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Tag: NBA basketball

  • Lakers conduct a public coaching search, considering Redick and Hurley, in hopes of pleasing LeBron

    Lakers conduct a public coaching search, considering Redick and Hurley, in hopes of pleasing LeBron

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    LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching search has been very public, seemingly chaotic and dominated by famous names.

    Totally Hollywood, in other words.

    The Lakers’ reported plan to offer a massive contract to UConn coach Dan Hurley is the latest twist in the monthlong race to replace Darvin Ham, who was fired May 3 after two seasons.

    The Lakers were knocked out of the first round of the current playoffs, but the 17-time NBA champion franchise has nicely filled the void of hoops drama during the week before the NBA Finals with steady leaks about the progress of their quest for a coach who can win a title — and almost as vitally, a coach who can entice LeBron James to finish his career in purple and gold.

    According to a person with knowledge of the lengthy search, the Lakers have strongly considered J.J. Redick, the former player and current ESPN analyst who does a podcast with James; Hurley, the back-to-back national championship-winning coach of the Huskies; and James Borrego, the respected former Charlotte Hornets coach and ex-Gregg Popovich assistant who spent last season on New Orleans’ staff.

    The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Lakers aren’t commenting publicly on the search to replace Ham.

    But they sure are commenting privately.

    On Wednesday, the Athletic reported that Redick shockingly was the frontrunner despite his total lack of coaching experience. On Thursday, the search took another wild turn when ESPN reported the Lakers were instead targeting Hurley, whose candidacy hadn’t even been mentioned in many discussions of the job.

    The crazy twists are representative of the various factions within the Lakers’ brain trust of owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka dispensing narratives to their favored media outlets. The Lakers previously seemed unlikely to make an official hire before the end of the NBA Finals, but the person who spoke to the AP said even that could change, depending on their progress.

    While the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics waited a week to begin the NBA Finals, the Lakers have dominated talk radio, television and message boards with speculation on the best choice to lead James and the Lakers back to contention for a second title together.

    The Lakers are making their coaching change at a critical juncture for the franchise’s partnership with the NBA’s career scoring leader.

    The 39-year-old James just completed his 21st season while playing at a higher level than anyone with that much experience in basketball history, but he has until June 29 to decide whether to exercise his $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 season.

    James could take the deal, or he could sign an even bigger new contract for more years — or he could become a free agent for the first time in six years.

    While 31-year-old Anthony Davis is the Lakers’ foundation with a long-term contract in Los Angeles, Buss and Pelinka are clearly determined to keep James alongside him for as long as possible — even publicly floating their willingness to draft his son, Bronny, who just completed one brief collegiate season at USC.

    While agent Rich Paul has said James is not involved in the coaching search as he prepares to play for the U.S. at the Paris Olympics, the Lakers’ candidates seem designed to appeal to him.

    James’ connection with Redick is well-known. James also recently praised Hurley on social media following a podcast interview between Redick and Hurley, with the 20-time All-Star writing that Hurley is “so DAMN GOOD!!! Along with his staff. Super creative with their (offense). Love it.”

    Hurley has won 141 games in six seasons at UConn, rolling to the past two national titles in impressive fashion. The addition of the nation’s top collegiate coach to the Lakers could be enticing to James and his son, who likely still needs extensive development to be a serviceable NBA player.

    The Lakers’ relative underachievement this season despite a healthy James and Davis was primarily blamed on Ham, the first-time head coach who dismayed many fans and observers with his rotations, preparation and strategic acumen. The Lakers have chased savvy basketball minds in their latest search, no matter their pedigree: Redick’s encyclopedic understanding of the game has been on display in his podcast with James, while Hurley favors an NBA-friendly style of play that should translate well to the biggest basketball stage.

    Whoever they choose, the Lakers will be adding yet another head coach at a pace typically reserved for underachieving European soccer teams, not powerhouse NBA franchises.

    The new hire will be the Lakers’ eighth coach since Phil Jackson’s departure in 2011 and their fourth coach since James arrived as a free agent in 2018. Frank Vogel led Los Angeles to the 2020 championship, but kept the job for only 225 games over three seasons before being fired exactly 18 months after raising the trophy in the Florida bubble.

    Ham was the fourth coach fired by James’ teams in the past eight years, joining Cleveland’s David Blatt and the Lakers’ Luke Walton and Vogel.

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  • Bill Walton, Hall of Fame player who became a star broadcaster, dies of cancer at 71

    Bill Walton, Hall of Fame player who became a star broadcaster, dies of cancer at 71

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    Bill Walton was never afraid to be himself.

    Larger than life, only in part because of his nearly 7-foot frame, Walton was a two-time NCAA champion at UCLA, a two-time champion in the NBA, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, an on-court icon in every sense of the word. And off the court, Walton was a chronic fun-seeker, a broadcaster who adhered to no conventional norms and took great joy in that, a man with a deeply serious side about the causes that mattered most to him.

    “Bill Walton,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, “was truly one of a kind.”

    Walton died Monday at the age of 71 after a prolonged fight with cancer, the league announced on behalf of his family. He was the NBA’s MVP in the 1977-78 season, the league’s sixth man of the year in 1985-86 and a member of the league’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams. That followed a college career in which he blossomed while playing under coach John Wooden at UCLA, becoming a three-time national player of the year.

    “I am sad today hearing that my comrade and one of the sports world’s most beloved champions and characters has passed,” Julius “Dr. J” Erving, a fellow Hall of Famer, wrote on social media. “Bill Walton enjoyed life in every way. To compete against him and to work with him was a blessing in my life.”

    Tributes immediately began pouring in, and the NBA held a moment of silence to commemorate Walton’s life before Game 4 of the Boston Celtics-Indiana Pacers matchup in the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night.

    Walton, who entered the Hall of Fame in 1993, was one of the game’s most celebrated figures. His NBA career — disrupted by chronic foot injuries — lasted only 468 games combined with the Portland Trail Blazers, the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers and the Celtics. He averaged 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds in those games, neither of those numbers exactly record-setting.

    Still, his impact on the game was massive.

    “I love him as a friend and as a teammate,” Celtics legend Larry Bird said. “It was a thrill for me to play with my childhood idol and together we earned an NBA championship in 1986. He is one of the greatest ever to play the game. I am sure that all of my teammates are as grateful as I am that we were able to know Bill. He was such a joy to know and he will be sorely missed.”

    Walton’s most famous game was the 1973 NCAA title game, UCLA against Memphis, in which he shot 21 for 22 from the field and led the Bruins to another national championship.

    “One of my guards said, ’Let’s try something else,’” Wooden told The Associated Press in 2008 for a 35th anniversary retrospective on that game.

    Wooden’s response during that timeout: “Why? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

    They kept giving the ball to Walton, and he kept delivering in a performance for the ages.

    “It’s very hard to put into words what he has meant to UCLA’s program, as well as his tremendous impact on college basketball,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said Monday. “Beyond his remarkable accomplishments as a player, it’s his relentless energy, enthusiasm for the game and unwavering candor that have been the hallmarks of his larger-than-life personality.

