NBA

8:30 AM ET NBA Insiders The NBA first-round playoff series between the Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves has the makings of an all-time classic. We’ve seen young superstars Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards take their games to new heights — literally, in Morant’s case — Karl-Anthony Towns letting it fly from deep and some massive

12:41 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time in the Luka Doncic era, the Dallas Mavericks have advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs. The Mavericks rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit for a 98-96 Game 6 closeout victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday, Dallas’ first postseason series win

10:12 PM ET NEW ORLEANS — With the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in some danger with one star hurt and an ascendant Pelicans team giving them problems, future Hall of Famer Chris Paul delivered a signature series performance, including the best shooting game of his career to finish the close out. Riding his favorite play, Paul

8:00 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN IT IS JUST after midnight when 2-year-old Nazanin Alvarado takes the podium with her dad, New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, following Sunday’s Game 4 win over the Phoenix Suns. Donning a white T-shirt that reads “My heart is on that court” and a pair of high pigtails, she begins

12:45 AM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry dribbled through nearly the entire Denver Nuggets team before putting up the perfect tear-drop layup to put the Warriors up with 30 seconds left in the game Wednesday night. As he came down the court, he looked at the audience and clasped his hands under

10:11 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN MILWAUKEE — The Bucks lost forward Khris Middleton to a sprained MCL and responded with three consecutive victories over the Chicago Bulls, advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 116-100 win in Game 5 on Wednesday. The Bucks will play the Celtics in the second round;

1:51 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers practiced here Wednesday morning ahead of a return to Toronto for Game 6 of their Eastern Conference first round playoff series against the Raptors Thursday night, halfway to what would be an unprecedented collapse after taking a 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven series. 76ers

1:37 AM ET MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After scuffling through a frustrating first three quarters, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant exploded with a vengeance Tuesday night in one of the most compelling closing performances in recent postseason history. His exploits fueled a fourth-quarter rally that lifted the Grizzlies to a 111-109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves

10:20 PM ET MIAMI — The Heat were missing two of their starters yet hardly missed a beat in Tuesday’s 97-94 Game 5 win over the Atlanta Hawks to advance to the second round. With Kyle Lowry sidelined since late in the third quarter of Game 3 with a left hamstring strain and Jimmy Butler

8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The first round of the playoffs is barely a week old and has already packed in plenty of intrigue. The Boston Celtics became the first team to advance to the second round when they completed a sweep of the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. If the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks win

2:10 AM ET Mike D’Antoni was watching the Brooklyn Nets‘ season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics Monday night from his living room in Austin, Texas, a world away from the drama his protégé, Nets coach Steve Nash, had just lived through. A year ago, D’Antoni had been on the Nets bench alongside Nash as the

9:53 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown had 22 and the Boston Celtics completed a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs with a 116-112 victory Monday night. Marcus Smart added 20 points and 11 assists

8:30 AM ET Ben Dowsett With 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter and his Atlanta Hawks on the brink of elimination, Onyeka Okongwu makes a game-saving defensive play against the Cleveland Cavaliers. After helping his team erase a 10-point halftime deficit while filling in for injured starter Clint Capela, Okongwu is assigned to Cavs

2:16 AM ET NEW ORLEANS — Normally low-key by design, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams had cutting remarks about the officiating after the New Orleans Pelicans took Game 4 on Sunday to even the first-round series at 2-2. The Pelicans shot 42 free throws to the Suns’ 15 and it was a 17-2 disparity in

5:06 PM ET Within hours of his planned season debut, Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons reported a return of back soreness on Sunday and has been ruled out for Monday’s Game 4 against the Boston Celtics, sources told ESPN. After approximately 10 days of pain-free ramp up following recovery from a herniated disc, Simmons’ admission

11:39 PM ET SALT LAKE CITY — With their season likely on the line, the Utah Jazz’s franchise cornerstones — who have one of the NBA’s most heavily scrutinized partnerships — connected. The result: A go-ahead alley-oop from Donovan Mitchell to Rudy Gobert that allowed the Jazz to even the series in Saturday’s Game 4.

1:14 AM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets star forward Kevin Durant admitted Saturday night that he has been “thinking too much” throughout the first-round series against the Boston Celtics and that it has been a factor in his poor play. After being held to 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting in a 109-103 loss the

1:45 PM ET Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes has been named the 2021-2022 NBA Rookie of the Year, the league announced Saturday. Barnes received 378 points (48 first-place votes). Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley finished in second place with 363 points (43 first-place votes). The 15-point difference between the first- and second-place finishers is the