NBA News

The Los Angeles Lakers have given the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder their best effort, and it is not nearly good enough, as LeBron James and Co. now trail their Western Conference semifinals series, 3-0, following Saturday’s 131-108 defeat. “The MVP [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] is 18 [points in Game 1], 22 [points in Game 2], 7-of-20 tonight, and they’ve kicked our …

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled out a 116-109 Game 3 win over the Detroit Pistons thanks to 35 points from Donovan Mitchell and clutch shotmaking from James Harden. The stats in the table below are taken from Cleaning the Glass. As a note, the percentiles are compared to other playoff games, which affects the sample size. Offensive Rating Effective …

Karl-Anthony Towns was in foul trouble early in Game 3. He played just 10 minutes in the first half and 25 minutes overall. But that was more than enough time for Towns to hurt the Sixers with his passing. The All-Star center finished with seven assists in Game 3 — six coming in the second half. It was the continuation …

It will be the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals, barring the most shocking comeback in the history of the NBA. With a 131-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Thunder took a 3-0 lead on Saturday and remain undefeated through seven postseason games. They are 27-1 since the start of February in games Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has …

The Lakers are one playoff defeat from their season being over and from the conversation turning to LeBron James’ future. They are in a hole no team has climbed out of in the history of the NBA, the Lakers’ 131-108 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 putting L.A. down 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. …

CLEVELAND (AP) — James Harden hit three clutch shots in the final two minutes, Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Detroit 116-109 on Saturday to cut the Pistons’ lead to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Harden bounced back from two mistake-marred performances to finish with 19 points and Jarrett Allen scored 18 for the …

CLEVELAND — James Harden was the last player on the practice floor after the Cleveland Cavaliers’ lone tune-up between Games 2 and 3 of their first-round series against the Toronto Raptors. Everyone else was hurrying out of the team’s facility to prepare for the flight to Canada later that afternoon. Harden picked up something while watching film from Game 2 …

Cade Cunningham was having a bad game, the Cleveland Cavaliers were shooting a billion percent from the floor, James Harden was hitting everything and yet, somehow, some way, the Detroit Pistons were up 101-100 with just under five minutes to play. It was their opportunity to go up 3-0 and take full control of the series. Everything seemed to fall …

Steve Kerr isn’t moving on from coaching just yet. The former Arizona great has agreed to a two-year extension as head coach of the Golden State Warriors, according to ESPN, ending speculation that he might retire from coaching. Advertisement Kerr will be entering his 13th season as head coach of the Warriors. He has led the franchise to four NBA …

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Steve Kerr is giving it another go with Golden State. Kerr has reached an agreement in principle on a two-year contract to continue coaching the Warriors, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations. Kerr still must sign his new deal, the person told The Associated Press on Saturday night, speaking on condition of anonymity …

The show rolls on in Golden State, at least for a couple more years. Steve Kerr has agreed to a two-year contract to continue as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, a story broken by Shams Charania, Ramona Shelburne and Anthony Slater of ESPN and confirmed by Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. This contract keeps Kerr …

CLEVELAND (AP) — James Harden endured plenty of criticism after the first two games of Cleveland’s Eastern Conference semifinal series against Detroit. With the Cavaliers in danger of falling into a 3-0 hole that no NBA team has ever overcome, the 17-year veteran showed he can still come up big in the clutch. Advertisement Harden hit three shots in the …

The Golden State Warriors appear ready to run it back — at least with one key piece of the puzzle reportedly locked in. Steve Kerr has agreed to return as head coach of the franchise after both sides agreed to a two-year contract extension, his agents told ESPN. Kerr will remain the highest-paid coach in the NBA on a yearly …

Steve Kerr isn’t leaving Golden State just yet. The longtime Warriors head coach agreed to a two-year contract to return to the team on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The 2026-27 season will mark his 13th season with the Warriors, and comes after speculation that Kerr may split with the team after they missed the playoffs this spring. Advertisement …

The Cleveland Cavaliers held on for their first win of the series, beating the Detroit Pistons 116-109. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. Donovan Mitchell 35 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists Advertisement Hello, Donovan. Mitchell found something in the Game 2 loss. He carried that over to start Game 4 with a bang. Mitchell looked …

We’ve arrived at the middle of the conference semifinal round, and the better squads out of the remaining eight teams have started to emerge. There were two Game 3s Saturday, May 9, the first between the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons and No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers. In the nightcap, the No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers took on the defending NBA …

CLEVELAND — James Harden hit three clutch shots in the final two minutes, Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Detroit 116-109 on Saturday to cut the Pistons’ lead to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Harden bounced back from two mistake-marred performances to finish with 19 points and Jarrett Allen scored 18 for the Cavaliers, …

The Cleveland Cavaliers won a thriller over the Detroit Pistons behind some heroic shot-making from James Harden. Let’s go over today’s winners and losers. WINNER – The First Quarter Hey, it turns out the Cavs can start a game ahead every once in a while. Not everything has to be an uphill battle. Advertisement The Cavs won the first quarter …

It all came down to James Harden on Saturday. That finally turned out to be a good thing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The most criticized player of the series wound up being the hero of Game 3, scoring seven points across three consecutive possessions to keep his team ahead in a 116-109 win over the Detroit Pistons. It was very …

CLEVELAND — Stars often decide playoff games. In Games 1 and 2, Cade Cunningham was the best player on the floor and carried his team to victory. In Game 3, it was Donovan Mitchell’s turn to show why he’s a perennial All-NBA player. Mitchell’s heroics to start and a nine-point fourth quarter from James Harden to close helped the Cleveland …

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a must-win Game 3 on Saturday, defeating the Detroit Pistons 116-109 on Saturday and cutting their second-round playoff series deficit to 2-1. In front of its home crowd, Cleveland showed the aggressiveness and shot-making that was lacking in losing the first two games of the series. Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 35 points, providing the …

It’s been quite the Spring for Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel. In early April, Fred Katz and Eric Nehm of The Athletic mentioned him in a story meant to highlight the top candidates to be first-time NBA head coaches this offseason. Earlier this week, Sam Amick, also of The Athletic, reported that Hetzel is a finalist for the lead job with …

Globe Former Celtic thinks Boston’s season would have gone differently with Jayson Tatum in, Jaylen Brown out Kendrick Perkins voices opinions on Celtics, from fellow big man Neemias Queta to the Jays to what needs to change Advertisement Celtics roster evaluation, Part 2: A close look at the main rotation players Jalen Brunson scores 33 points to help Knicks put …

It hasn’t been Oklahoma City’s superstar burying the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. That’s what’s made this series so vexing for the shorthanded Lakers. After the Thunder dominated the Lakers in minutes without reigning most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the court in Game 2, flexing their superior depth, athleticism and pace, Lakers coach JJ Redick said the team …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. The Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t be more relieved to be back home as they look to shift the momentum in their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where our NBA player prop projections have identified several strong value opportunities. Advertisement By breaking down the …