    “It’s hard to imagine a season in Pauley Pavilion without him.”

    When Walton retired from the NBA he turned to broadcasting, something he never thought he could be good at — and an avenue he sometimes wondered would be possible for him, because he had a pronounced stutter at times in his life.

    Turns out, he was excellent at broadcasting: Walton was an Emmy winner, eventually was named one of the top 50 sports broadcasters of all time by the American Sportscasters Association and even appeared on The New York Times’ bestseller list for his memoir, “Back from the Dead.” It told the story of a debilitating back injury suffered in 2008, one that left him considering taking his own life because of the constant pain, and how he spent years recovering.

    “I lived most of my life by myself. But as soon as I got on the court I was fine,” Walton told The Oregonian newspaper for a story published in 2017. “But in life, being so self conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy looking face and can’t talk at all. I was incredibly shy and never said a word. Then, when I was 28 I learned how to speak. It’s become my greatest accomplishment of my life and everybody else’s biggest nightmare.”

    The last part of that was just Walton hyperbole. He was known for his on-air tangents and sometimes appeared on-air in Grateful Dead T-shirts; Walton was a huge fan of the band and referenced it often, even sometimes recording satellite radio specials celebrating what it meant to be a “Deadhead.”

    And the Pac-12 Conference, which has basically evaporated in many ways now because of college realignment, was another of his many loves. He always referred to it as the “Conference of Champions” and sang its praises all the way to the end.

    “It doesn’t get any better than this,” he once said on a broadcast, tie-dyed T-shirt on, a Hawaiian lei around his neck.

    Walton was involved in the broadcasts of college and NBA games for CBS, NBC and ABC/ESPN in his career, along with stints working for the Clippers and Sacramento Kings as an analyst. He returned to ESPN and the Pac-12 Network, further touting the roots of his league, in 2012.

    “Bill Walton was a legendary player and a singular personality who genuinely cherished every experience throughout the journey of his extraordinary life,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “Bill often described himself as ‘the luckiest guy in the world,’ but anyone who had the opportunity to interact with Bill was the lucky one. He was a truly special, giving person who always made time for others. Bill’s one-of-a-kind spirit captivated and inspired audiences during his second career as a successful broadcaster.”

    But Walton will always be synonymous with UCLA’s dominance.

    He enrolled at the school in 1970, before freshmen could play on the varsity team. Once he could play for Wooden, the Bruins were unbeatable for more than two years — Walton’s UCLA teams won their first 73 games, the bulk of the Bruins’ extraordinary 88-game winning streak. It was snapped against Notre Dame in 1974, a 71-70 loss in which Walton shot 12 for 14 from the field.

    “Bill Walton’s passing is a sad tragedy. One of the great ones in UCLA basketball history,” Digger Phelps, who coached that Notre Dame team, posted Monday on social media. “We were great friends over the years. It won’t be the same without him.”

    UCLA went 30-0 in each of Walton’s first two seasons, and 86-4 in his career on the varsity team.

    “My teammates … made me a much better basketball player than I could ever have become myself,” Walton said at his Hall of Fame speech in 1993. “The concept of team has always been the most intriguing aspect of basketball to me. If I had been interested in individual success or an individual sport, I would have taken up tennis or golf.”

    Walton led Portland to the 1977 NBA title, then got his second championship with Boston in 1986.

    “Bill Walton was an icon,” said Jody Allen, the chair of the Trail Blazers. “His leadership and tenacity on the court were key to bringing a championship to our fans and defined one of the most magical moments in franchise history. We will always treasure what he brought to our community and the sport of basketball.”

    The Celtics released a statement saying: “Bill Walton was one of the most consequential players of his era. … Walton could do it all, possessing great timing, complete vision of the floor, excellent fundamentals and was of one of the greatest passing big men in league history.”

    Walton considered himself fortunate to have been guided by two of the game’s greatest minds in Wooden and Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach.

    “Thank you John, and thank you Red, for making my life what it has become,” Walton said in his Hall of Fame speech.

    Walton was the No. 1 pick by Portland in the 1974 draft. He said Bill Russell was his favorite player and referred to Bird as the toughest and best he played with, so it was appropriate that his playing career ended as a member of the Celtics. “Playing basketball with Larry Bird,” Walton once said, “is like singing with Jerry Garcia,” referencing the co-founder of the Grateful Dead.

    In his final years, Walton spoke out about issues that mattered most to him, such as the problem of homelessness in his native San Diego, urging city leaders to take action and create shelter space to help those in need.

    “What I will remember most about him was his zest for life,” Silver said in a statement. “He was a regular presence at league events — always upbeat, smiling ear to ear and looking to share his wisdom and warmth. I treasured our close friendship, envied his boundless energy and admired the time he took with every person he encountered.”

    Walton died surrounded by his loved ones, his family said. He is survived by wife Lori and sons Adam, Nate, Chris and Luke — a NBA championship-winning player and now a coach.

    Said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who was teammates with Walton in Boston: “He defiantly competed for every moment in life to be the greatest it could possibly be.”

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  • Brown matches career playoff high with 40 points, Celtics beat Pacers to take 2-0 lead in East

    Brown matches career playoff high with 40 points, Celtics beat Pacers to take 2-0 lead in East

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    BOSTON — Jaylen Brown was a big enough problem for the Indiana Pacers even before an All-NBA snub that may have given him an added desire to show how much he can do for the Boston Celtics.

    “I think he cares about it in a way that motivates him, and I think he doesn’t really care about it at all,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after watching Brown match his playoff career high of 40 points in Boston’s 126-110 victory over Indiana in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night.

    “He understands that winning is the most important thing,” Mazzulla said. “He just cares about the right stuff.”

    Two nights after his game-saving 3-pointer and one day after he was left out of the voting for the league’s top 15 players, Brown scored 10 points during a 20-0 Boston run that turned a first-quarter deficit into a second-quarter lead that the Celtics never relinquished.

    Asked if the All-NBA snub motivated him, Brown said, “I wouldn’t say that.” Asked to elaborate, he said colorfully: “We’re two games from the finals. I don’t got time to (care).”

    Jayson Tatum and Derrick White scored 23 points apiece and Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 10 assists for the top-seeded Celtics, who lost Game 2 in both of their previous series this postseason.

    Pascal Siakam scored 28 points for Indiana, which heads home for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday nights in an arena where they have won 11 straight games — including six in the playoffs — since March 18. Tyrese Haliburton, who had 25 points and 10 assists in the series opener, had 10 points and eight assists Thursday before leaving the game in the third.

    Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton injured his left hamstring — the same injury that kept him out of 10 games in January.

    “We need Ty, but ‘next man’ mentality,” Siakam said. “We’ve got to play together. This team got where we’re at by playing together. … It’s on us to continue.”

    One game after the Celtics jumped to a 12-0 lead and Indiana spent the rest of the first half clawing its way back, the lead changed hands 10 times in the opening quarter, with the Pacers holding a 27-22 edge with 1:14 left.

