2:11 AM ET There are many things Chris Paul is good at, but one of his most crucial skills is sensing a moment. It’s never about how he starts; it’s how he finishes. And in Game 1 of Phoenix’s Western Conference semifinal series against the Denver Nuggets, Paul began slowly, hitting just two of his
NBA
12:55 AM ET When Steve Nash was hired to coach the Brooklyn Nets super-team entry last year, it was both shocking and controversial. Judgement on the hire is still a ways off, but Nash’s first postseason on the sideline has been impressive. Nash has run circles early around two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike
8:02 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN For the second time in his career, and a decade apart, Tom Thibodeau has been named the NBA’s Coach of the Year. The New York Knicks coach, who led the team he grew up watching to a 20-win improvement this season, edged out Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams by a
8:17 PM ET PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers says he keeps a “catalogue” of video clips showing what he believes to be unfair whistles against his All-Star defender, Ben Simmons. Rivers says he wants the league to officiate Simmons correctly, as the Sixers will rely on Simmons’ defense, in part, to dig out
6:55 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The NBA announced Monday evening that Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers had each been fined $75,000 for a tweet Morey posted last week about Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry. Morey, Philadelphia’s president of basketball operations, was hit with the fine because it violated the league’s anti-tampering rules, which
5:55 PM ET Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers are compiling a list of possible candidates to replace coach Terry Stotts, and general manager Neil Olshey said Monday that he hopes to start conducting a first round of virtual interviews this week. Rumors swirled this weekend about possible candidates after Stotts was
3:59 PM ET Associated Press Caron Butler can easily point to the lowest moment in his life – the days he spent as a teenager locked in a solitary confinement cell inside a juvenile prison. The former UConn star and NBA player went to Connecticut’s state Capitol on Monday to ask Gov. Ned Lamont to
1:50 PM ET Marc J. Spears Golden State Warriors and long-time assistant coach Jarron Collins have mutually agreed to part ways in his quest to pursue head coaching and associate head coach opportunities, he told ESPN’s The Undefeated on Monday. Collins joined the Warriors prior to the team’s 2014-15 NBA championship campaign as a player
7:00 AM ET The opening round of the NBA playoffs is complete. And what a finale it was: a LA Clippers‘ clutch Game 7 performance against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks sent Kawhi Leonard, Paul George & Co. to a Western Conference semifinals meeting with the Utah Jazz. Before the Clippers and Mavs duked
7:00 AM ET After no first-round series in the Eastern Conference went more than five games, here we are in the second round with two star-studded matchups. Can two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks get past the Brooklyn Nets‘ Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden? How much will the
10:20 PM ET After a Game 7 win, the head coach or players all talk about a look the team has, a certain look that lets everyone know they’ll be ready for the moment. LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said his team looked like it was locked in as it went through a walkthrough before
9:40 PM ET Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic made Game 7 history on Sunday afternoon versus the LA Clippers but exited the Staples Center with no satisfaction. Doncic scored or assisted on 77 points against the Clippers, the most in NBA history by a player in a Game 7, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
9:08 PM ET THIS ISN’T WHAT Kristaps Porzingis expected when he arrived in Dallas. As the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade, he anticipated forming one of the NBA’s most potent duos with Luka Doncic, a fellow rising star. Porzingis anticipated it’d be a 1A-1B sort of situation. Doncic has certainly held up his end of
6:27 PM ET LOS ANGELES — As a 19-point fourth-quarter lead shrunk to seven with two minutes to go and anxiety began to spread at Staples Center, Kawhi Leonard got the kind of help he did not get last year in Game 7. Leonard hit Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris Sr. for two straight 3-pointers
7:05 PM ET Joel Embiid came back from a knee injury to play, but the Philadelphia 76ers couldn’t come back from a 26-point deficit against the visiting Atlanta Hawks, losing Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series 128-124 on Sunday. Playing for the first time in six days since suffering a meniscus tear in
6:32 PM ET The Philadelphia 76ers had seen enough in the first half, when the Atlanta Hawks bludgeoned them 74-54 behind 25 points and seven assists from Trae Young. As he did to Reggie Bullock and the rest of the New York Knicks backcourt in the Hawks’ first-round victory, Young diced up Danny Green in
4:56 PM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets star guard James Harden is out for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday with what the team is calling “right hamstring tightness.” The Nets currently lead the series 1-0 despite losing Harden less than one minute into the series opener
12:10 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Portland Trail Blazers head-coaching vacancy, he told ESPN on Sunday morning. “Portland’s a first-class organization and will have great candidates for its head coaching job, but I’ve decided not to be one of them,” Kidd told ESPN.