NBA News

BOSTON — Joel Embiid scored 33 points, Tyrese Maxey had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers avoided elimination, beating the Boston Celtics 113-97 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night. Paul George had 16 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Sixers, who lost Games 3 and 4 at home to fall behind …

The season is not over for the Philadelphia 76ers. Joel Embiid stepped up for a dominant second half to lead the 76ers to a 113-97 win in Game 5 Tuesday night to extend the series and Philadelphia’s season. The series will extend to Game 6 in Philadelphia Thursday night with Boston holding a 3-2 lead. Advertisement The Celtics led by …

The NBA teams with the worst records would no longer have the best chances of getting the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft as part of a potential, dramatic draft lottery reform, longtime NBA writer Mark Stein and others have reported. In an apparent effort to discourage tanking, the teams with the fourth-worst through 10th-worst records each would have …

NEW YORK — This is, for both the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks, the most pivotal game of the season. Granted, every postseason game is paramount, but Game 5s in the NBA playoffs when both teams enter tied at two games apiece are particularly crucial. Historically, the winner of Game 5s when tied at 2-2 go on to win …

Kevin Durant won’t be with the Houston Rockets for Game 5. The Rockets ruled Durant out for Wednesday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers due to his left ankle injury, which has kept him out for nearly all of the playoffs. Advertisement Durant missed Game 1 of the series with the Lakers due to a knee injury, though he returned …

Former Lakers assistant coach Damon Jones became the first among 34 defendants to plead guilty Tuesday in an expansive gambling indictment that also ensnared Hall of Fame player Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat star Terry Rozier and organized crime figures. Jones was a Lakers coach in 2022 and 2023, long after he retired from an 11-year NBA playing career with 11 …

March Madness is about to get bigger. The men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments are on the cusp of expanding to 76 teams, ESPN reported, in the final stages of a move that has long been rumored. It is set to take place for the 2027 tournament. Advertisement The outlet said the expansion is on track to be formalized in …

Never say that Anthony Davis doesn’t have layers. The Washington Wizards star — who still has yet to play a game for the Wizards — appeared on the “Glass Half Full” podcast with Craig Melvin of “Today” in an episode released Tuesday and was asked if he has a hobby “that would surprise most people.” Advertisement His answer: “I love …

Adam Silver and the NBA’s quixotic quest to end tanking reached a new level of complexity on Tuesday when the league unveiled a new plan to the 30 league GMs on a conference call. This new “3-2-1” system — named after how many ping pong balls each team would get, depending upon their finish — would expand the lottery to …

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers were underdogs going into their first-round playoff series. Both teams will be looking to close things out on Wednesday night in their respective Game 5s. Orlando looks to become the seventh No. 8 seed to advance when it plays at top-seeded Detroit. Advertisement The fourth-seeded Lakers, who are without …

This technically isn’t a must-win game, but it comes about as close to being one as possible for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland was in firm control of their opening-round series through the first two games. They were getting whatever they wanted offensively with their star backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden leading the charge. This added up to a …

The NBA moved closer to a slightly expanded 16-team lottery Tuesday, one that will flatten odds of winning the No. 1 pick and try to deter tanking by drastically lowering the chances of winning for the teams that finish with the three worst records. The “3-2-1 Lottery” proposal, which was reviewed by the league’s general managers, will be further discussed …

Last offseason, Brad Stevens had to make cuts — the team that had won the title just more than a year before was about to get far too expensive. It was not pain free. Gone were three key pieces of the 2024 championship puzzle: Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. Combine that with Jayson Tatum being expected to miss …

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Austin Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers will wait until game time Wednesday night to determine whether he is ready to return from nearly four weeks on the sidelines with a strained oblique muscle. Reaves expressed cautious optimism Tuesday when he spoke to reporters for the first time since getting hurt April 2 at Oklahoma …

The NBA playoffs are not known for upsets. We’re used to seeing the mega superstars competing in the latest rounds. Major upsets, storybook performances from underappreciated players seem so rare that one such experience in a postseason makes for some of the most unforgettable moments in recent memory. Whether it was Tyrese Haliburton leading the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers …

Less than four weeks after suffering a Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain, Austin Reaves is closing in on a return with the Lakers in position to clinch a spot in the Western Conference semifinals. Reaves will officially be a game-time decision before Wednesday’s potentially series-clinching Game 5 against the Houston Rockets at 7 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena. He was …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. The Detroit Pistons’ promising season has come to a screeching halt at the hands of the Orlando Magic defense. Advertisement These Magic vs. Pistons predictions and SGP picks put more faith into Orlando’s defense in Game 5 on Wednesday, April 29. Our best …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. The Los Angeles Lakers defied the odds to beat the Houston Rockets three times in this opening round series. After escaping the sweep, can Houston do the same and rally back from down 0-3? Advertisement Game 5 of this Round 1 Western Conference …

Brad Stevens built a Boston roster that earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference last season, then had to part ways with four members of that roster to escape what could have been a massive luxury tax bill. The result? Boston was No. 2 in the East again — and remains a legitimate championship hopeful in a season …

We have a jam-packed episode of The Dunker Spot coming your way! First, Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones continue dissecting first-round playoff action! They share their biggest takeaways from this weekend’s action, then talk through which of the trailing teams (Pistons, Nuggets, Rockets, Sixers, Blazers) may be cooked. Advertisement From there, the guys shift to the WNBA to talk through …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs are just one win away from their first playoff win in almost 10 years. Advertisement Our NBA player prop projections expect San Antonio’s role players to play a big part in making that happen. For more …

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner has a right calf strain, and his status for Game 5 against the Detroit Pistons is in doubt, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. Wagner sustained the injury late in Monday’s Game 4 win over Detroit that gave Orlando a 3-1 series lead. His availability for Game 5 will depend on his response to treatment, according to …

Former NBA player and coach Damon Jones plead guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the first person to change their plea to guilty in the sweeping federal indictments unsealed last year that led to more than 30 arrests. That came a day after prosecutors said another player named in those indictments, former Miami player Terry Rozier, faces additional …

Because of the internet and being prisoners of the moment, last night’s Detroit Pistons-Orlando Magic playoff game had fans losing their minds, pretending they had never seen anyone get dunked on. While Jamal Cain’s posterization of Jalen Duren earned a spot in this list’s best playoff dunks, more importantly, it put the Pistons, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, …

ESPN’s streaming platform offers thousands of exclusive live events, original studio shows and acclaimed series that air across ESPN’s suite of seven linear channels, as well as exclusive content on ESPN+, ABC on ESPN, SEC+, ACCNX and more. Every game of the NBA Eastern Conference finals as well as the 2026 championship finals will stream on ESPN Unlimited. The new …