Milwaukee Bucks stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard were in street clothes on Thursday, which gave the short-handed Nets a major tactical advantage in their first trip to Fiserv Forum this season.

While Brooklyn struggled from the field early, the team was at its best on offense when it mattered most and held on to defeat the Bucks, ...Read more

ATLANTA — The Hawks trailed the Bulls 124-107 with 6:32 minutes left in the game. But behind a 31-7 run, they finished off their late-game rally in the fourth quarter to down the Bulls, 141-133, Thursday night at State Farm Arena.

“I think we knew we were going to have a run eventually,” guard Trae Young said. “They were shooting the ...Read more

DENVER — Nikola Jokic continues to bloat the stat sheet, now becoming proficient in the quadruple-double: scoring, rebounding, passing and yelling.

What’s going on with the NBA’s best player? I got pushback when I suggested the Nuggets owed him an apology for the roster construction in early November and again last week when I endorsed a ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — This time the Miami Heat turned the tables five days after blowing a 25-point lead in this building five nights earlier.

In dramatic fashion, no less.

Battling back from a 17-point deficit Thursday night at Kia Center, Erik Spoelstra’s team found a way in the absence of Jimmy Butler, winning on a Tyler Herro 19-foot jumper ...Read more

MIAMI — The changing face of major college athletics is a snarling one with sharp teeth and a ravenous appetite. It is eating up and spitting out coaches of a generation when things were slower, simpler. The latest victim: Jim Larranaga from the University of Miami men’s basketball team.

College sports at the highest level is cannibalizing ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard took part in a five-on-five practice Thursday, and Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said his star forward is making progress in recovering from a right knee injury but there is still no timetable for his season debut.

"He has to play some more five on five," Lue said. "So we got to get all the days we got to get him in, ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Let’s begin this ending with the right story. There are plenty who don’t get it right. The right story lends direction and purpose for what Jim Larrañaga was about as he resigns and begins where everything did for him, which was with his Miami basketball team around him.

So, you could tell about him dancing in the...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — About 90 minutes before the Warriors’ Christmas Day game against the Lakers, Steph Curry addressed his team.

This season can go one way or another, he told them. The message was brief, only two or three minutes. They’d lost 10 of 13 entering the Lakers matchup, sinking from 12-3 to 15-13. They didn’t quite need a players...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A seismic change is coming for Miami Hurricanes basketball, as longtime coach Jim Larrañaga is stepping down after more than 13 seasons at the helm in Coral Gables, the veteran coach announced Thursday.

Bill Courtney, Larrañaga’s associate head coach, is expected to take over as the team’s interim coach, the ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The silence has been broken, amid Miami Heat hopes that silence now can follow.

In the wake of increasing conjecture of Jimmy Butler pushing for a trade and the team considering a deal, Miami Heat President Pat Riley on Thursday issued a terse and pointed statement on the matter.

“We usually don’t comment on rumors, but ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Albert Sanders Jr., the boy with the big dreams and the bigger drive, was scared. He was angry. Worried.

He wanted to become a lawyer, to wow courtrooms just like Ben Matlock and Perry Mason did on his family's clunky console TV. But in 1994, when he was 14, that dream suddenly seemed beyond reach, hence the anger and worry. He ...Read more

NEW YORK — As the Spurs’ Christmas Eve shootaround at Madison Square Garden was wrapping up, Stephon Castle welcomed his mother, up from Georgia to celebrate her birthday.

He led his teammates in serenading “Mamma Castle” of social media fame with a rendition of “Happy Birthday,” as hers falls on the 25th. She thanked the Spurs, in ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — LeBron James walked through the visiting locker room Christmas afternoon and wondered if there was music playing inside the Chase Center.

As a DJ bumped early 2000s Ludacris near the hoop the Lakers were warming up on, James broke routine to dance and smile.

As much as any player in the league before or after, James is aware ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry and LeBron James played like they know they might not have too many Christmas Day games left in their careers.

Curry and James traded buckets and the Warriors superstar scored the team’s last eight points, nearly putting Golden State on his back.

With 12.2 seconds left, Curry drained a high-arcing corner 3 over ...Read more

NEW YORK — Many of the NBA’s greatest players are close to wrapping up their careers. But the league is in good hands with Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama.

That’s how Josh Hart felt after the 20-year-old Parisian produced a Christmas Day stat line that has never been seen before in the Knicks’ 117-114 win at Madison Square Garden: 42 ...Read more

BOSTON — If the 76ers’ game against the defending champion Boston Celtics was a barometer of where they stand, the answer was clear after registering a 118-114 Christmas Day victory at TD Garden.

The Sixers showed that they have the potential to be an elite team. They were solid in transition, had a balanced attack, built a 16-point lead ...Read more

DALLAS – The Timberwolves needed a day like Wednesday. Not just because they didn’t want to lose on Christmas, but after their previous three games, they were a team in need of some cheer.

They got that with a 105-99 victory over the Mavericks, even if they almost made it a bleak holidays. Their much-maligned offense had one of its better ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Forward Jimmy Butler is expected to miss his third consecutive game when the Heat face the Orlando Magic on Thursday night at Kia Center.

Butler formally was listed as doubtful on the Heat’s Wednesday injury report, with a designation of “return-to-competition reconditioning.” He previously had been listed as out for the...Read more

NEW YORK — All the Knicks wanted for Christmas was a five-game winning streak. At Madison Square Garden, and Santa Claus wore No. 25.

Mikal Bridges delivered his finest performance as a Knick, exploding for 41 points on 17-of-25 shooting to propel New York to a thrilling 117-114 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

His clutch ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls weren’t expecting any gifts Monday evening when they played host to the Milwaukee Bucks in a pre-holiday game at the United Center.

But the Bucks provided a couple anyway.

Coach Doc River played the role of Secret Santa by sitting the Bucks’ two biggest stars — Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was dealing with ...Read more