the filth with a 105-94 victory. Both teams combined for 35 turnovers — Brooklyn had 17 — and the Nets shot just 40.4%...Read more

Some of the greatest players in basketball history suited up for the Boston Celtics. None of them matched the stat line Jayson Tatum posted Saturday night in Chicago.

In one of the most impressive performances of this NBA season, Tatum piled up 43 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists as the Celtics routed the Bulls, 123-98. He was the first ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Just when you thought any worse wasn’t possible after blowing an eight-point overtime lead in Detroit at the start of the week, it got worse for the Miami Heat at the end of the week.

Against a severely depleted Orlando Magic roster, the absence of Jimmy Butler hardly appeared to register through the first three quarters for...Read more

Death, taxes and opposing defenses using long, physical defenders to guard Jalen Brunson.

It’s the blueprint opponents have come up with in an effort to slow down the star Knicks guard whose singular scoring powered a battered Knicks roster to the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed and 50 wins last season.

And to a large extent, it’s worked...Read more