NBA News

On Tuesday, it was announced by Shams Charania of ESPN that Billy Donovan would be stepping down as head coach of the Chicago Bulls after six seasons. The decision was surprising, as Bulls management reportedly wanted Donovan to return. Before his time in Chicago, Donovan became the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder after spending 19 years leading the …

The Toronto Maple Leafs are catching strays from the Toronto Raptors’ media. On Monday night, in Game 2 of the Raptors’ first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Scottie Barnes was taken down by Jaylon Tyson. Toronto’s RJ Barrett stepped in and gave Tyson a shove, which then created a commotion on the court. Advertisement Several players from both teams stepped in …

As if the rivalry between Denver and Minnesota needed anyone to throw gasoline on the fire, Jaden McDaniels stepped up and did just that after a come-from-behind win by his Timberwolves Monday night evened the series. He took aim at the Nuggets stars, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, “Go after Jokic, Jamal, all the bad defenders,” McDaniels said, via the …

The league officially decided several crucial tiebreakers between teams on Monday, April 20 before the NBA draft lottery is held on May 10 in Chicago. While the process is often referred to as a coin flip between teams that finished with the exact same record to determine the draft order, it is actually random number of drawings conducted by the …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. The NBA playoffs got interesting on Monday night. Can that continue on Tuesday, April 21? With only one game featuring a spread in single digits, that may seem unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Advertisement Rather than worry about those lofty spreads, let’s find …

Draymond Green has never had a filter, and he said in his exit interview what many people around the Warriors seemed to think about the future of coach Steve Kerr in the wake of the Warriors’ elimination by the Suns in the play-in. “I hope he’s our coach next year. You want my opinion? I think not,” Green said. “Just …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. After the Los Angeles Lakers shot the lights out in Game 1, the Houston Rockets will look to get revenge at Crypto.com Arena tonight. Advertisement We break down Kalshi’s win probability markets and deliver some Rockets vs. Lakers predictions to help guide your NBA picks for …

With 5.6 seconds remaining in Game 2 of a first-round playoff series between the No. 3 seeded New York Knicks and the No. 6 seeded Atlanta Hawks on Monday night, CJ McCollum missed a pair of free-throw attempts. After McCollum’s second miss, and with a one-point deficit, Knicks wing Josh Hart reeled in a defensive rebound and immediately began pushing …

The Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic are getting set to face-off in Game 2 of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Given Orlando’s status as an eighth seed, their inconsistent regular season, and Detroit’s dominant campaign, most people (myself included) thought this would be a cakewalk for the Pistons. However, the Magic shocked us all in a Game …

When the Chicago Bulls fired their top front office executives Arturas Karnisova and Marc Eversley recently, ownership said whoever was going to be hired had to fit and work with coach Billy Donovan, who wasn’t going anywhere. That’s not how Donovan saw it — if the Bulls were cleaning house, then the new front office should have a clean slate. …

Billy Donovan is out as head coach of the Chicago Bulls after six seasons, the team announced Tuesday, April 21. Donovan had an option year on his contract to coach the Bulls next season, but decided to leave the position. Chicago is still in the process of looking for a person to head up its basketball operations. Advertisement “Through honest …

Bradford Bulls centre Esan Marsters will miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, boss Kurt Haggerty has said. The 29-year-old sustained the injury during the Bulls’ heavy defeat by Wakefield Trinity at the weekend. Advertisement Marsters has made 10 appearances for the Bulls this season since joining from Salford for 2026. “Esan is pretty down. We’ve got …

Last week, we went team-by-team through every squad that didn’t sniff the postseason. Now, we move up the ladder to the teams that failed to make the playoffs following the play-in tournament games. The Heat, Hornets, Clippers and Warriors. Here’s how they finished and what’s ahead. A trend of mediocrity landed the Heat in a play-in game for the fourth …

Game 1 has come and Game 1 has gone. To no one’s surprise, the defending champion, 64-win Oklahoma City Thunder crushed a Phoenix Suns team that limped to the finish line. There isn’t much that went right for Phoenix. The game was already firmly in the hands of OKC by the halfway point of the first quarter. Shortly after that, …

BOSTON — As recently as the start of February, Jayson Tatum wasn’t sure he was going to return this season. He was focused on attacking his rehab from a torn right Achilles tendon in May, hanging around the team, just trying to feel a part of the Boston Celtics, even if he couldn’t take the floor until the NBA’s 2026-27 campaign. …

After the San Antonio Spurs handled the Portland Trail Blazers in the first playoff game of the Victor Wembanyama era, the two teams return for Game 2 tonight at 8 p.m ET. If you didn’t watch Game 1 or are just trying to refresh your mind ahead of some Game 2 wagering, you are in the perfect place! Advertisement Game …

CLEVELAND, OHIO – APRIL 20: RJ Barrett #9 of the Toronto Raptors guards James Harden #1 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the fourth quarter of Game Two of the Eastern Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena on April 20, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the Raptors 115-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, …

The Houston Rockets dropped Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, in large part due to the fact that their superstar forward Kevin Durant missed the game with a knee injury he suffered in practice earlier that week. The Rockets failed to secure the win despite Los Angeles missing both Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, …

The Los Angeles Lakers started the 2026 NBA Playoffs on a strong note with a 107-98 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 1 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, thanks in large part to a 19-point, 13-assist, eight-assist effort from LeBron James and a 27-point spark from Luke Kennard. It was exactly the kind of game that the Lakers needed …

NEW YORK — So, who’s to blame for the fourth-quarter collapse of New York Knicks? The Atlanta Hawks rallied from a 12-point deficit to start the period and stunned New York, 107-106, evening the first-round playoff series at one game apiece Monday, April 20. It tied for the worst blown fourth-quarter lead in Knicks playoff history. The other game was …

The injuries to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves mean the asks of the Lakers’ role players have increased, both in terms of responsibilities and expected production. For a player like Deandre Ayton, who has been under a microscope for most of the season, it puts even more pressure on him, which can lead to a wide variance of outcomes. But …

The Celtics’ Game 1 blowout was surgical. Limiting their turnovers to eight and Philly to 4-of-23 from behind the arc certainly helped, but offensively, Boston stuck to their core offensive principles en route to a 123-91 win over the 76ers. There are 2,350 square feet from midline to baseline and head coach Joe Mazzulla maximizes every inch of it. On …

CLEVELAND — Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković was perplexed about Brandon Ingram’s lack of free throws after his team dropped Game 2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-105. In the process of that complaint, he admitted something that maybe no other coach has about this era of Cavs basketball. “Cleveland is playing with a lot of physicality,” Rajaković said. “They’re …

While today’s sports fans may not be able to imagine an American sports scene without basketball, more than 115 years passed between the signing of the “Declaration of Independence” and the first game of hoops in Springfield, Massachusetts. James Naismith’s invention began its spread across the nation in 1891. One year later, colleges began playing. The NBA was founded in …

This video raises a question we’ve seen quite often in recent years: Could Larry Bird still dominate today? Or would be be a role player? The answer is yes, he could still run the league, and for a few reasons. Advertisement First, Bird was, as Joe Dumar once said, a basketball savant. Do you think Charles Barkley could play today? …