    Then Boston scored the next 20 points.

    Indiana missed nine straight shots and committed four turnovers during the drought that lasted more than six minutes. Brown scored 10 on his own during the run and had 24 at the half; he opened the third quarter with two quick baskets to give the Celtics a 61-52 lead.

    But Siakam also came out hot in the second half, hitting four baskets in the first four minutes – a pair of 2s and a pair of 3s – to make it a two-point game. Boston pulled away again – this time for good, scoring 16 of the next 21 points.

    Indiana never got within single digits again.

    Brown scored 26 points Tuesday night, when the Celtics won thanks to some unforced errors by the Pacers — especially Haliburton — down the stretch. On Wednesday, Brown was left off the All-NBA teams; last year’s selection to the second team qualified him for a five-year supermax extension that made him the highest-paid player in the NBA.

    “I mean, he has it going,” Holiday said. “Y’all see what I see. Great player. Great leader. But wants to win. And takes thinks into his own hands. So I’m glad to have him on my side. I ride with him. The way JB’s been playing, man, it’s outstanding.”

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  • LeBron James attends Game 4 between Celtics and Cavaliers in Cleveland, his old stomping grounds

    LeBron James attends Game 4 between Celtics and Cavaliers in Cleveland, his old stomping grounds

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    CLEVELAND — LeBron James attended Cleveland’s playoff game against the Boston Celtics on Monday night, an appearance certain to drive conversation about the superstar’s future.

    James, who can opt out of his contact with the Los Angeles Lakers and become a free agent this summer, played two stints in Cleveland. He led the Cavs to their only NBA championship in 2016 before leaving two years later.

    The league’s career scoring leader, James has maintained a home near his hometown of Akron. He’s come back to Cleveland many times since leaving in 2018, but has not attended any Cavs games.

    James arrived just as the game began and took a courtside seat along with his wife, Savannah, and agent Rich Paul.

    He received a thunderous ovation when shown on the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse scoreboard during a timeout.

    The 39-year-old had a short postseason this year as the Lakers were eliminated in the first round by the defending champion Denver Nuggets. James made it clear following the series that was leaving his options open and had made no decisions about his next move.

    James has talked in the past about playing alongside his oldest son, Bronny, who played at USC last season and recently declared for this year’s draft.

    On Monday, the younger James was cleared by the league’s doctors to participate in the pre-draft combine in Chicago after going into cardiac arrest last summer.

    James is a 20-time All-Star, four-time league MVP and champion. He was drafted No. 1 overall by Cleveland and spent seven seasons with the Cavs before signing as a free agent with Miami in 2010.

    He returned to the Cavs in 2014 and led them to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances — all against Golden State.

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  • Mike Budenholzer agrees to coach Phoenix Suns, day after Frank Vogel’s firing, AP source says

    Mike Budenholzer agrees to coach Phoenix Suns, day after Frank Vogel’s firing, AP source says

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    Mike Budenholzer agrees to coach Phoenix Suns, day after Frank Vogel’s firing, AP source says

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  • Jalen Brunson returns from foot injury, sparks Knicks past Pacers for 2-0 lead in East semifinals

    Jalen Brunson returns from foot injury, sparks Knicks past Pacers for 2-0 lead in East semifinals

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    NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson left the locker room on an injured leg, walked onto the court and sent the Madison Square Garden crowd into a frenzy, just as Willis Reed had exactly 54 years earlier.

    As the roars turned into “MVP! MVP!” chants, Brunson tried to block out the pain in his body and the noise all around him as he warmed up at halftime.

    “It was really cool to hear, but I just knew that I had to get my mind in the right place to figure out how I was going to attack the second half,” Brunson said.

    He shook off his right foot injury to score 24 of his 29 points in the final two quarters, leading the New York Knicks to a 130-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

    On the anniversary of Reed’s dramatic emergence from the locker room before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to lead the Knicks to their first title, Brunson had missed the entire second quarter while the Pacers surged ahead to a double-figure lead.

    Reed’s teammates have said they didn’t know if he would play that night. Brunson’s had no doubt.

    “I mean, he’s a warrior. That’s all I got,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “There was no doubt in my mind that he’ll be back. All season long, no matter what is thrown at him, injury bug or whatever, he always bounces back. And we knew the severity of the game and everything, so we knew, everybody had confidence he was coming back.”

    Brunson fell short of becoming the second player in NBA history to score 40 or more points in five straight playoff games, but he gave the Knicks everything they needed to move halfway to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000.

    “He’s a great leader, so I think the players all have respect for that, when a guy goes out and is willing to give whatever he has, and so that says a lot about him,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.

    OG Anunoby added a career playoff-high 28 points before leaving with a left hamstring injury in the third quarter for the injury-riddled Knicks, who have already lost three key players to season-ending injuries.

    But they got Brunson back and received huge efforts again from his two Villanova teammates. DiVincenzo scored 28 points and Josh Hart had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the No. 2-seeded Knicks.

    Tyrese Haliburton rebounded from a poor Game 1 with 34 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Pacers, who finished the game without coach Rick Carlisle after he got two technical fouls and was ejected.

    “Small-market teams deserve an equal shot,” Carlisle said during a postgame complaint about the officiating. “They deserve a fair shot no matter where they are playing.”

    The series moves to Indiana for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday.

    Former Knicks forward Obi Toppin added 20 points in another strong effort by Indiana’s reserves, but the Pacers hurt themselves by shooting just 10 for 17 (59%) from the free throw line.

    Knicks fans profanely jeered Pacers Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, an enemy from the heated 1990s era of this playoff rivalry who was calling the game as part of TNT’s crew, during a delirious finish to what had been a nervous first half, when Brunson was missing for the entire second quarter.

    He had made a 3-pointer for a 24-13 lead in the first quarter, giving the Knicks 10 baskets in their first 14 shots in a blistering start. But after Toppin made one for the Pacers on the other end, Brunson began waving to the bench for a substitution as he ran down the court on offense. That was early in an 11-0 run by Indiana to tie it, and it was tied again at 36 after Toppin made three free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining.

    The Pacers then made 15 of 22 shots in the second quarter in Brunson’s absence, outscoring the Knicks 37-27 to take a 73-63 lead.

    Brunson would only say he felt some discomfort and that once he warmed up, he knew he was going back into the game.

    “I had a decision to make and I made a decision,” Brunson said.

    Indiana’s lead was 79-70 before the Knicks stormed ahead with a 14-0 run, with Brunson contributing a three-point play during it as New York went ahead 84-79.

    Anunoby was hurt soon after, appearing to injure his hamstring while trying to finish a fast-break layup, but Brunson guided the Knicks through the finish with 14 points in the fourth quarter.

    With All-Star Julius Randle gone to shoulder surgery and key reserves Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic lost in the playoffs, the Knicks have been relying on their starters to play major minutes — all 48 of them for Hart in both games of the series.

    So they can’t afford to play without Brunson, who finished fifth in the voting for MVP that Nikola Jokic won Wednesday.

