NBA

2:00 PM ET NEW YORK — The Nets‘ Big Three of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving is expected to play in just their eighth game together on Saturday against the Chicago Bulls. It will be the first game action the trio has seen together since Feb. 13 against the Golden State Warriors. “If

12:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The second edition of the NBA’s play-in tournament starts Tuesday and the final participants have narrowed. The teams that finish between seventh and 10th in the standings from each conference will qualify for the tourney to determine who will earn the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in the playoffs.

1:35 AM ET With the addition of play-in games to the 2021 NBA playoffs, the scramble for seeding is wilder — and more important — than ever, with almost every game down the stretch having significant postseason implications. Play-in matchups following Wednesday’s games Play-in games to be held May 18-21 • How the play-in tournament

10:33 PM ET With the addition of play-in games to the 2021 NBA playoffs, the scramble for seeding is wilder — and more important — than ever, with almost every game down the stretch having significant postseason implications. Play-in matchups following Wednesday’s games Play-in games to be held May 18-21 • How the play-in tournament

9:15 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN It took almost five months for Udonis Haslem to play in a game for the Miami Heat this season — and he didn’t last very long. Haslem, who appeared in a game for an 18th straight season, played three minutes before getting ejected early in the second quarter of Thursday

7:15 PM ET Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors signed forward Juan Toscano-Anderson to a multiyear deal Thursday and forward Jordan Bell to a two-way contract for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. Toscano-Anderson originally signed a two-way contact with the Warriors in December. He is averaging 5.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and

4:18 PM ET Nick DePaulaESPN Along the French Riviera in Monaco during the summer of 2019, Blake Griffin and the entire Jordan Brand roster of athletes, designers and execs gathered for their annual extravagant team trip, a longtime bonding tradition led by Michael Jordan. Some 5,500 miles away from their usual Beaverton, Oregon, product meeting

1:45 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets are keeping Mike James for the rest of the season. The Nets signed the guard to a contract Thursday after the expiration of his second 10-day deal. James has appeared in 11 games, including starting in Brooklyn’s victory over San Antonio on Wednesday. He

3:10 PM ET ESPN News Services Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has reached a verbal agreement on a $1.5 billion sale of the team to former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and e-commerce mogul Marc Lore, sources told ESPN, confirming multiple reports. NBA approval of the deal was still pending, and neither side has publicly announced

3:07 PM ET Boston Celtics All-Star guard Jaylen Brown underwent successful wrist surgery Wednesday and is expected to return to basketball activities in approximately three months, the team announced Thursday. This timeline for Brown would have him ready to return to the court in time for training camp. The Celtics announced Monday that Brown, who

9:00 AM ET The NBA has created a new award in honor of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the league’s all-time leading scorer and a noted civil rights activist, that will recognize a player who best embodies his strive for social justice and racial equality, the league announced Thursday. The winner of the inaugural Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice

11:47 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers finally unveiled the franchise’s 17th NBA championship banner at Staples Center on Wednesday night, and LeBron James used the occasion to set his sights on No. 18. “We said we would not unveil this banner until we had some of you guys in the seats,

6:37 PM ET ESPN News Services LOS ANGELES — Two Los Angeles County firefighters could be fired and a third suspended after some first responders took and shared graphic photos from the site of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and seven others, court documents say. The court documents were filed

8:38 PM ET Dallas Mavericks shooting guard JJ Redick will miss at least the remainder of the regular season because of right heel soreness that has bothered him for much of the season, coach Rick Carlisle said. Redick aggravated the heel while defending during Tuesday’s 133-104 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, putting the 36-year-old’s availability

11:47 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN With the New Orleans Pelicans eliminated from NBA playoff contention, Zion Williamson‘s standout season will end without him making his first appearance in the postseason. Williamson’s fractured left finger left him on the bench as the Pelicans failed in their final push to make the play-in tournament. Williamson isn’t the

10:55 PM ET With the addition of play-in games to the 2021 NBA playoffs, the scramble for seeding is wilder — and more important — than ever, with almost every game down the stretch having significant postseason implications. Play-in matchups following Tuesday’s games Play-in games to be held May 18-21 • How the play-in tournament

6:29 PM ET NEW YORK — James Harden returned to the Brooklyn Nets‘ lineup on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs after missing more than a month with a hamstring strain. Still, the Nets will have to wait, once again, to see their Big Three in action. Kyrie Irving was not playing in Wednesday’s game

9:36 PM ET Associated Press The NBA’s 3-point dependence is stronger than ever. For the ninth consecutive season, the league record for 3-pointers made per game has been broken. Even if zero 3s are made in the final four days of a regular season that ends Sunday, the league’s average in 2020-21 will be higher