NBA

1:59 PM ET Working the waiver wire is pivotal to succeeding in fantasy basketball. With so many games, injuries and endless shifts in rotations throughout the marathon campaign, we’ll need to source stats from free agency to maximize imaginary rosters. A willingness to entertain competition for the last few spots on your fantasy hoops roster

2:46 PM ET When Jerry Colangelo took over a troubled USA Basketball program in 2005 he issued an edict requiring players to make multiyear commitments to Team USA if they wanted to eventually be a part of the Olympic team. Grant Hill, in his first year as the national team’s managing director after replacing Colangelo’s

8:09 AM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — The sounds of Nickelback coming from the portable speaker in the side of the Miami Heat locker room were unmistakable. As the rest of his teammates and Heat staffers quietly showered, got dressed and picked over a postgame pizza spread following a 126-114 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic

4:44 AM ET DAKAR, SENEGAL — NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum acknowledged to ESPN that the All-Star Game needs minor tweaks following criticism of its intensity levels in Salt Lake City recently. In defence of the standard of the All-Star Game, which Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone called the “worst basketball game ever played” after

1:51 AM ET LOS ANGELES — The surging Los Angeles Lakers lost 112-108 to the New York Knicks on Sunday and Anthony Davis blamed himself for the halt in momentum as his team squandered a chance to get back to .500 for the first time since opening the season schedule at 0-0. “My play,” Davis

6:26 PM ET Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic will miss his second consecutive game Monday because of a left thigh strain. Fellow All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, who is dealing with right foot soreness, is listed as questionable for Monday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Doncic and Irving both missed Saturday’s 112-108 loss to the

6:53 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard was downgraded to out ahead of Sunday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the team announced about 45 minutes before tipoff. Lillard was listed on the injury report as probable with right calf tightness and went through his warmup before

1:39 AM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry brought the ball over midcourt with Jevon Carter of the Milwaukee Bucks right in his face. Curry accelerated, and then quickly stopped at the top of the 3-point arc, making Carter skid a few feet away. Curry had just enough space

6:56 PM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry will play against the Orlando Magic on Saturday night after missing the past 15 games because of left knee soreness. “He’s good to go,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said prior to Saturday’s game. “It’s not a minutes restriction, but we will be mindful. I

3:21 PM ET Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss his third straight game Saturday night when the Milwaukee Bucks take on the Golden State Warriors on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET. Antetokounmpo was questionable with a sore right hand, an injury that also sidelined him for Thursday night’s win over the Brooklyn Nets. He missed Tuesday’s game

1:46 PM ET MEMPHIS — Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will not play in Saturday night’s road game against the Memphis Grizzlies because of his left thigh strain, and Kyrie Irving‘s status is in question because of right foot soreness. Irving joined the team in Memphis and participated in shootaround after missing Friday’s practice for

3:00 AM ET LOS ANGELES — It wouldn’t be a stretch to describe D’Angelo Russell‘s return to the lineup in the Lakers’ 122-112 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday as perfect. Russell, who missed L.A.’s previous six games with a sprained right ankle, scored 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter —

12:48 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — When Joel Embiid caught the ball with 7 seconds to go in Friday night’s game at Wells Fargo Center between his Philadelphia 76ers and the Portland Trail Blazers, he had one thing on his mind: Get to his favorite spot on the floor — the free throw line

3:23 PM ET Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will not play in Saturday night’s road game against the Memphis Grizzlies because of his left thigh strain, and Kyrie Irving‘s status is in question after he missed Friday’s practice for personal reasons. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to join us in Memphis,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd told

10:36 AM ET Steve Alexander This week’s Risers and Fallers column was a bit of a buzzkill to write. With too many injuries to great players, the Risers I picked are not all that exciting, and the list of Fallers is simply depressing. However, that’s what happens in mid-March in fantasy basketball (or, as I

8:16 AM ET Pau Gasol pays tribute to an old friend and more from our NBA quotes of the week. “I can’t go on without talking about the person and the face that I don’t see. The brother that elevated me, challenged me, inspired me to be a better player. Just to be a better

7:37 AM ET Jamal CollierESPN MILWAUKEE — DURING A TIMEOUT late in the fourth quarter of a Feb. 24 game against the Miami Heat, Jrue Holiday picked up an orange Gatorade bottle and channeled his inner Backstreet Boy. Holiday had gone to the bench for the final time with 4:30 remaining and his Milwaukee Bucks

7:18 AM ET When US Monastir point guard Jerome Randle watched his college rival, Isaiah Thomas, play in the NBA for a decade, he could not help but feel a little jealous. Not because they’re both 5’9″ and could have had similar careers, but because IT’d had the guidance of his dad. Randle, now 35,