    He had joined Jerry West, Michael Jordan and Bernard King as the only players with at least four straight 40-point games in the playoffs, and came in as the leading scorer in the postseason with 36.6 points per game.

    Brunson ended up getting fairly close to that despite playing only 32 minutes, saying afterward that teammates were teasing him with Reed jokes.

    Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Knicks, forced to play 39 minutes after the Knicks announced Tuesday that Robinson would miss at least six weeks with a stress injury to his left ankle.

    The Knicks paid tribute to Reed’s return, one of the most memorable moments in NBA and Madison Square Garden history, during the first quarter. His No. 19 jersey, hanging in the rafters, was spotlighted, and Hall of Fame teammate Walt Frazier came onto the court for an ovation.

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  • Mavs extend coach Jason Kidd’s contract in middle of playoffs, a year after chaotic ending

    Mavs extend coach Jason Kidd’s contract in middle of playoffs, a year after chaotic ending

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    DALLAS — Jason Kidd found a groove with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving a season after a chaotic ending to the first two months together for the Dallas superstars.

    The Mavericks coach has his team advancing in the playoffs for the second time in his three years in charge, and the 51-year-old now has a contract extension to go with it.

    Kidd signed a multiyear deal Monday, the day before Dallas opens a second-round playoff series against Oklahoma City. The Mavs moved on by beating the Los Angeles Clippers in six games.

    A year ago, Dallas missed the playoffs after reaching the 2022 Western Conference finals in Kidd’s debut as coach for the team he helped win a championship as a point guard in 2011.

    The blockbuster trade for Irving in February 2023 wasn’t the catalyst the Mavs hoped for another postseason run. Instead, the team tanked at the end of the regular season to try to preserve a draft pick, even when there were still mathematical hopes of qualifying for the play-in tournament.

    Kidd was the front man for all the tough questions in the final days of the regular season, and got a vote of confidence from then-owner Mark Cuban. Dallas kept the draft pick, and first-rounder Dereck Lively II had a significant impact as a rookie center.

    “Last year, we learned a lot about character, about the team,” Kidd said. “At the time, everyone had their opinion. But understanding what the plan is internally, I thought we executed the plan. Being calm and not losing your mind or being offended of what others say turned out to be the right thing.”

    Irving re-signed with Dallas, and after Cuban sold his majority stake to the casino-linked families of Patrick Dumont and Miriam Adelson, a late-season surge lifted the Mavs to fifth in the West at 50-32.

    The extension for Kidd comes after his name surfaced in reports of the Lakers’ coaching search. Los Angeles fired Darvin Ham last week.

    Terms of the deal weren’t released. Doncic and Irving are under team control together for one more season. Irving has a player option in his contract for 2025-26, Doncic the following season.

    “We are excited to have coach Kidd continue to lead our team throughout the coming years with this well-earned contract extension,” said Dumont, who is the team’s governor while Cuban has the role of alternate governor. “We are looking forward to his leadership in continuing to build and grow this already great franchise.”

    A hall of famer as a player, Kidd ended his career second on the all-time list for assists behind John Stockton. He went into coaching immediately upon retirement, leading Brooklyn to the second round of the playoffs in his first season in 2013-14 before Milwaukee hired him away from the Nets.

    The Bucks fired Kidd in the middle of his fourth season — with a pair of first-round playoff exits the first three years — and he spent two years as an assistant with the Lakers, including when LA won the NBA title in the 2020 playoff bubble.

    Kidd, who replaced Rick Carlisle in Dallas, has a 140-106 regular-season record with the Mavs and is 323-296 overall.

    After Kidd and NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs to the 2011 title, they didn’t win another playoff series until beating Utah in the first round under Kidd two years ago. Now Dallas has three series victories in three seasons.

    “Jason brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role, which cannot be duplicated,” general manager Nico Harrison said. “He has earned the trust and respect of our players and that of so many across the league.”

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    This story corrects a previous version to put Dallas’ record this season at 50-32.

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  • The Lakers fire coach Darvin Ham after just 2 seasons in charge and 1st-round playoff exit

    The Lakers fire coach Darvin Ham after just 2 seasons in charge and 1st-round playoff exit

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    LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers fired coach Darvin Ham on Friday after just two seasons in charge.

    The Lakers announced on social media that they were dismissing Ham four days after their season ended with a first-round playoff loss to Denver in five games.

    Ham led Los Angeles to the Western Conference finals less than a year ago in his first season as an NBA head coach. He had replaced Frank Vogel, who was fired by the Lakers exactly 18 months after winning the franchise’s 17th championship in 2020.

    Ham had two winning seasons and made two playoff appearances, but that’s not enough with the championship-focused Lakers. With little time left to capitalize on the concurrent presence of Anthony Davis and 39-year-old LeBron James — who hasn’t decided whether to return for his 22nd NBA season — the Lakers are resetting their coaching staff once again instead of blaming general manager Rob Pelinka for his roster construction.

    “We greatly appreciate Darvin’s efforts on behalf of the Lakers and recognize the many accomplishments achieved over the past two seasons, including last year’s remarkable run to the Western Conference finals,” Pelinka said in a statement. “We all want to thank Darvin for his dedication and positivity. While this was a difficult decision to make, it is the best course of action following a full review of the season. This organization will remain unwavering in its commitment to deliver championship-caliber basketball to Lakers fans around the world.”

    Ham presided over a disappointing year for the Lakers, who went 47-35 in the regular season and won the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament. The Lakers then beat New Orleans in a play-in game to move up to the seventh seed in the highly competitive Western Conference — but that meant they had to face Denver, which swept them out of the playoffs last season.

    Los Angeles led the defending champion Nuggets for long stretches of their first-round series, but Nikola Jokic and his teammates eventually rolled into the second round with a series of comeback wins.

    “Sitting in this seat, it’s been a hell of a two years,” Ham said after the game. “A lot of good things that got done, but ultimately, you want to win that ultimate prize.”

    The Lakers’ failure stung because James and Davis were largely healthy all year long, with both superstars playing more games than they had managed in an NBA season since 2017-18 — 76 for Davis and 71 for James, the leading scorer in NBA history. D’Angelo Russell also had a strong regular season, setting the franchise record for 3-pointers.

    That health and success only translated into a four-win improvement in the standings from last season, and Ham received much of the blame from fans and observers for his game management, slow tactical adjustments and a reluctance to change his player rotations and starting lineups, even when things weren’t working.

    The Lakers fell into a hole they couldn’t escape when they went 3-10 during the holiday period immediately after the In-Season Tournament finale. Ham was widely criticized for his lineups and rotations during that poor stretch — among other decisions, he curiously benched Russell and Austin Reaves while giving extensive playing time to Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish.

    That slump eventually prevented the Lakers from landing a top-6 seed in the West even though they finished the regular season on an impressive 28-14 surge.

    The players publicly backed Ham, but signs of frustration were clear. After the Lakers blew a 20-point lead and lost to Denver in Game 2 last month, Davis said the Lakers “have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the floor,” a comment widely interpreted as a shot at Ham’s coaching competence.

