Sports

/

ArcaMax

Susan Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Greg Cote: Miami's Jim Larranaga lost heart for game in 'new world' cannibalizing college sports

Sports / Basketball /

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

Harry How/Getty Images North America/TNS

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard's progress 'really good' but he's still not ready to return

Sports / Basketball /

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

Susan Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Dave Hyde: There'll never be another like Jim Larrañaga in South Florida sports

Sports / Basketball /

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

Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Warriors at 'inflection point' after Christmas Day loss

Sports / Basketball /

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

D.A. Varela/Miami Herald/TNS

'I'm exhausted:' Miami basketball coach Jim Larrañaga resigns, citing new NIL challenges

Sports / Basketball /

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

Al Diaz/Miami Herald/TNS

Pat Riley vehemently enters fray on Heat conjecture: 'We are not trading Jimmy Butler'

Sports / Basketball /

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

John Sciulli/Getty Images North America/TNS

Albert Sanders Jr. is the most important person in the NBA you've never heard of

Sports / Basketball /

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

Luke Hales/Getty Images North America/TNS

Dom Amore: UConn's Stephon Castle soaring to head of NBA rookie class with Spurs

Sports / Basketball /

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

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Austin Reaves' buzzer-beater delivers Lakers to Christmas win over Warriors

Sports / Basketball /

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

Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Steph Curry, LeBron James live up to billing, but Austin Reaves steals Christmas with game-winning shot

Sports / Basketball /

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

Luke Hales/Getty Images North America/TNS

Knicks rave about Spurs star Victor Wembanyama after historic Christmas Day performance

Sports / Basketball /

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

Brian Fluharty/Getty Images North America/TNS

Sixers fend off Celtics and secure statement win behind Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid

Sports / Basketball /

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

Ron Jenkins/Getty Images North America/TNS

Timberwolves build big lead, hang on vs. Mavericks to end three-game losing streak

Sports / Basketball /

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

Al Diaz/Miami Herald/TNS

Heat's Jimmy Butler doubtful for Thursday in Orlando amid speculation whirlwind

Sports / Basketball /

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

Luke Hales/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mikal Bridges scores 41 points as Knicks stave off Wembanyama, Spurs for 5th win in a row

Sports / Basketball /

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

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Paul Sullivan: Will the Bulls tank or go for it? The next month of play should provide the answer.

Sports / Basketball /

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

Charles Fox/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Sixers face a Christmas Day test against defending champion Celtics

Sports / Basketball /

BOSTON — Christmas Day will conclude a stretch that served as a barometer for the Philadelphia 76ers.

They are in Beantown to face the Boston Celtics in a 5 p.m. ET tilt at TD Garden. The marquee game will wrap a three-game stretch that started with Saturday’s road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Monday’s home game vs. the San ...Read more

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Paul Sullivan: Bulls are still looking for an identity while former Bull Alex Caruso gets rewarded for his

Sports / Basketball /

CHICAGO — When the Chicago Bulls dealt Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in June, many fans scratched their heads.

It was no secret that Bulls vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas was going to make some changes, but Caruso seemed like he’d made a new home in Chicago, a town that appreciates players who put ...Read more

AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/TNS

Michael Porter Jr. reacts to trade rumors amid Zach LaVine smoke: 'I don't take it personally'

Sports / Basketball /

DENVER — With sincerity and a sense of humor, Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. discussed his reaction to hearing his name in trade rumors on Monday, reflecting on his career in Denver and saying the front office has told him there’s no interest in trading him at the moment.

That could change, of course. As The Denver Post reported last ...Read more

John McCall/Sun Sentinel/TNS

MRI confirms a season-ending torn Achilles for Heat's Dru Smith, 'a gut punch'

Sports / Basketball /

MIAMI — The sense of dread proved all too real Tuesday, with the Miami Heat announcing that guard Dru Smith sustained a season-ending torn left Achilles tendon in Monday night’s victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Having recently emerged as a prime rotation component in his comeback from his season-ending knee injury a year ago, Smith was ...Read more