NBA

12:58 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Milwaukee Bucks are still breathing in the playoffs — barely. Already trailing 2-0 in an Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Brooklyn Nets, and finding themselves trailing by 3 with 83 seconds to go in Game 3 Thursday night at Fiserv Forum after a Kevin Durant 3-pointer, the Bucks

1:36 PM ET Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley has been ruled out of Thursday’s Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the LA Clippers due to a mild strain of his right hamstring. Conley, who also missed Game 1, suffered the injury during the first half of Utah’s series-ending win over the Memphis

2:03 AM ET Chris Paul plans. He planned when he forced a trade out of New Orleans a decade ago. He planned when he creatively leveraged a contract option to get himself to Houston. He planned when he helped change an arcane age rule in the collective bargaining agreement that enabled him the chance to

1:37 AM ET Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he felt his team “quit” in Wednesday night’s 123-98 loss to the host Phoenix Suns in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals. “I felt we quit tonight, which is something you never want to see,” Malone said. “So I guess for Game 3, I’m just

3:12 AM ET Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone felt a bad kind of déjà vu as he watched his team fade during the second half of Monday night’s 122-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series. After seeing his team get blown out by the Portland Trail Blazers

3:25 AM ET Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell didn’t feel well at halftime of Tuesday’s Game 1 against the visiting LA Clippers. He was a bit under the weather, feeling nauseated and a little light-headed. And he really felt sick about his performance in the first half. “Yeah, I was definitely feeling it a little

9:53 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Tuesday that forward Michael Porter Jr. should be “good to go” for Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night and that guard Will Barton could return to the court for the first time in almost two

1:52 PM ET Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley will not play in the Tuesday’s Western Conference semifinals opener against the LA Clippers due to a mild strain of his right hamstring. Conley suffered the injury during the first half of the Jazz’s series-ending Game 5 win over the Memphis Grizzlies last Wednesday. He was

2:11 AM ET There are many things Chris Paul is good at, but one of his most crucial skills is sensing a moment. It’s never about how he starts; it’s how he finishes. And in Game 1 of Phoenix’s Western Conference semifinal series against the Denver Nuggets, Paul began slowly, hitting just two of his

12:55 AM ET When Steve Nash was hired to coach the Brooklyn Nets super-team entry last year, it was both shocking and controversial. Judgement on the hire is still a ways off, but Nash’s first postseason on the sideline has been impressive. Nash has run circles early around two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike

7:00 AM ET After no first-round series in the Eastern Conference went more than five games, here we are in the second round with two star-studded matchups. Can two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks get past the Brooklyn Nets‘ Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden? How much will the

9:08 PM ET THIS ISN’T WHAT Kristaps Porzingis expected when he arrived in Dallas. As the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade, he anticipated forming one of the NBA’s most potent duos with Luka Doncic, a fellow rising star. Porzingis anticipated it’d be a 1A-1B sort of situation. Doncic has certainly held up his end of

10:20 PM ET After a Game 7 win, the head coach or players all talk about a look the team has, a certain look that lets everyone know they’ll be ready for the moment. LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said his team looked like it was locked in as it went through a walkthrough before

12:10 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Portland Trail Blazers head-coaching vacancy, he told ESPN on Sunday morning. “Portland’s a first-class organization and will have great candidates for its head coaching job, but I’ve decided not to be one of them,” Kidd told ESPN.

7:08 AM ET After a thrilling play-in tournament and opening-round action that saw the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers get bounced by the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks sweep the reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, we’ve reached the conference semifinals. What will the Suns do for an encore against the Denver Nuggets? Can

8:17 PM ET NEW YORK — James Harden played just 43 seconds of Game 1 between the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday before injuring his right hamstring. He was ruled out for the rest of the game and left Barclays Center to have imaging on the hamstring, a team spokesperson said. Harden missed

7:00 AM ET After no first-round series in the Eastern Conference went more than five games, here we are in the second round with two star-studded matchups. Can the two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks get past the Brooklyn Nets‘ Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden? How much will

7:00 AM ET After a thrilling play-in tournament and opening-round action that saw the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers get bounced by the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks sweep the reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, we’ve reached the conference semifinals. What will the Suns do for an encore against the Denver Nuggets? Can