    The Lakers only went 43-39 in their first season under Ham in 2022-23, but they capitalized on more favorable playoff matchups. After beating Minnesota in a play-in game, they won playoff series against Memphis and Golden State to reach the conference finals, where they were swept by Denver.

    James, Davis and the Lakers have failed to win a playoff round in three of their four seasons since winning the 2020 championship in the Florida bubble.

    Ham had two years left on his contract with the Lakers, who will be hiring their fourth head coach since James arrived in 2018. The new coach will be the Lakers’ eighth in 14 seasons since Hall of Famer Phil Jackson’s departure in 2011.

    Ham had an eight-year playing career in the NBA as an athletic forward, winning a championship with Detroit in 2004. He got his first NBA assistant coaching job with the Lakers in 2011, and he was Mike Budenholzer’s assistant in Atlanta and Milwaukee for nine seasons — winning a second championship ring with the Bucks in 2021 — before returning to the Lakers as their head coach.

    James has a $51.4 million player option for next season, and his decision hangs over every offseason move for the Lakers, who internally expect him to return.

    Pelinka then must determine whether he can make the long-anticipated move for a third superstar through trades, or whether he believes the assertions by Rui Hachimura and other role players that the Lakers can become a contender with more continuity.

    Russell has an $18.7 million player option after the sharpshooting guard excelled in the regular season and flopped in the playoffs, infamously going scoreless in the Lakers’ Game 3 loss to Denver. After Los Angeles was knocked out of the playoffs on Monday, the point guard said he has “a little leverage. I’ll try to take advantage of it.”

    ___

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  • Middleton, Portis each score 29 as Bucks stay alive with 115-92 victory over Pacers in Game 5

    Middleton, Portis each score 29 as Bucks stay alive with 115-92 victory over Pacers in Game 5

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    MILWAUKEE — Bobby Portis apologized to his teammates for his ejection from a Game 4 loss that put the Milwaukee Bucks on the brink of playoff elimination.

    Then he made amends by helping the Bucks keep their season alive.

    Portis and Khris Middleton each scored 29 points and the short-handed Bucks routed the Indiana Pacers 115-92 in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

    The Pacers still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Indianapolis.

    “Thursday will be fun,” Portis said. “I can hear some ‘Bobby Sucks!’ chants. I’m ready, man. I’m fired up. I’m already ready for it.”

    Milwaukee won without injured stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard as the Fiserv Forum crowd chanted: “Bucks In Seven.”

    Antetokounmpo has missed this entire series and hasn’t played since straining his left calf on April 9. Lillard sat out a second straight game after injuring his Achilles tendon in the Bucks’ 121-118 Game 3 loss on Friday.

    Bucks coach Doc Rivers was asked after Game 5 about their potential availability for the rest of the series.

    “I don’t know how to answer that,” Rivers said. “I know I hope. I think they’re very, very, very close.”

    The Bucks stayed alive thanks in part to a huge performance from Portis, who had been ejected just seven minutes into Game 4 after getting into a skirmish with Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard. Portis said he watched the rest of that game while still in uniform, wondering about all the ways in which his presence on the floor might have made a difference.

    He came back Tuesday and produced the highest playoff point total of his career. He also pulled down 10 rebounds.

    “I maybe crossed the line, you feel me, and let my team down by getting ejected and not being available for my team,” Portis said. “I pride myself so much on being available.”

    Middleton had his third straight game with at least 25 points, and he also had 12 rebounds and five assists.

    The Bucks are trying to win a series after trailing 3-1 for the first time in franchise history. The Pacers are attempting to advance beyond the opening round for the first time since 2014.

    “We’ve just got to understand that they’re a team that’s on the brink of their season being done, and they’re playing desperate, they’re playing hard, as they should be,” Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton said. “At the end of the day, they outcompeted us tonight. They played harder. They played better. They kind of just dominated us in every facet of the game tonight.”

    Haliburton scored 16 points to lead the Pacers, who had their lowest scoring total of the season. Myles Turner added 13. Obi Toppin, Nembhard and Pascal Siakam had 12 each.

    Malik Beasley scored 18 points for Milwaukee. Pat Beverley had 13 points and 12 assists, and sparked a second-quarter run that put the Bucks ahead for good.

    Indiana started the night intent on closing this series early.

    Two nights after shooting 22 of 43 from 3-point range in Game 3, the Pacers went 7 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes and led 31-21 late in the first quarter.

    But the Bucks responded with an 18-2 run as Beverley continually irritated the Pacers — to the delight of the crowd.

    Shortly after a 3-pointer by Middleton put the Bucks ahead for good, Toppin was called for traveling in front of Milwaukee’s bench. As Beverley tried to grab the ball from him, Toppin shoved the Bucks guard and drew a technical foul.

    On the Bucks’ ensuing possession, Beverley hit a short jumper while getting fouled by Haliburton. Beverley did a particularly showy version of the “Too Small” taunting gesture before sinking his free throw to complete a three-point play that gave Milwaukee a 39-33 lead.

    “I thought Pat Beverley was fantastic,” Rivers said. “His scoring was good, but I thought his playmaking was unbelievable tonight.”

    Milwaukee led 53-48 at halftime and then scored the first nine points of the third quarter. Indiana got the margin down to nine midway through the third, but the Bucks outscored the Pacers 20-8 over the next 5½ minutes to put the game away.

    “We just didn’t play with the consistent compete level we needed to,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I’ll take responsibility for that. I didn’t have these guys ready the way they needed to be ready to play this game.”

    ___

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  • Thunder brushed off questions about youth, inexperience, in first-round playoff sweep of Pelicans

    Thunder brushed off questions about youth, inexperience, in first-round playoff sweep of Pelicans

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    NEW ORLEANS — The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the playoffs facing questions about their relative youth and playoff inexperience.

    Four games later, the Thunder is on to the second round after a convincing sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans.

    “That’s another thing for us to not think about,” Thunder forward Jalen Williams said. “We’re coming in to compete — no matter how old we are.”

    The average age on the Thunder roster was less than 24 years old when the playoffs began. But coach Mark Daigneault, named NBA coach of the year this week, has been quick to point out that youth and maturity are not mutually exclusive.

    “We have a mature team. We have a committed team,” Daigneault said. “We’ve got an uncommon group of people and players.”

    That maturity was on full display in the way the Thunder have committed to defense, holding the Pelicans to 92 or fewer points in each game of the first round.

    “Just a great defensive series by everybody that stepped on the court,” Daigneault said. “I was curious to see what version of ourselves we’d bring into the series and we were very much in character.”

    The Thunder earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference by winning 57 games and edging out defending champion Denver in a tie-breaker.

    In the first round, Oklahoma City dispatched the 49-win Pelicans, albeit with New Orleans’ leading scorer, star power forward Zion Williamson, sidelined by a hamstring injury that occurred during the Western Conference play-in tournament.

    “Obviously, with the injury to Williamson, that changed the complexion of their team coming into the series,” Daigneault said. “I thought they really competed, played hard and tested us in a lot of different ways.”

