NBA

11:26 PM ET A balanced Miami Heat team came into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals with the No. 4 offense and No. 4 defense in the postseason. In the final 12 seconds of an overtime thriller on Tuesday, they executed two phenomenal, game-winning plays: one an offensive gem by their closer, Jimmy Butler;

3:42 PM ET Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has declared his intention to rely on Daryl Morey to lead the franchise’s coaching search, squashing speculation that Fertitta would also seek to make a change at general manager. “Daryl Morey’s job is safe, and I’m sure he’s going to pick the right head coach,” Fertitta said

6:38 AM ET Three players in the history of the NBA have recorded 25 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in a Game 7 before the age of 25: Jerry West, Kobe Bryant and, as of last week, Jayson Tatum. The first guy is immortalized as the league logo, the second became one of the

7:22 AM ET The next chapter of the Boston Celtics–Miami Heat rivalry starts Tuesday — with new stars, new storylines and plenty of drama. Miami already knocked out reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks, while Boston overcame a seven-game fight with the defending champion Toronto Raptors. What’s in store with a trip

12:01 PM ET In a three-hour lunch meeting Friday in Milwaukee, Bucks co-owner and governor Marc Lasry made it clear to reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo that the franchise is willing to spend into the luxury tax to deliver him a championship supporting cast, sources told ESPN. The Bucks’ payroll will be close to the proposed

Sep 11, 2020 NBA Insiders The 2020 NBA playoffs pick up again Tuesday with the Eastern Conference finals, featuring a thrilling matchup of two teams that pulled upsets in the previous round: the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. (The East finals can be seen on ESPN and the ESPN App, including Game 1 on

2:04 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni has informed the franchise that he’s becoming a coaching free agent and won’t return to the Rockets next season, D’Antoni told ESPN on Sunday. “It’s with tremendous sadness and gratitude that my wife Laurel and I announce that our incredible journey in

6:46 PM ET Doc Rivers cannot play the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year as his sixth man. When trying to comprehend how the LA Clippers have squandered a 3-1 series advantage over the Denver Nuggets — and in spectacular fashion, by losing a double-digit second-half lead for the second straight game in Denver’s 111-98

7:19 AM ET THEY WERE EMOTIONAL, tired and confused. The LA Clippers were gathered — all 15 players and head coach Doc Rivers — in the middle of the night on the eighth floor of Walt Disney World Resort’s Gran Destino Tower, trying to hold everything together. It was Aug. 26, and the NBA bubble

10:41 PM ET As he sipped his coffee in a Salt Lake City hotel lobby just after the All-Star break, Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni spoke fondly about his professional fit with general manager Daryl Morey. D’Antoni had plenty of experience as a coach who butted heads with front offices when it came to basketball

7:14 PM ET The LA Clippers have blown second-quarter leads of 21 and 16 points in two losses this postseason so far and Marcus Morris Sr. knows the problem. “We just lean on us being as good as we are on paper and not actually finishing the game,” Morris said Saturday, a day after the

7:00 AM ET IT’S A FIVE-POINT game in a 1-1 playoff series and the game clock ticks inside two minutes in the first half when LeBron James goes in his bag. The sequence begins when James snags a defensive rebound and advances the ball up the left side of the court. Once past the massive

11:54 PM ET There are few people in the NBA who dislike each other more than Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge and Miami Heat president Pat Riley — and it has been this way going on four decades. They hated each other in the 1980s, when Ainge was a guard for the Celtics in the

6:00 PM ET Houston Rockets forward Danuel House has left the NBA campus and will not play again this season following a violation of the league’s health and safety protocols, the league announced Friday. According to the NBA, an investigation found that House had an unauthorized guest in his hotel room for multiple hours Tuesday.

7:20 AM ET We’re approaching the halfway point of the 2020 NBA playoffs, our third Game 7 is here, and the East finals start soon. Let’s bounce around the league for a look at what the postseason has given us and what lies ahead. 1. Predatory Kyle Lowry With 60% of Toronto’s starting five slumping

12:44 AM ET There are some quotes that follow a coach his whole career, or at least long enough to become profoundly ironic. When Mike D’Antoni took over as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012 and was asked how he planned to use likely future Hall of Fame big men Pau Gasol and

6:43 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report from Wednesday’s heart-stopping 125-122 victory for the Toronto Raptors over the Boston Celtics said the officials got one key call wrong — and another one right. The document — which analyzed more than 50 decisions the referees did, or

6:00 AM ET With his suits, his hair and his style, Miami Heat team president Pat Riley has long presented a Hollywood image. But those who have worked for him know his mindset is closer to that of a general. Riley’s life has been in basketball, but as someone in his teens and 20s during