LOS ANGELES — It's been fodder for memes, the cold open on "Saturday Night Live" and the predictable polarizing political talking points, but last week's Oval Office spectacle with President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky left one Lakers player with a small sense of hope among a continued ...Read more

The unranked Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team showed glimpses of why coach Bill Self still believes in his squad as the Big 12 Tournament approaches.

Glimpses, but not a victory.

A mind-numbing procession of turnovers and poor overall offense doomed KU, which held its own for 39 minutes in an ESPN Big Monday showdown before falling 65...Read more

SALT LAKE CITY — The Detroit Pistons began their four-game West Coast road trip with a 134-106 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night at Delta Center. With the win, the Pistons improved to 35-27 overall.

Despite recording five turnovers, Cade Cunningham led the Pistons on the night with 29 points on 12-of-24 shooting, nine assists and ...Read more

In a physical game they never trailed, the Golden State Warriors pulled away from the Charlotte Hornets with a decisive fourth quarter.

Brandin Podziemski bounced back from his worst game in weeks to log 19 points and 10 rebounds and Steph Curry returned to his hometown with 21 points and 10 dimes. The Warriors (33-28) never trailed Charlotte ...Read more

MIAMI – The perfect cure for the hangover of a blown 19-point lead a night earlier?

The Washington Wizards, right on schedule for the Miami Heat.

Against the NBA’s 30th ranked offense and 28th ranked defense, Erik Spoelstra’s team was able to push past the sting of Sunday night’s overtime loss to the New York Knicks with a 106-90 ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — It’s always something holding back the 76ers.

They were looking to build off Saturday’s unexpected victory over the Golden State Warriors. Instead, they went back to their losing ways, suffering a 119-102 setback to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The loss at the Wells Fargo Center dropped the Sixers to 21-39. It was their ...Read more

PHOENIX – There was one thing that Sunday night’s 116-98 Minnesota Timberwolves victory over the Phoenix Suns made clear for the remaining 20 games this season: It’s going to be hard for Anthony Edwards to make it without picking up another one-game suspension for accruing two more technical fouls.

Even Edwards admitted that himself after...Read more

DURHAM, N.C. — Another unbeaten season at home brought No. 2 Duke the first of what it hopes is many championships this season.

Behind Cooper Flagg’s 28 points, the Blue Devils beat Wake Forest, 93-60, Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, clinching them at least a share of the ACC’s regular-season championship.

A seventh consecutive ...Read more

Mark Cuban alienated and irritated a lot of fans in his 20-plus years of owning the Dallas Mavericks, but he never put together the type of run this current ownership group is still on.

All of the goodwill and warm feelings generated by the Mavericks’ run to the 2024 NBA Finals, and signing free agent Klay Thompson, have been thrown into an ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls might seem well-positioned to absorb the loss of Ayo Dosunmu for the remainder of the season. After all, the roster is packed with guards.

But as they continue their push to make the NBA playoffs, the Bulls don’t have a true replacement for Dosunmu, whom the medical team shut down for the season Sunday to address...Read more

NEW YORK — The St. John’s surge continues.

Rick Pitino’s red-hot Red Storm moved up to No. 6 in this week’s AP Poll — their highest ranking since Jan. 29, 1991.

St. John’s went 2-0 last week, including a 71-61 victory over Seton Hall on Saturday that clinched the program’s first outright Big East regular-season championship since...Read more

Serena Williams is expanding her portfolio of professional sports organizations to include a WNBA team.

The tennis legend was announced Monday as a co-owner the Toronto Tempo, an expansion team that is set to start play in 2026. Williams is joining an ownership group that is headed by Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Kilmer Sports Ventures.

"I am ...Read more

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — From the first day on campus, it was a clash of titans, one in size and stature, the other in the force of his personality.

For the latter, coach Dan Hurley had the towering task of bringing out the towering abilities of Tarris Reed Jr., the center from Michigan who joined the two-time champs via the transfer portal.

“He...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — How will Joel Embiid be remembered should he fail to return to his All-NBA form?

Will we recognize the 76ers center as one of the NBA’s most dominant scorers? Or will we recall him as someone who failed to live up to his extraordinary potential because he couldn’t complete an injury-free season?

The latter is as much a ...Read more

JJ Redick has called these moments “blackouts,” but Sunday against the Clippers, Luka Doncic was very much alive.

At the start, he bounded up the left side of the floor, forced Ivica Zubac into the switch and stepped toward the Clippers bench before swishing a three-pointer that seemed like it scraped the scoreboard.

Then he made another, ...Read more

PHOENIX – In the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ 116-98 victory over the Suns, forward Julius Randle made a hustle play to save a loose a ball from going out of bounds.

Moments later, Nickeil Alexander-Walker delivered a beautiful no-look pass to reward Randle with a layup. The Wolves bench erupted after that sequence.

They got even ...Read more

You can never count this group of Knicks out — no matter how deep the hole, no matter how daunting the deficit.

Friday in Memphis? They trailed by 12 in the third quarter, didn’t take their first lead until midway through the fourth, then closed the game on OG Anunoby’s game-winning 3 and two clutch stops from Mikal Bridges.

Sunday in ...Read more

MIAMI – By halftime, it was clear this was going to end one of two ways: stunning or sobering.

In some ways, it was both.

Once again, a significant Heat lead turned into something slight.

And then into nothing at all.

So instead of a stunning win over the New York Knicks, just the sobering reality of another blown lead by the Miami Heat, ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Toronto Raptors entered Kia Center on Sunday night having lost three straight games and nine of their last 11.

Toronto, however, exited Orlando with just its 19th win on the season, 104-102, against the Magic behind 24 points from Immanuel Quickley.

Franz Wagner led Orlando with 25 points but missed a layup with two ...Read more

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Sunday was supposed to be a celebratory day for Michigan.

Illinois didn’t get the memo and spoiled Senior Day at Crisler Center.

The Fighting Illini dominated the offensive glass from start to finish and handed the No. 15 Wolverines a 93-73 loss that put them a game back in the Big Ten standings with the finish line in ...Read more