    Thunder shooting guard Lu Dort further bolstered his reputation as a physical defender, holding Pelicans’ high scoring wing Brandon Ingram well below his usual scoring average of nearly 21 points per game.

    Ingram averaged 14.3 points in the series, topping out at 19 points in Game 3.

    Meanwhile, Thunder offensive leaders Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams each averaged better than 20 points per game and saw their performances complemented by steady production from Josh Giddey and rookie center Chet Holmgren.

    Game 1 was a relative struggle for Oklahoma City, which escaped with a 94-92 victory. But the Thunder won Games 2 and 3 by 32 and 21 points before closing out the series with an tougher, eight-point victory on the road against a Pelicans squad that looked unwilling to capitulate in front of its own fans.

    In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Pelicans led by five and the New Orleans crowd was engaged. That’s when Oklahoma City turned the game on its head with an 18-2 run fueled as much by stifling defense as clutch shooting.

    As the final minutes ticked off the game clock, Pelicans fans filed out while Thunder fans who were clustered not far from the Oklahoma City bench could be heard barking, as they’ve been known to do recently as a way to honor their team’s effort.

    Now the Thunder will have time to rest before learning of their second-round opponent — either the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks, whose series is tied 2-2.

    “We were never worried about the media or the narratives around our team,” Thunder guard Josh Giddey said. “We knew the talent we have in our locker room is good enough to go with anyone around the league.”

    ___

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  • Bucks and 76ers, who had high expectations this season, face early elimination Tuesday in Game 5s

    Bucks and 76ers, who had high expectations this season, face early elimination Tuesday in Game 5s

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    NEW YORK — Perhaps neither Milwaukee nor Philadelphia would’ve been good enough to beat a Boston team that ran away to the NBA’s best record.

    The Bucks and 76ers surely never thought about going out in the first round of the playoffs, though.

    Both teams will be facing that possibility Tuesday on a night of Game 5s in the Eastern Conference, with the New York Knicks able to eliminate the 76ers and the Indiana Pacers in position to knock out the Bucks.

    Cleveland and Orlando are tied 2-2 in the only series that can’t end Tuesday.

    With both clubs being led by a former MVP, the Bucks and 76ers expected to at least contend for a spot in the East finals. Milwaukee even added All-Star help for Giannis Antetokounmpo by acquiring Damian Lillard from Portland in last summer’s biggest trade.

    But with both players hurt, the No. 3-seeded Bucks have dropped three straight games to fall into their 3-1 hole against the No. 6 Pacers.

    “We have to play as hard as we can. We have to execute our game plan. We have to keep guys in check. Even though we’ve been down before, we’re down two guys now, we’ve still got all the confidence in the world that we can get back here,” Bucks veteran Khris Middleton said Sunday after a 126-113 loss at Indiana.

    At least the Bucks will be playing at home. The 76ers aim to stave off elimination on the road, though they certainly didn’t have much of a home-court advantage Sunday, when a large and loud contingent of Knicks fans watched Jalen Brunson score a franchise playoff-record 47 points in New York’s 97-92 victory.

    Joel Embiid played the whole second half but didn’t have a basket in the fourth quarter.

    The 76ers were 29-13, just a half-game out of second place, after the reigning MVP scored a franchise-record 70 points in a victory at San Antonio on Jan. 22. But he needed left knee surgery in early February, with Philadelphia tumbling down the standings in his absence and needing to win a play-in game just to make the playoffs as a No. 7 seed.

    That left the Sixers with a much more difficult first-round matchup than they would have faced had Embiid stayed healthy, but he still thinks they can solve it.

    “We know we’re good enough,” he said.

    Unlike the Bucks’ All-Stars, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell supposedly isn’t hurt anymore, though it’s hard to tell by his play. He was scoreless in the second half of a 23-point loss in Game 4, attempting just four shots. The Cavaliers were outscored 37-10 in the third quarter of that one, after losing by a franchise playoff-record 38 in Game 3.

    But he and his teammates remain unshaken.

    “We’re very confident,” Mitchell said following Monday’s practice. “We had two games that didn’t go our way. At the end of the day, they handled home court. We have things we can improve on, obviously, but it’s our job to do the same.”

    New York leads 3-1. Game 5, 7 p.m. EDT, TNT

    — NEED TO KNOW: The Knicks need one victory to reach the Eastern Conference semifinals in consecutive years. They haven’t done that since going that far nine straight times from 1992-2000.

    — KEEP AN EYE ON: Brunson, who only two games ago seemed to be held relatively in check after shooting 8 for 26 and 8 for 29 in the two victories in New York. He followed with 39 points and 13 assists in Game 3, and through four games was the second-leading scorer in the playoffs with 33 points per game (Embiid is averaging 35) and third with 9.0 assists.

    — INJURY REPORT: Bojan Bogdanovic is out with his ankle injury sustained in Game 4 and Mitchell Robinson is questionable after he was hurt in Game 3. The 76ers got back De’Anthony Melton after he missed much of the second half of the season with back problems.

    — PRESSURE IS ON: Not the 76ers, according to Embiid.

    “We’re the 7 seed, down 3-1. A lot of guys are hurt. I don’t know why we would feel the pressure, so we should just go out there, play our best basketball and one at a time,” he said. “Win one, come back home, win another one, and then Game 7 over there. So I’m looking forward to it. No pressure.”

    Series tied 2-2, Game 5, 8 p.m. EDT, NBA TV

    — NEED TO KNOW: The series has gone as expected: physical, defensive-minded, tense and tight with both teams holding serve at home. However, Orlando’s decisive wins in Games 3 and 4 were a surprise given the team’s offensive challenges most of the season. For the Magic to win at Cleveland, they’ll have to shoot better than in Games 1 and 2, when they were a combined 17 of 72 on 3-pointers.

    — KEEP AN EYE ON: Cleveland’s bench. The Cavs reserves were outscored 44-15 in Game 4, and coach J.B. Bickerstaff needs more production from his second unit. Bickerstaff prefers a tight rotation, but may have to go deeper if his team needs an offensive spark (Sam Merrill) or some attitude (Tristan Thompson, Marcus Morris Sr.).

    — INJURY WATCH: Mitchell keeps saying he’s 100 percent, but it’s clear that he’s still dealing with the effects of a bone bruise in his left knee that sidelined him for weeks after the All-Star break. … Orlando guard Jalen Suggs seems to have gotten past any concerns after spraining his knee in the opener.

    — PRESSURE IS ON: The Cavaliers. Big time. This Game 5 has added meaning since a loss would put Cleveland on the brink of a first-round exit for a second straight year. Anything short of advancing could lead to a franchise overhaul.

    Indiana leads 3-1. Game 5, 9:30 p.m. EDT, TNT

    — NEED TO KNOW: The Pacers are one win away from advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2014, when they reached the East finals. Milwaukee is staring at the possibility of losing 4-1 to a lower-seeded team in the opening round of the playoffs for a second consecutive season. Last year, the Bucks had the NBA’s top seed but lost to Miami in the opening round. The Bucks have never won a playoff series in which they trailed 3-1.

