NBA News

Fresh off an opening-round sweep of the Phoenix Suns, the Oklahoma City Thunder will continue their title defense tonight as their second-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers tips off at Paycom Center. OKC is the heavy favorite over the Luka Doncic-less Lakers, but they’ll also be down one of their own key players for Game 1 Tuesday, May 5 …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. Could LeBron James’s time with the Los Angeles Lakers end not with a bang, but with a whimper? This series against the Oklahoma City Thunder should certainly force that question. Advertisement My Lakers vs. Thunder predictions and NBA picks have no faith in L.A., …

Luka Doncic is still building towards a return, but it won’t come in time for Game 1. The Los Angeles Lakers will be without Doncic for the start of their second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported on “Inside the NBA.” Advertisement Charania reports the Lakers are evaluating Doncic on a …

Good morning, BBN! It is officially one of the greatest times of the sports calendar as the NBA and NHL Playoffs are in full swing. Now, while there are not a lot of former Kentucky Wildcats riddled across the NHL, there are plenty of them in the NBA. Advertisement On top of that, there are still several Cats fighting for …

Was it a one-game anomaly? Or the start of a turnaround? Based on Monday night, it could be the latter. Bridges was at his best in the opening-round, series-clinching rout of the Hawks, the kind of performance the Knicks would like to see more from the two-way wing, and he built on it in the opener of the Eastern Conference …

Jerry Krause doesn’t get enough credit for what he did with the Chicago Bulls. Not only did he not make the mistake that Houston and Portland made in not taking Michael Jordan (the Bulls took him at #3 in the 1984 draft), he quickly paired him with Scottie Pippen. For the first three championship teams, the Bulls put guys like …

After seven days off since beating the Trail Blazers in Game 5 of the first round, the San Antonio Spurs opened Round 2 against an injured but pesky Minnesota Timberwolves squad that gave them trouble in the regular season. It was an old school, defensive slug-fest most of the night, with neither team able to find much offense or build …

Before the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for superstar guard James Harden, there was reportedly another team that his representatives inquired about seeking a deal with: the Houston Rockets. According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Tim MacMahon, Harden’s team reached out to Houston to gauge their interest in acquiring the former MVP from the then-reeling Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers, who started …

Florida only added one player via the college basketball transfer portal ahead of the 2026-27 season, but came away as one of the biggest winners of the offseason due to retention. The Gators were able to keep leading scorer Thomas Haugh and two-year starting forward Alex Condon for next season, despite both players having heavy NBA interest. Starting guard Boogie …

NEW YORK (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers looked just as they did in their series against Boston. The beginning of it anyway, when they were run off the floor in Game 1. The 76ers made a huge comeback after that blowout to win the series and they will have to play from behind again in the Eastern Conference semifinals after …

The game never felt comfortable. Not for a second. Every possession was a fight. Every shot was earned. And by the time the final seconds ticked away Monday night, the difference between the San Antonio Spurs and the Minnesota Timberwolves came down to a single shot that wouldn’t fall. San Antonio opened its Western Conference semifinal series with a narrow 104-102 loss, a game …

Game 1 went about as good as the Knicks could’ve hoped. New York came out on their homecourt and really set the tone for this second round series, dominating the 76ers on both ends of the floor in a commanding 39-point victory. Advertisement Defensively, they shutdown Philly’s one-two punch of Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, limiting them to just a …

The good thing about a defensive battle is that it provides some incredibly compelling basketball, where every shot must be earned, and every make has been fought for. The bad thing about a defensive battle is that sometimes no one makes a shot for five minutes at a time, and you can feel the life force draining from you as …

Philadelphia 76ers (45-37, seventh in the Eastern Conference) vs. New York Knicks (53-29, third in the Eastern Conference) New York; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EDT LINE: Knicks -6.5; over/under is 215 EASTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Knicks lead series 1-0 Advertisement BOTTOM LINE: The New York Knicks host the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference second round with a 1-0 lead in …

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard/forward Jalen Williams have been ruled out of Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday night with left hamstring injuries. The teams notified the league on the injury reports they turned in on Monday. Advertisement Doncic was injured in Oklahoma City about a month …

Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. San Antonio Spurs (62-20, second in the Western Conference) San Antonio; Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT LINE: Spurs -9.5; over/under is 215.5 Advertisement WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Timberwolves lead series 1-0 BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Timberwolves visit the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference second round with a 1-0 lead in …

A record-breaking defensive performance from Victor Wembanyama was not enough to prevent the Minnesota Timberwolves taking a 1-0 lead against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA’s Conference semi-finals. Wembanyama made 12 blocks – a record for the NBA play-offs – but Minnesota, sixth seed in the Western Conference, upset second seed San Antonio by claiming a 104-102 win on …

NEW YORK — If there was ever any concern that the New York Knicks, coming off their annihilation of the Atlanta Hawks and freshly minted as the new favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2026 NBA Finals, had spent the last few days getting fat and happy, Mike Brown sought to assuage them. Yes, the Knicks won eight …

With two top-10 defenses facing off, points were always going to be hard to come by in a second-round series between Minnesota and San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama took that to another level — he had 12 blocks in Game 1, the most in a playoff game in 52 years.All of which is why Anthony Edwards’ return from a bone bruise …

NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 27 of his 35 points in the first half and the New York Knicks emphatically added to a historic postseason roll by overwhelming the Philadelphia 76ers 137-98 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Knicks became the first team in NBA history to win three straight postseason games …

Rotations are always cut a bit shorter as teams get deeper in the NBA playoffs, but depth players have to stay ready in case their number is called. For the Knicks, that was Ariel Hukporti in Game 1 on Monday night. Advertisement Hukporti saw the floor just three times in New York’s first round meeting with the Hawks, but they …

Victor Wembanyama made a historic defensive stand on Monday night to kick off the Western Conference semifinals. But remarkably, it wasn’t enough to lead the San Antonio Spurs to an early win. The Minnesota Timberwolves surged ahead in the final minutes on Monday night at the Frost Bank Center to grab a 104-102 win over the Spurs in Game 1 …

The Met Gala falls on the first Monday of May every year, which coincides with the NBA playoffs, much to Ben Stiller’s dismay. While the New York Knicks superfan rubbed elbows with Hollywood’s elite at the Met Gala in New York City, the Knicks tipped off Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. “If you …

Victor Wembanyama made a historic defensive stand on Monday night to kick off the Western Conference semifinals. Wembanyama set the NBA’s single-game postseason blocks record on Monday night in the Spurs’ Game 1 matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had 10 blocks through three quarters at the Frost Bank Center, which is something that only three others had done in …

It was the kind of game where Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey checked out with 6:03 left in the third quarter and Nick Nurse never put them back in. It was the kind of game where Jalen Brunson came out scorching and took over from the opening tip, scoring 27 first-half points on 10-of-14 shooting. It was the kind of …