NBA News

LAS VEGAS — The NBA Cup will be back next season. It is a key reason Amazon Prime Video paid so much money for broadcast rights fees, as it became home to the league’s early-season tournament — and ratings were up 90% this year, according to the league. However, the NBA Cup championship game may not return to Las Vegas …

LAS VEGAS — The magic of the NBA Cup, for all the internal and external pushes to make this in-season tournament a success, lies in the significance of the insignificant. For instance, recent history indicates there isn’t a strong correlation between a deep tournament run and playoff success. The Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, winners of the 2023 and …

We can dispense with the bells and whistles now: the inflated point differentials and arcane tiebreakers, the only-on-special-occasions scheduling and intermittently unsafe or unavailable alternate playing surfaces, etc. What’s left at the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup is all that’s ever left when the game matters most: two teams, with only one game and one another standing between them and a …

Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka lost a game Monday, and it’s going to cost him a fair amount of money Tuesday. Udoka will almost surely be fined by the NBA after he went off on the officials following an overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets, calling the contest the “most poorly officiated game I’ve seen in a long time.” That …

The Emirates NBA Cup in-season basketball tournament has been an NBA staple for two seasons now, and the previous two winners, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks, have been shut out. That means we’ll see a first-time winner in this week’s championship final between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. Victor Wembanyama returned to the …

Cooper Flagg broke a decades-old LeBron James record Monday night, just days before his 19th birthday. It still wasn’t enough to lead the Dallas Mavericks past the Utah Jazz. Flagg dropped a career-high 42 points in a 140-133 overtime loss to the Jazz on Monday at the Delta Center. That broke James’ record for the most points scored in a …

It’s the unofficial start of NBA trade season. As of today — Monday, Dec. 15 — 79 players who signed or extended their contracts last summer became eligible to be traded. That means the options have greatly expanded for front offices trying to match salaries and develop trade packages that work for both sides. Advertisement Who are the five players …

LAS VEGAS — On the day that 79 players who signed contracts last summer become eligible to be traded, that and the NBA Cup will be the focus of this week’s NBA Power Rankings. That loss in the Cup does not change who is on top of this list. 1. Oklahoma City Thunder (24-2, last week No. 1)A veteran NBA …

Subscribe to The Kevin O’Connor Show Kevin O’Connor is joined by Blake Griffin to break down the impact of Wemby in the Spurs’ victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals. Did the Spurs find the formula for stopping OKC? Is Victor Wembanyama on track to become the greatest of all time? Advertisement Next, Blake Griffin shares …

The Denver Nuggets (18-6) are back in the Mile High City after a four-game road stand that ended in four wins. Denver hosts Houston (16-6) as the Rockets prepare for six-straight road games. Denver is on a four-game winning streak as they enter this contest with victories over Indiana, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Sacramento — four teams combined for a 35-70 …

Welcome back to The Playlist — your weekly scan of the fantasy basketball landscape, where we break down waiver adds for 9-cat and standard points leagues to help you stay competitive. Week 9 offers some time off for every team except for the Spurs and Knicks, who will play in the Emirates NBA Cup championship on Tuesday. Speaking of Tuesday, …

Welcome to The High Score Playlist: my weekly column that lets you know who to add off the waiver wire and get in your lineup for the upcoming week in fantasy basketball. You can also read my 9-cat and standard points leagues pickups story for advice in those formats. So press play and shuffle through the latest fantasy basketball info. …

On the court, a calf strain has cooled off Giannis Antetokounmpo and kept him in street clothes. Off the court, Dec. 15 is the day that 79 players who signed or extended their contracts last summer become eligible to be traded — it’s the unofficial opening day of NBA trade season. That, however, didn’t move things closer to an Antetokounmpo …

With limited NBA action due to the NBA knockout rounds, there are some repeat names in this week’s column. Not every name on this list has carried over from last week, however, and we’ve got some new options to consider. As we head into the new week, Dallas’ frontcourt depth is even more shallow, opening up a major opportunity for …

Warriors’ abysmal defense sabotages another heroic Steph Curry performance originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area Stephen Curry strolled into Moda Center in Portland on Sunday and fried the Trail Blazers for 48 points, 21 in the fourth quarter – and the Warriors lost the lead and the game. If this feels like déjà vu, please know that it is. …

LeBron James scored 26 points and clashed with Dillon Brooks as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns 116-114 on Sunday. The Lakers were 20 points ahead in the fourth quarter when the Suns fought back to take a one-point lead with 12 seconds remaining after a three-pointer by Brooks. Advertisement In a frantic end to the game in …

What we learned as Warriors waste another Steph Curry flurry in loss to Blazers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area Steph Curry scored 48 points and made 12 3-pointers against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night at the Moda Center, yet the Warriors found themselves on the wrong side of an incredibly disappointing 136-131 loss. Advertisement The Warriors …

Somebody had to win this game. It turned out to be the Los Angeles Lakers in one of the most chaotic finishes of this or any other NBA season. The Lakers held a 20-point lead over the Phoenix Suns Sunday night with less than eight minutes remaining in the game. The Suns then rallied to take their own lead with …

Subscribe to The Kevin O’Connor Show Kevin O’Connor is joined by Amin Elhassan to recap the San Antonio Spurs ending the Oklahoma City Thunder’s winning streak in their electric NBA Cup semifinal victory. They break down Victor Wembanyama’s immediate defensive impact and the Spurs’ formula for success against OKC. Should the Spurs be aggressive with trades or stick with their …

Kristaps Porzingis, who missed much of last season in Boston due to what was eventually diagnosed as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), is now going to miss the next two weeks due to an illness, at which point he will be re-evaluated, the team announced Sunday. Porzingis has missed six of the last seven games for Atlanta. The team has …

December 15th is the unofficial start of NBA trade season, as free agents that were signed this offseason become eligible to be dealt. The rumor mill is already hard at work, with the Knicks a headliner in multiple rumors. In recent days, Kris Pursiainen of ClutchPoints reported New York is interested in acquiring Donte DiVincenzo or Jose Alvarado, and ESPN1320’s James …

Victor Wembanyama made his return from injury for the San Antonio Spurs and helped them reach the NBA Cup final with a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The French sensation, who missed 12 games with a left calf issue, scored 22 points as the Spurs dramatically beat the NBA champions 111-109 in Las Vegas. Advertisement Wembanyama also registered nine …

LAS VEGAS — By the time a sweat-drenched Victor Wembanyama took his seat on the Spurs bench, having played the first three and a half minutes of action in a month, a meeting with the champions that previously seemed out of reach suddenly wasn’t. If the first quarter of Saturday night’s semifinal was a reminder of the reign of terror …

The Knicks beat the Orlando Magic, 132-120, on Saturday night in Las Vegas to move on to the NBA Cup Finals for the first time. Here are the takeaways… — Things got off to a fast start in this one as both teams shot over 60 percent from the field in the first quarter which featured nine lead changes. Both …

As paramilitary fighters from the brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the largest city in western Sudan – carrying out mass executions, rapes and ethnic cleansing with weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates – the NBA’s annual in-season tournament, the Emirates NBA Cup, tipped off on Halloween night, proudly sponsored by the very same Gulf state. The tournament is …