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

CLEVELAND — For the Philadelphia 76ers, Saturday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers was the first of three consecutive barometer games.

Give the Sixers credit. They played hard and attacked the game from the start. They just couldn’t sustain their high level of play. As a result, Cleveland rolled to a 126-99 victory at Rocket ...Read more

NEW YORK — The NBA fined Nic Claxton $25,000 for throwing the ball into the stands in the Nets’ 101-94 defeat of the Toronto Raptors on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena.

With 8:46 left in the second quarter, Claxton, 25, was driving to the rim in transition when he was intentionally fouled by Kelly Olynyk near the top of the key. The center, ...Read more

It seemed like a lifetime ago, but in truth it had been only 11 months since coaches Chris Collins and Chris Holtmann last met at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Collins’ Northwestern team walloped Holtmann’s Ohio State Buckeyes by 25 points on a cold, late-January night in Evanston, Ill., en route to the Wildcats’ second straight NCAA Tournament ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Kentucky Wildcats made a run at another second-half comeback.

This time, they couldn’t do it.

Ohio State knocked off the No. 4-ranked Wildcats, 85-65, in the CBS Sports Classic in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, sending UK into a prolonged holiday break on a sour note.

The Buckeyes (8-4) were just one week removed ...Read more

ATLANTA — Saturday’s matchup between the Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies might be a more tepid affair without two of the NBA’s more electric guards. The Hawks will host the Grizzlies at State Farm Arena at 7:30 p.m. ET without guard Trae Young and Ja Morant.

The team ruled out Young ahead of the matchup with a right heel contusion.

Young ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — As Jalen Suggs spoke with the media after Saturday morning’s shootaround ahead of Orlando‘s night matchup with the visiting Heat, the Magic guard noticed something behind the group of reporters that brought a smile to his face.

On the other side of the court inside the AdventHealth Training Center, All-Star forward Paolo ...Read more

NEW YORK — Late in the first half of Maryland men’s basketball’s clash with Syracuse at the Gotham Classic, Ja’Kobi Gillespie began a drive down the left side of the lane before flipping a behind-the-back pass with his right hand to Selton Miguel, who calmly drained a 3-pointer from the left elbow.

That play drew gasps and then applause...Read more

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Tom Izzo might have asked for focus from his Michigan State team Saturday against Florida Atlantic, its final game before Christmas break. But Coen Carr demanded that attention.

A four-dunk performance from Carr captivated a raucous Breslin Center crowd as the Spartans routed Florida Atlantic, 86-69. Carr scored 17 ...Read more

ATLANTA — Though their phenom is no longer a 17-year-old superstar, the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils proved Saturday that they are just as elite.

Preseason all-American Cooper Flagg scored 13 points on his 18th birthday. He was one of four Blue Devils in double figures as Duke routed Georgia Tech, 82-56, in ACC basketball at McCamish Pavilion.

In ...Read more

UConn veterans Alex Karaban and Hassan Diarra took matters into their own hands down the stretch as Butler refused to go away in a Big East battle Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis.

The Huskies never trailed in the 78-74 win, though Butler battled back to tie the game with under five minutes to go. As the Bulldogs hung around in the final two ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — On Wednesday morning, Kyle Lowry reached out to Jared McCain. He likes to check in with the Sixers rookie every day, but on this day, they had something more pressing to discuss. McCain had just undergone surgery on his left knee and would be out indefinitely.

Lowry knew how his teammate felt. In November 2006, when Lowry was a...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Paul George went back to being a nonfactor in regards to scoring while playing with Joel Embiid. The 76ers showed they can come out on fire from the 3-point line, and Ricky Council IV needs more minutes. Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 108-98 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at the Wells Fargo Center.

George’s...Read more