DURHAM, N.C. — Duke’s Khaman Maluach, a relative newcomer to basketball who boosted his game greatly with NBA Academy experience, entered his name for the NBA draft before the 11:59 p.m. deadline Saturday night, he announced on social media on Sunday.

A 7-2 center from South Sudan who is still 18 years old, Maluach has been projected as a ...Read more

DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons suffered a disappointing 94-93 Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena. Karl-Anthony Towns hit consecutive clutch 3-point field goals, preventing the Pistons from mounting a second-half comeback.

Towns finished with 27 points and nine rebounds. Cade Cunningham finished the ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — With a roster that’s nearly set for the 2025-26 college basketball season and the next group of Kentucky Wildcats just a few weeks away from joining forces in Lexington, what’s the outlook for Mark Pope’s second season in charge of the program?

Good enough that Pope making good on his promise to hang more banners in ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — The UConn women’s basketball team became the first program to produce 50 WNBA draftees when three players were selected in the 2025 draft, and the Huskies have a league-leading 18 alumni participating in training camps this season.

UConn players will be represented on 11 of the WNBA’s 13 teams when camp begins on Sunday,...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Facing the league’s most physical and handsy defense without his fearless co-star, the Golden State Warriors asked 37-year-old Steph Curry to put the offense on his shoulders in the third game of Golden State’s Western Conference playoff series with the Houston Rockets.

He answered the call, scoring 36 points on 12-of-23 ...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The goal for the Clippers was to not give the Denver Nuggets any hope in Game 4 and in the process take complete control of the seven-game playoff series.

For any of this to happen, both teams had to maintain their composure, which both sides lost late in the second quarter, resulting in technical fouls being called on six...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Aaron Gordon wished he didn’t have to turn around. The sooner he got out of Intuit Dome, the better.

But he had to turn back for a replay review before he could sprint to the locker room, and he’ll have to return again next Thursday for Game 6, because his buzzer-beating dunk off a Nikola Jokic air-ball handed the ...Read more

MIAMI — Homecourt didn’t help. Not against this, an opponent able to lock down on defense, light up on offense. Instead, it was the worst playoff loss in franchise history.

And so, with Saturday’s 124-87 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Kaseya Center, the Heat return Monday night to the scene of Saturday’s game to again attempt to ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Travis Perry will always be part of an elite fraternity in Kentucky basketball history.

Since Wayland High School’s “King” Kelly Coleman was named the first Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1956, the award signifying the commonwealth’s top senior in boys high school hoops has been awarded 70 times.

Perry, the former Lyon...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — After a midseason loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Lakers coach JJ Redick and LeBron James sounded a bit of an alarm, both coach and leader saying the Lakers didn’t have the luxury to just be pretty good.

The Lakers, if they wanted to win tough games, needed to be great.

“It’s just, we don’t have a huge margin for ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic wanted to turn their first-round playoff series against the supremely talented Boston Celtics into a drag-out slugfest.

On Friday, they landed their first punch.

After taking Games 1 and 2 at TD Garden, Boston succumbed to Orlando’s physicality in Game 3, losing 95-93 at the Kia Center. Game 4 is Sunday ...Read more

MIAMI — The trash talk on the court, that’s cool, part of the playoffs, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro said Friday.

But making it personal on camera, that, Herro said, crosses a line.

In the wake of his Cleveland Cavaliers moving to a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series, Cavaliers guard Darius ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Alijah Arenas, a top USC recruit and Chatsworth High basketball star, awoke from his coma after a serious Cybertruck crash early Thursday morning and has “shown significant signs of progress,” according to a statement from his family shared with The Los Angeles Times.

Alijah remains intubated, but the son of former NBA ...Read more

NEW YORK — Cam Thomas, selected 27th overall by the Nets in the 2021 NBA draft, is set to enter restricted free agency. He’s shown consistent growth over his first four seasons but has yet to fully realize his NBA potential.

Will the young scoring guard peak with Brooklyn or find his stride with another team?

“I look forward to the ...Read more

DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made himself available to the rest of us lovable lame stream media scum on Monday, April 21, and there were four questions I asked about his decision to trade Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis.

Question: “Did the anger and outrage from the fan base exceed what you were planning for?”

...Read more

CHICAGO — The time is finally here for the most controversial stretch of the NBA season: the announcement of end-of-year awards.

This year’s voting had a mix of contentious decisions — Nikola Jokić versus Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP, Draymond Green’s late push for Defensive Player of the Year — and relatively straightforward ones...Read more

LOS ANGELES — He insisted that his group could play better and had to play better even though the Los Angeles Clippers snatched home-court advantage away from the Denver Nuggets by winning Game 2 in Denver.

That didn’t matter to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.

What mattered to Lue was his team pushing itself to a higher level against the ...Read more

DETROIT — The atmosphere inside Little Caesars Arena was electric as soon as the Detroit Pistons stepped onto the court for warmups Thursday night. Even when they started the game by missing their first seven shots, the fans continued to electrify the arena, particularly with their chants directed at Jalen Brunson, which included expletives.

...Read more