12:49 AM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Chris Paul scored 28 points, Devin Booker added 21 and the Phoenix Suns beat the LA Clippers 109-101 on Wednesday night to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The Suns finally figured out a way to beat the Clippers, who won
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5:47 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart was suspended by the league for one game Wednesday because of “threatening language” he directed at a referee a night earlier. The suspension forced him to miss Wednesday night’s home game against Charlotte. “I just found out about 15 minutes ago,” Boston coach
7:15 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — The San Antonio Spurs do not expect starting guard Derrick White back this season because of a sprained right ankle, coach Gregg Popovich said Wednesday. White was injured in the Spurs’ win Monday in Washington. The fourth-year guard is averaging a career-best 15.4 points this season for San
5:28 PM ET ESPN News Services The NBA has fined Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. $50,000 for violating its COVID-19 health and safety protocols, the league said in a statement Wednesday. Porter violated the NBA’s rules against attending indoor social gatherings of 15 or more people and entering bars and similar establishments when he
12:26 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has apologized for his on-court tantrum Monday night, saying his behavior was out of line and out of character. “That wasn’t me,” Love said. The five-time All-Star spoke Wednesday following Cleveland’s shootaround practice before facing the Orlando Magic. Love did not take any questions
7:00 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN HEATHER MAYFIELD WAS five months pregnant when she went to Mercy Health Saint Mary’s hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, Brian, accompanying her for an ultrasound appointment on a chilly January day in 2000. Upon the revelation that their first child would be a boy, the couple quickly
7:00 AM ET Anthony OlivieriESPN.com MONTHS AFTER THE 1998 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan sat on one side of a giant table inside a Manhattan conference room. It was the site of a bargaining session between NBA owners and players. The league was embroiled in a lockout. The season was in jeopardy. But Jordan had other
1:20 AM ET The Golden State Warriors were stuck on 12 points for nine minutes and 38 seconds, the NBA’s longest scoring drought in almost a dozen years, during a 133-103 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. The Mavs scored 28 points during that stretch, matching the second-biggest scoring run in the NBA over
12:10 AM ET The Brooklyn Nets clinched a playoff berth on Tuesday night, after defeating the Toronto Raptors 116-103. They are the first Eastern Conference team to confirm a spot in the postseason. Now, the Nets can slip no lower than sixth in the Eastern Conference standings. “It’s great,” Nets coach Steve Nash said of
7:00 PM ET Josh Giddey — a 6-foot-8 Australian playmaking guard — is entering the 2021 NBA draft, his agents Daniel Moldovan and Alex Saratsis of Octagon Sports told ESPN on Tuesday. Giddey is the No. 13 prospect in ESPN’s Top 100 NBA draft rankings, and could climb higher in the lottery. Giddey, 18, has
7:37 PM ET Associated Press The Milwaukee Bucks are offering COVID-19 vaccinations to fans attending their game Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets. The Bucks announced Tuesday that any eligible fans attending the game can receive a first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from a mobile vaccination site at Fiserv Forum. The Bucks are offering
9:02 AM ET The Golden State Warriors launched a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection on the OpenSea platform Tuesday morning, becoming the first professional sports team to do so. “This is the wave of the future,” new Warriors president Brandon Schneider said. “So we’ve been studying what the best way for us to get involved and
1:07 AM ET Chants of “Defense!” echoed through Madison Square Garden when Chris Paul pulled out a cross over, spun and then flung up an 18-foot fadeaway over Julius Randle that silenced the Garden and ultimately snapped the New York Knicks’ nine-game winning streak. The Phoenix Suns’ All-Star point guard scored seven points in the
12:30 AM ET NBA Defensive Player of the Year front-runner Rudy Gobert blamed himself for the Utah Jazz‘s 105-104 loss at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, saying his botched execution that led to D’Angelo Russell‘s game-winning layup made him “feel dumb.” “If I don’t f— up the last play defensively, we end up with
12:27 AM ET It’s good to be King. Even amid the longest injury stretch of his Hall of Fame career, somehow LeBron James still managed to rewrite record books. A 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection RPA (rookie patch autograph) parallel LeBron James card, numbered out of 23, was sold privately for $5.2 million with PWCC
12:50 AM ET When LeBron James makes his long-awaited return to the court, he won’t just be forming a dynamic duo with Anthony Davis. With Dennis Schroder‘s emergence during James’ and Davis’ injuries, the Los Angeles Lakers could have something that resembles a Big Three. The Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 114-103
7:07 PM ET Houston Rockets point guard John Wall is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain, sources told ESPN. The typical recovery time for such an injury is approximately three weeks, and the Rockets have no intention of rushing Wall back with the team
4:38 PM ET Orlando Magic guard Devin Cannady had season-ending right ankle surgery Monday morning but is expected to make a full recovery, according to the team. Monday’s announcement came a day after Cannady suffered the gruesome-looking injury while attempting to defend a layup attempt in the first quarter against the Indiana Pacers. There was