    — KEEP AN EYE ON: Indiana’s 3-point shooting. After shooting just 8 of 38 from beyond the arc in Game 1 — Milwaukee’s lone victory in the series — the Pacers have made 39.8% of their 3-pointers (51 of 128) over their last three games. The Pacers were 22 of 43 and set a playoff franchise record for 3-point baskets Sunday. Myles Turner has gone 14 of 25 on 3-point attempts over his last three games and was 7 of 9 in Game 4.

    — INJURY WATCH: Antetokounmpo hasn’t played the entire series due to a left calf strain and Lillard missed Game 4 with an Achilles tendon injury. Bucks coach Doc Rivers said before Game 4 that he couldn’t rule out either player for the series and indicated Antetokounmpo had a promising workout on Sunday. Middleton has hurt each of his ankles during this series and Patrick Beverley got banged up in Game 4 with what Rivers said was a rib issue. Both Middleton and Beverley said after the game they were fine.

    — PRESSURE IS ON: Bucks forward Bobby Portis. The Bucks needed a huge effort from Portis in Game 4 as they tried to win a road game without Antetokounmpo or Lillard. The NBA Sixth Man of the Year finalist instead got ejected seven minutes into the game.

    ___

    AP Sports Writers Steve Megargee in Milwaukee and Tom Withers in Cleveland contributed to this report.

    ___

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  • Timberwolves outlast Suns to finish sweep. Minnesota coach Chris Finch leaves with knee injury

    Timberwolves outlast Suns to finish sweep. Minnesota coach Chris Finch leaves with knee injury

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    PHOENIX — Minnesota star Anthony Edwards noticed early in the third quarter that the Phoenix Suns switched up their defense, playing him one-on-one most of the time instead of using the double teams from the first half.

    The budding superstar took that as a challenge.

    “It was like — you’ve got to beat us,” Edwards said. “And I showed them.”

    Edwards scored 31 of his 40 points in the second half, Karl-Anthony Towns added 28 and the Timberwolves pulled away late to beat the Suns 122-116 on Sunday night and sweep the first-round playoff series.

    The franchise’s first playoff series win in 20 years came after coach Chris Finch left the game late in the fourth after an inadvertent collision with Wolves guard Mike Conley. The team said he had a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee.

    Edwards finished 13 of 23 from the field, including 7 of 13 from 3-point range. The 22-year-old threw down a powerful, one-handed jam to give Minnesota a 115-111 lead with 2:14 left.

    “We’ve watched him grow, evolve as a leader, as a player, as a man,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “It’s been fun.”

    Phoenix would never recover.

    The Wolves finished off the Suns despite Devin Booker’s 49 points on 13 of 21 shooting. He also made 20 of 21 free throws. Kevin Durant added 33, but the rest of the team struggled.

    Assistant coach Micah Nori took over for Finch for the final 1:41 and the Wolves closed with relative ease.

    “Everybody has their role, everybody has each other’s back,” Nori said. “I know it sounds corny, but it’s just next man up, even with the coaching staff.”

    Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and the Wolves had a 44-33 rebounding advantage.

    It was a tight fourth quarter and the Suns tied it at 107 on Royce O’Neale’s 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining. Edwards and Jaden McDaniels hit back-to-back corner 3s to put the Wolves up 113-109 with 3:20 left.

    The Wolves now wait to see if they will face the Denver Nuggets or Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.

    “Their whole team created a lot of problems for us,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “The role players, the stars. Anthony Edwards is a special, special talent. And their bigs played really well.”

    Edwards hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third and McDaniels followed with a powerful dunk, helping Minnesota turn a six-point deficit into a 68-66 lead. It was part of a big third for Edwards, who hit four 3-pointers and had 15 points.

    Booker responded, scoring 18 points during the quarter and the Suns took a 92-90 lead into the fourth. It was a tough game for three-time All-Star Bradley Beal, who scored just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting before fouling out.

    “They were executing late and we didn’t,” Booker said.

    The Suns threw various looks at the Wolves in the first half, using five perimeter players at various times to try to pull big men Gobert and Towns away from the basket.

    Booker hit a fallaway jumper at the buzzer to give the Suns a 61-56 halftime lead. Durant led Phoenix with 20 points before the break, while Booker had 17. Towns had 15 for the Wolves.

    Suns guard Grayson Allen missed his second straight game because of a sprained ankle suffered in Game 1 that he aggravated in Game 2. He averaged 13.5 points per game and led the NBA in 3-point percentage during the regular season.

    ___

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  • Gordon, Jokic lead the Nuggets to the brink of a sweep with a 112-105 win over the Lakers in Game 3

    Gordon, Jokic lead the Nuggets to the brink of a sweep with a 112-105 win over the Lakers in Game 3

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    LOS ANGELES — With one championship ring and a tenacious veteran core, the Denver Nuggets are a daunting matchup for any opponent in the NBA.

    They’re clearly a particular nightmare for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who are one game away from an early summer after Denver stretched its winning streak in this lopsided rivalry to a whopping 11 games.

    Aaron Gordon had a playoff career-high 29 points and 15 rebounds, Nikola Jokic added 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, and the Nuggets moved to the brink of the second round with a 112-105 victory over the Lakers in Game 3 of their first-round series Thursday night.

    Jamal Murray scored 22 points to help the defending NBA champion Nuggets win their seventh straight playoff meeting with James and the Lakers in dominating style. Denver has rallied from a double-digit deficit in all three games, and the Nuggets went out of their way after Game 3 to praise an opponent they’ve utterly dominated recently.

    “I think every game is tougher and tougher,” Jokic said. “They were up 20 in Denver, they were up 12 today in the first half, but I think it’s really hard to play against the same team over and over again. … That’s a really tough team, and every game is really interesting and tough to win. Every game we’re playing catch-up, and they’re really talented. It’s really hard to close a team out.”

    Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points for Denver, which took control in the third quarter and cruised through the final minutes to its fifth straight road win over Los Angeles, starting with its sweep of last season’s Western Conference finals.

    “It’s fun to win games,” Porter said. “I don’t think anybody besides the media looks at the 11 (straight victories), because it’s hard. It’s not easy to beat this team. Last game, coming back from 20 points, we had to scratch and claw. So it’s not easy. But of course we like winning, and the more times we can win the better.”

    Game 4 is Saturday night in Los Angeles. No NBA team has ever rallied from an 0-3 playoff deficit.

    Anthony Davis had 33 points and 15 rebounds, and James added 26 points and nine assists for the Lakers, who haven’t beaten the Nuggets since Dec. 16, 2022 — and have rarely looked capable of ending that streak.

    “You come out with the mindset, ‘Let’s get one, force a Game 5, and then we go from there,’” James said. “As long as you still have life, then you obviously have belief. I just think you play ’til the wheels fall off. That’s what it’s always about for me. That’s a mindset, and I know (Davis) feels the same way.”

