NBA

11:45 PM ET NBA Insiders Entering the final week of seeding games in the NBA restart, teams have only a few more opportunities to improve their place in the standings. There are still four teams pushing for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs, and it’s now guaranteed that there will be a play-in

11:00 AM ET When the New Orleans Pelicans were struggling defensively early in the season, a small change in December helped get them back on track. The Pelicans decided to drop their bigs on pick-and-rolls more, and the team immediately saw an improvement on the court. From Dec. 17 to Jan. 21, the Pelicans were

7:23 AM ET NBA Insiders Zion Williamson‘s rookie season might have only five days left in it. Even though they were 3.5 games back of the 8-seed in the West when the NBA season resumed last month, the New Orleans Pelicans were a popular choice to reach the postseason and set up a tantalizing first-round

12:06 AM ET During the final moments of the first five-minute quarter of the Milwaukee Bucks’ first five-on-five scrimmage since the NBA’s shutdown in March, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s team found itself down a bucket. When a long miss by the opposing team caromed off the rim and floated toward the baseline, Antetokounmpo launched himself with both

7:21 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The first double-overtime game inside the NBA’s bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort, a thrilling 134-132 victory for the Denver Nuggets over the Utah Jazz, was overshadowed by a pair of clock operation malfunctions at the end of the first overtime period. The first

12:00 PM ET After a career game on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers reserve wing Gary Trent Jr. sat on a stool a day later in front of a widescreen TV doing his media Zoom, talking about his development, his improvement, his progression, his confidence. It was an extended media session for

12:52 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Boston Celtics might have played their best game of the 2019-20 season Friday, beating the Toronto Raptors 122-100 in a result that was even more lopsided than the final score would indicate. But afterward, Celtics coach Brad Stevens wasn’t about to take any victory

8:52 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — With his team off to an 0-4 start in the NBA bubble and his daughter, Kaari Jaidyn, celebrating her first birthday hundreds of miles away, Memphis Grizzlies rookie standout Ja Morant called his parents with an admission Friday morning. “I wasn’t in a good mood at all,”

7:10 AM ET Here are 10 things I like and don’t like from the NBA restart: 1. The champs’ defense: the most exciting nerd thing in the NBA Nick Nurse’s funky zones get the attention, but Toronto’s base defense is one of the best night-to-night shows in the NBA. The Raptors in full flight are

12:12 AM ET NBA Insiders The first eight days of NBA seeding games have given us a lot of highlights — and not from the stars alone. We asked our writers to identify the up-and-coming players who have caught their eye over the first week-plus. Some of these players have been mainstays already this season,

6:35 AM ET The NBA bubble is in full swing. The race for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference looks loaded, and Toronto Raptors are reminding people not to sleep on the defending champs. Now that we are one week into this grand experiment in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, let’s take a look

7:05 AM ET IN THE DAYS leading up to the NBA’s Florida reboot, New Orleans Pelicans guard JJ Redick contemplated what provisions to bring for a stay in the Orlando bubble that would last at least five weeks. He initially focused only on the necessities and packed light. Then on July 8, once he arrived

11:38 PM ET LeBron James said the NBA at large will not miss President Donald Trump as a viewer after he commented about the league’s players who take a knee before games. “I really don’t think the basketball community is sad about losing his viewership, him viewing the game,” James said following the Los Angeles

6:27 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons left Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards with a left knee injury. Simmons went up and grabbed a rebound midway through the third quarter, then slowly dribbled out to the court and flipped a pass to Al Horford. As a

6:52 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The first six days inside the NBA bubble have been filled with action. We’ve seen massive scoring performances (hello, T.J. Warren), dramatic comebacks (what’s up, Houston Rockets) and what has generally been high-quality basketball from teams fighting for the playoffs (here’s not looking at you,

7:00 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Memphis Grizzlies, having already lost their first three games inside the NBA’s bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort, were dealt a significant blow to their playoff hopes Tuesday when promising young forward Jaren Jackson Jr. was ruled out for the remainder of the

6:00 PM ET Tuesday hasn’t exactly gone as anyone expected down in Orlando. First, to start the day, the Brooklyn Nets pulled off the biggest point-spread upset in 27 years, beating the Milwaukee Bucks outright despite being a 19-point underdog. Then, after the Dallas Mavericks needed overtime to beat the Sacramento Kings, Devin Booker‘s incredible

7:20 AM ET When the Miami Heat promoted Erik Spoelstra out of the video room and into an assistant coaching position, there was one problem: Spoelstra owned no suits. The league’s dress code for coaches, codified in a memo sent before the season, mandates every coach wear a dress shirt (or “dress sweater”) and sport