NBA

2:15 AM ET The Western Conference quarterfinals between the #2 LA Clippers and #7 Dallas Mavericks is headed to a Game 4 on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC), with the Clippers leading the Mavericks 2-1 following Friday night’s 130-122 Game 3 win by the Clippers. This matchup has pitted the top two offenses in the

5:41 PM ET Golden State Warriors president Rick Welts issued a public apology Friday to Toronto Raptors counterpart Masai Ujiri for an altercation with a deputy sheriff that happened as Ujiri was trying to walk onto the court in Oakland after the deciding game of the 2019 Finals. “To my personal and professional friend Masai

10:49 AM ET After returning to campus after the birth of his son, Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley Jr. is clearing quarantine on Friday morning and will be in the lineup for Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round series against the Denver Nuggets today, sources tell ESPN. Conley is expected to return as

11:26 PM ET Portland Trail Blazers star guard Damian Lillard left Thursday’s 111-88 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the third quarter because of a dislocated left index finger. X-rays on Lillard’s finger were negative, the team announced. Lillard, who scored 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes, did not return to the

8:58 PM ET ESPN News Services The Minnesota Timberwolves won the NBA draft lottery Thursday night. The Timberwolves had a 14% chance at the No. 1 overall pick and a 40.1% chance to land in the top three. The Golden State Warriors hold the No. 2 pick, the Charlotte Hornets got the No. 3 pick

1:48 AM ET Luka Doncic described it as “an amazing feeling” to get his first NBA playoff win after the Dallas Mavericks‘ 127-114 victory over the LA Clippers in Wednesday’s Game 2, and it’s a sensation he expects to experience again soon. “We’ve just got three left,” Doncic said, referring to how many more wins

12:41 AM ET With about eight minutes to go in the third quarter Wednesday night, Philadelphia 76ers guard Josh Richardson tried to throw an entry pass to teammate Joel Embiid, who had established post position in the middle of the lane. The pass was awful. Richardson jumped to throw it and it was loopy and

7:45 PM ET The LA Clippers ruled Patrick Beverley out for Game 2 due to a lingering left calf strain. Coach Doc Rivers said the team’s starting point guard was not moving well in the morning shootaround. He was added to the afternoon injury report as questionable before the team downgraded him to out. Beverley

11:19 PM ET A countersuit filed by Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri includes new video footage that shows the San Francisco Bay Area police officer with whom he had an altercation in the moments after the Raptors won Game 7 of the 2019 NBA Finals was the aggressor. The suit was filed

11:06 PM ET NBA Insiders Should we be concerned about the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers after Game 1? The first round of the NBA playoffs has officially kicked off with all 16 teams in contention having a game under their belts in the Florida bubble. As a result, injuries, trends and difficult

1:30 PM ET Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward will miss around four weeks due to a Grade III sprain of his right ankle suffered in Monday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Hayward, who scored 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in 34 minutes, was trying to box out

6:30 AM ET NBA Insiders In early July, a couple of days before the Los Angeles Lakers boarded a plane for Orlando, Florida, hoping their trip would extend to the NBA Finals in October, Jared Dudley made a prescient remark. “[LeBron James] is ready for this moment, you can tell,” Dudley said. “You can see

2:00 AM ET NBA Insiders Playoff basketball is the NBA’s reason for being. It’s where players build their legends, various stakeholders cash in on revenue potential and fans record memories. It’s why the NBA went to extremes to deliver the postseason, investing more than $150 million in a bubble. The road there wasn’t without its

6:09 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 57 points for the Utah Jazz, but it was his 8-second violation with 1:46 remaining in the fourth quarter that helped the Denver Nuggets escape from Game 1 of the first-round playoff series with a 135-125 overtime victory Monday. “It’s

6:48 AM ET SECONDS BEFORE ENTERING the Serbian gym, Mike D’Antoni casually mentioned to Steve Kerr that this stop on their European scouting trip was essentially pointless. It was the spring of 2004, just after Kerr joined the Phoenix Suns as a front-office consultant. D’Antoni was entering his first full season as head coach and

Aug 14, 2020 After 66 scrimmages, 88 seeding games, one Play-In — and plenty of fishing — the matchups for the 2020 NBA playoffs are finally set. And in an unprecedented atmosphere that could negate the benefits of home-court advantage, we could be in for another wild two months inside Disney’s ESPN Wide World of

12:35 PM ET Jimmy Butler is apparently a budding barista. And by the looks of it, the Miami Heat star might have a successful business on his hands inside the NBA bubble. According to the menu outside his Walt Disney World hotel room, Butler’s offerings include a latte, a cappuccino, a macchiato and more. A

7:15 AM ET The good news for the Los Angeles Lakers is they are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the first time they’ve earned pole position in a decade and an honorable accomplishment after a traumatic season. The bad news is they appear to have won the least valuable No. 1