NBA

1:55 AM ET It had been seven years since a player had a game in the postseason with 15 assists and no turnovers, but Chris Paul accomplished the feat on Wednesday as the Phoenix Suns routed the Denver Nuggets 123-98 to take a 2-0 lead in the second-round series. The last player to post a

8:34 PM ET Boston Celtics president Brad Stevens has received team permissions to interview several assistant coaches for his franchise’s head coaching job, including the LA Clippers‘ Chauncey Billups, sources told ESPN. Stevens started making calls on Wednesday to get the OK to talk to several candidates, including Billups, Milwaukee Bucks‘ Darvin Ham and Charles

9:18 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert reclaimed the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award Wednesday night, becoming the fourth player to be named the league’s top defender at least three times over the course of his career. Gobert, who won the award in 2018 and ’19 before Giannis Antetokounmpo won

4:04 PM ET Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter will miss the rest of the NBA playoffs because of a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, the team announced Wednesday. Hunter experienced some mild swelling in his right knee prior to Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, and he

4:35 PM ET LeBron James intends to change his Los Angeles Lakers jersey number to No. 6 next season, a source confirmed to ESPN. James, who has worn No. 6 as a member of Team USA and wears the same digit on his practice jersey, had worn No. 23 during his first three seasons with

2:42 PM ET LeBron James plans to change his Los Angeles Lakers jersey number to No. 6 next season, a source confirmed to ESPN. James had worn No. 23 during his first three seasons with the Lakers. The number change was first reported Wednesday by The Athletic. Fellow Lakers star Anthony Davis will keep his

12:04 PM ET Nate Bjorkgren has been fired as Indiana Pacers coach after one season with the team, sources told ESPN. Bjorkgren was informed Wednesday of the decision to dismiss him, sources said, after he met with management Tuesday. The Pacers are expected to pursue a more experienced, established head coach after Bjorkgren lost the

12:53 PM ET Miami Heat president Pat Riley was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule. Riley was fined for comments made during a June 4 radio interview regarding Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James who played for the Heat from 2010-14 before returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers. “I

2:58 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — As Paul George stood at the line with 10 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in Tuesday night’s Game 1, Utah Jazz fans serenaded him with chants of “Playoff P!” And with 1:37 left, the taunt of choice, and the loudest of the night, was an “overrated” chant that 18,007

3:25 AM ET Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell didn’t feel well at halftime of Tuesday’s Game 1 against the visiting LA Clippers. He was a bit under the weather, feeling nauseated and a little light-headed. And he really felt sick about his performance in the first half. “Yeah, I was definitely feeling it a little

2:04 AM ET PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid‘s night started with a loss and ended with a win in perhaps his most impressive playoff performance to date. The Philadelphia 76ers‘ 118-102 Game 2 victory over Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday began shortly after the NBA announced Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won league MVP honors, with Embiid

9:53 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Tuesday that forward Michael Porter Jr. should be “good to go” for Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night and that guard Will Barton could return to the court for the first time in almost two

6:53 PM ET Dealing with coronavirus was the priority for the NBA in 2020-21, but as we get to the end of the season, data suggests that the league saw a dramatic increase in injuries not related to COVID. Some team health officials said the carry-over effects will drive how they manage player health for

1:52 PM ET Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley will not play in the Tuesday’s Western Conference semifinals opener against the LA Clippers due to a mild strain of his right hamstring. Conley suffered the injury during the first half of the Jazz’s series-ending Game 5 win over the Memphis Grizzlies last Wednesday. He was

1:26 PM ET Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A judge reset a hearing on Tuesday to address a request by the ex-wife of slain NBA player Lorenzen Wright to throw out her guilty plea in his 2010 killing in Memphis, Tennessee. Sherra Wright filed a petition for relief of conviction or sentence after her surprise

7:00 AM ET After a thrilling play-in tournament and opening-round action that saw the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers get bounced by the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks sweep the reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, we’ve reached the conference semifinals. Will the LA Clippers ride their Game 7 momentum into their series with

3:12 AM ET Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone felt a bad kind of déjà vu as he watched his team fade during the second half of Monday night’s 122-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series. After seeing his team get blown out by the Portland Trail Blazers

11:45 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Milwaukee Bucks spent the better part of the last year trying to ensure this season’s playoff run would go differently than the ones they made in the last two. But after getting obliterated 125-86 by the James Harden-less Brooklyn Nets in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series