On Sunday, it was the other player acquired in the blockbuster Karl-Anthony Towns trade who fueled the Timberwolves' 112-110 home victory over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

It was reserve guard Donte DiVincenzo — not three-time All-Star Julius Randle — who made five three-pointers, scored 26 points and made the game’s ...Read more

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 104-100 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night at Toyota Center to close its three-game trip at 2-1 and reach the 30-game mark at 16-14. The Heat now returns to Miami to begin a three-game homestand on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans:

The Heat, short-handed and playing on the second night...Read more

BOSTON -- Three days, two games, two very different outcomes.

After steamrolling the Indiana Pacers by 37 points Friday night at TD Garden, the Celtics were handled by the same team on the same court Sunday evening, losing 123-114.

The nine-point margin of defeat equaled the largest of the season for Boston. The Celtics trailed by 15 when head...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento Kings sent a shock wave through the organization and its fanbase Friday with their decision to fire head coach Mike Brown 20 months after he became the NBA’s first-ever unanimous coach of the year in 2023.

That year, he helped the team snap the longest postseason drought in league history and followed it ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls can’t survive without 3-point shooting.

This is, in a way, what it looks like when the other shoe drops. Nearly midway through the season, the Bulls are the second-most prolific 3-point shooting team in the NBA, trailing only the Boston Celtics as they average 16.5 made 3s on 44 attempts per game.

The success of...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- He’s not a big name, but it’s a big trade.

The Lakers have acquired Dorian Finney-Smith, a multiple-positional defender shooting 43.5% from three-point range this season, in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets without surrending any of L.A.’s future first-round draft picks — a deal that improves two big areas of need while ...Read more

ATLANTA — First some bookkeeping, then a tasty morsel ... even as Pat Riley would prefer days ahead being a bit less spicy than these past few.

When it comes to the he said/he said in the Jimmy Butler debate, one significant element somehow has gotten lost in the timing element going forward for the Miami Heat: It does not matter if Jimmy ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — These days, the 3-point shot is getting a bad rap.

Haven’t you heard? Basketball television ratings are down. Specifically, NBA television ratings are down. And atop the list of suspected culprits is the contention that the 3-point shot has become too much of a good thing.

Thus, at the recent finals of the NBA Cup, ...Read more

NEW YORK — The year just wrapping up presented women’s basketball fans with entertaining events never seen before.

The Liberty — the WNBA’s last remaining original franchise — ended its 27-year drought and achieved the elusive title. It was the first basketball title in New York City since the Knicks won the NBA crown in 1973.

Before...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The hit was going to come, the Los Angeles Lakers and JJ Redick sure of it.

Sacramento had been thrown into complete chaos, the Lakers taking two straight from the Kings in their building last week — links in the chain of events that led to the Kings firing coach Mike Brown on his way to board the flight for L.A.

Beating the ...Read more

There was little optimism in Pistons Nation when Detroit began a four-game western trip on Dec. 21.

The Pistons were coming off their worst loss of the season, falling to the Utah Jazz. Facing four teams with playoff aspirations, the thought was that the Pistons might be lucky to steal one game on the trip.

But Saturday night's 134-121 loss to...Read more

SALT LAKE CITY — The foul call with the shot clock dwindling prompted a challenge by Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy, then boos from the home crowd when the whistle stood, then cheers when Paul George missed the first free throw.

But the 76ers’ perennial All-Star sank the second attempt, then another pair on his team’s ensuing possession. ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — One night after playing what Steve Kerr thought was his best game as a pro, Jonathan Kuminga one-upped himself.

Kuminga matched his career high with 34 points and spent the fourth quarter hounding Kevin Durant on defense.

In a tie game with two minutes left, the Warriors executed. Dennis Schroder, who struggled most of the ...Read more

This is why you call him "captain." Because when you call on the captain, he delivers.

And this is why you don’t count the Knicks out after three quarters — or even after four. Because all their high-powered offense needs is a moment to blow a game open.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And if there’s a way, the Knicks will find ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It was probably only a matter of time that a young team with a new rotation crashed back to Earth, and it happened Saturday afternoon before a Fox national television audience.

As spectacular as San Diego State looked through the opening 18 minutes en route to an 18-point lead, the nation’s No. 20-ranked team looked stupefied ...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — No crazy buzzer-beater. No last-minute miracle.

After so much heartache over so many years, UCLA finally shook off its Gonzaga jinx under coach Mick Cronin on Saturday afternoon at Intuit Dome.

It looked like the Bruins might be in store for more misfortune when Sebastian Mack fouled Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard on a driving ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Choosing a starting lineup will be one of Doug Christie’s first decisions as interim coach of the Sacramento Kings.

Christie was named interim coach Friday when head coach Mike Brown was fired 31 games into his third season in Sacramento. The move came as the Kings prepared to board a flight to Southern California to ...Read more

ATLANTA — The cycle of mediocrity had a chance to add something of meaning Saturday at State Farm Arena.

Instead, no three-game winning streak for the Miami Heat, just a 120-110 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena and a 15-14 record going into Sunday night’s game against the Houston Rockets to conclude this three-game trip.

After ...Read more

NEW YORK — It’s been nearly a month since the Liberty and their fans had to say goodbye to Kayla Thornton — the team’s do-it-all glue player who left everything on the court each night.

The addition of the WNBA’s 13th and newest franchise — the Golden State Valkyries — pretty much ensured the reigning champion Liberty were going ...Read more