NBA

1:08 AM ET The Los Angeles Lakers took a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals by leaning on the thing that has defined their greatness all season: defense. The Lakers not only held the Miami Heat to 96 points, their lowest output of the postseason, but they also did so with a key tactical

4:35 PM ET ESPN News Services Miami Heat star center Bam Adebayo will return for Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced. Adebayo had officially been listed as questionable for Tuesday’s contest because of a neck strain that forced the All-Star center to miss Games

7:26 AM ET This is the third NBA Finals in six seasons in which injuries have either completely changed the series midstream or forced one team to game-plan for two different opponents. The Los Angeles Lakers, under at least a little pressure after the Miami Heat‘s rousing Game 3 win saw L.A.’s series lead tighten

8:32 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — LeBron James often says that in order to grow, one has to become comfortable being uncomfortable. He applies that sentiment to his playoff mindset. “Until the series is completed, I kind of stay on edge, stay locked in on the job at hand,” James said Monday after

3:29 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN When Doc Rivers and the LA Clippers parted ways after seven years together last week, Rivers was expecting to take a break from coaching after spending 16 consecutive seasons patrolling NBA sidelines. But then, within a few hours of that news becoming public, he’d received a call from the Philadelphia

6:55 AM ET NBA Insiders The Miami Heat surprised the Los Angeles Lakers and halted their dreams of an NBA Finals sweep on Sunday, with Jimmy Butler posting a 40-point triple-double. The Heat’s unexpected victory meant that they can tie the series with a Game 4 win on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ABC and the

11:38 PM ET As insistent as the Miami Heat were that they would come into Game 3 of the NBA Finals squarely in the series, a pall descended over the team as it fell behind 2-0 in unimpressive form. They lost two key starters in Game 1 — defensive ace and offensive facilitator Bam Adebayo

5:45 PM ET Associated Press LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic have been ruled out of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, meaning the Miami Heat will be depleted once again Sunday night. Adebayo was ruled out with a neck injury. Dragic is out with a torn left plantar fascia. Both

6:42 AM ET EARLY IN THE first quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers appeared lethargic, disjointed. Coach Frank Vogel called time, down 23-10, and made some substitutions. One of them, 34-year-old Rajon Rondo, who shot 41.8% in the regular season, surveyed the floor, noted the Miami Heat‘s

9:55 AM ET Before the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first official training camp practice, Frank Vogel and his staff gathered the team in their film room for a PowerPoint presentation on what their defense would look like. Vogel wanted them to be the league’s most physical team — echoes of the “smashmouth basketball” vision that guided

2:22 AM ET LeBron James has never seen a more “dominant duo” than Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. But nearly two decades after Shaq and Kobe dominated the early 2000s with their three consecutive titles, the Los Angeles Lakers might have the closest thing to that legendary tandem. James and Anthony Davis dominated the Miami

2:17 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Despite being in a 0-2 hole after being dominated by the Lakers for most of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat are holding onto a belief that they can find a way to win. Sure, they played Friday’s game without one of the team’s

1:12 AM ET Long before Kobe Bryant grudgingly attended the Los Angeles Lakers’ free agent pitch meetings for Dwight Howard in 2013 and LaMarcus Aldridge in 2014, he identified a rare talent who could eventually want to inherit the mantle Bryant left with the franchise. Bryant was the elder statesman on the 2012 Olympic team

8:00 AM ET THE OTHER DAY in practice, Miami Heat forward Andre Iguodala caught the ball on the wing, looked toward the corner and fired a pass to Derrick Jones Jr. under the basket for an easy dunk. It was not what he was supposed to do. The ball was moving and finding energy with

6:55 AM ET The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers have combined to play in nine of the past 15 NBA Finals series — including seven consecutive from 2008 to 2014 — without ever facing each other. That is, until Game 1 on Wednesday, the first time the two teams met on the NBA’s biggest

10:58 PM ET On Thursday, Doc Rivers snatched an opportunity to sculpt a young tandem — Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons — whose stardom would tantalize any coach, but who have yet to make good on their talent. Rivers enters a Philadelphia 76ers organization with title aspirations that believes an upgrade on the bench can

5:46 PM ET After a rapid courtship and negotiation, Doc Rivers has reached agreement on a deal to become the next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Rivers’ deal with the Sixers comes only three days after departing the LA Clippers. It also returns him to the Atlantic Division where he’ll

6:50 AM ET THERE’S A PLAY in today’s NBA that can produce everything from a cut to the basket to a high-value 3-point shot. It’s a side out-of-bounds box set that features interchangeable positions and multiple options. And whenever the Golden State Warriors run it, they have to pantomime. “I didn’t want my guys yelling