    Austin Reaves scored 22 points for Los Angeles, which surged into the postseason with largely outstanding play since the holidays, capped by an impressive play-in win over New Orleans to snatch the seventh seed. The Lakers had won 12 of 15 heading into this series — but now they’re one loss away from failing to win a playoff round for the third time in four years since their 2020 NBA title.

    “They have a championship confidence,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said about the Nuggets. “That starting group has been together for a long time. Their net rating is off the charts as a starting group. They had guys step up and make plays.”

    Davis and James were outstanding once again, but they can’t do it alone. The Lakers missed 15 of their first 16 3-point attempts in Game 3, going nearly 34 minutes between 3-point buckets.

    D’Angelo Russell went scoreless in 24 minutes of play for the Lakers, who got only two assists out of their inconsistent third option on offense. Russell missed all seven of his shots, including six 3-point attempts.

    Meanwhile, Gordon had the highest-scoring playoff game of his 10 NBA seasons, highlighted by 10 points in the third quarter while Denver took control. Jokic also made nine of his 13 shots and barely missed his 17th career postseason triple-double.

    The second-seeded Nuggets began their title defense with two wins in Denver, pulling away late in Game 1 before snatching Game 2 with a furious comeback capped by Murray’s winning jumper at the buzzer.

    After blowing a 20-point lead in the second half of Game 2, the seventh-seeded Lakers were left feeling frustrated, outmanned — and occasionally confused, according to Davis, who said the Lakers sometimes don’t know what they’re doing when faced with Denver’s offensive versatility.

    None of those problems had been alleviated in Game 3, and now the Lakers are one loss away from the end of James’ remarkable 21st NBA season. Los Angeles hadn’t played a home game in 16 days, and it has won just once at home since March 24.

    “Just last season, I was up 3-0 and ended up in a Game 7,” said Lakers guard Gabe Vincent, who played for the Miami Heat last season when they nearly blew a 3-0 lead on Boston. “Crazier things have happened.”

    But the Nuggets went 16-4 in last season’s playoffs, and they appear capable of another steamroll through the postseason after comfortably handling the talented Lakers through three games.

    Russell’s disappearing act was compounded by another quiet game from starter Rui Hachimura, who had only five points while taking four shots in 28 minutes.

    Denver turned a small halftime deficit into a 10-point lead with a 24-10 run to start the second half led by Gordon and Murray, who combined for 19 points in the third quarter. The Lakers never got closer than eight points down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

    While the Lakers’ fans left the building in the final minutes, a small group in the Lakers’ end chanted “Fire Darvin!”

    ___

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  • Portis scores 30 points, Bucks beat Magic 117-99 without injured Antetokounmpo

    Portis scores 30 points, Bucks beat Magic 117-99 without injured Antetokounmpo

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    MILWAUKEE — Bobby Portis had 30 points, nine rebounds and a career-high five steals to help the Milwaukee Bucks withstand Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence and beat the Orlando Magic 117-99 on Wednesday night.

    The Bucks played a night after Antetokounmpo left a 104-91 victory over the Boston Celtics because of a strained left calf. The Bucks announced Wednesday that the two-time MVP would miss the final three games of the regular season, though his availability for the start of the playoffs remains uncertain.

    “No timeline or anything like that, but we’ve got the best team working with him,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said before the game. “There’s no one who’s going to work harder than him. You know that. He’ll be back when he should be back. We’ll find out when that is.”

    Damian Lillard had 29 points and nine assists for the Bucks, who improved to 4-3 in games Antetokounmpo has missed this season. Jae Crowder scored 14 points off the bench. Pat Beverley had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

    Milwaukee also was missing Khris Middleton as the team monitors his workload after a sprained left ankle caused him to sit out 16 straight games this season.

    “We’re a deep team,” Lillard said. “Obviously Giannis is the head of the snake. When he’s out there, we’re at our best. But we’ve got a lot of guys in our locker room. We’ve got vets, and I think tonight, we understood what the mission was. We knew that we were going to be a couple of guys down – Giannis and Khris. We knew how we had to play. We knew what kind of energy we needed to have. I thought we came out and played that way from the start.”

    Milwaukee (49-31) is 1 1/2 games ahead of New York (47-32) and two games ahead of Cleveland (47-33) in the race for the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 playoff seed behind the Boston Celtics, who already have clinched the NBA’s best regular-season record.

    The Magic (46-34) have lost two straight and three of four as they try to earn one of the Eastern Conference’s top six seeds and avoid falling into a play-in situation. Orlando is chasing its first playoff berth since 2020 and only its third since 2012.

    Orlando visits Philadelphia on Friday and hosts Milwaukee on Sunday in its final two regular-season games.

    “I think those games will be very similar to the game we played tonight,” said Cole Anthony, who led the Magic with 23 points. “Tonight was a playoff atmosphere. The fans were loud. The refs, they were kind of letting us play. And we played against a really good team. That’s how it’s going to be when we get to the playoffs.”

    Paolo Banchero had 20 points and Jalen Suggs added 18 for the Magic. Orlando’s Franz Wagner missed a second straight game because of a sprained right ankle.

    The Magic scored the first five points of the game, but the Bucks answered with a 7-0 run. Although the Magic tied the game a couple of times in the next 2 1/2 minutes, they never led again.

    Portis had 24 points and four steals in the first half alone to help the Bucks grab a 64-50 lead at the break. In the first 1 1/2 quarters of the game, Orlando committed 10 turnovers and the Bucks outscored the Magic 16-0 in points off turnovers.

    “They did a great job of capitalizing off every single mistake we made,” Anthony said.

    The Bucks maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

    Bucks reserve guard A.J. Green played 15 minutes before exiting with a sprained left ankle.

    UP NEXT

    Magic: At Philadelphia on Friday night.

    Bucks: At Oklahoma City on Friday night.

    ___

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  • Trey Jemison, Maozinha Pereira scored 17 each as Grizzlies beat Pistons 108-90

    Trey Jemison, Maozinha Pereira scored 17 each as Grizzlies beat Pistons 108-90

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    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Trey Jemison had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Maozinha Pereira also scored 17 points, as the Memphis Grizzlies built a first-half lead and coasted to a 108-90 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.

    Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 16, while GG Jackson and Lamar Stevens each added 15 points. Seven of the eight Grizzlies who played reached double figures as Memphis got its first three-game winning streak since late January.

    Jaden Ivey led the Pistons with 31 points, and Jalen Duren finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 42nd double-double of the season. Jaylen Nowell added 12 points as Detroit lost its third straight and 11th of its last 12.

    Malachi Flynn, who had 50 points off the bench against Atlanta earlier this week, was limited to three points for the Pistons. Flynn missed all 12 of his shots in the game.

    After Ivey got the Pistons off to a quick start with 15 points in the first quarter, Memphis pushed the lead to double digits, extended it to 22 points and led 57-38 at the half. Memphis stretched the lead in the third when Pippen hit his first four shots in the quarter.

    Duren scored 13 points in the third, and Ivey added 11 for the Pistons, but Detroit got no closer than 16 in the period. Memphis was never threatened in the fourth.

    The game featured two teams limping to finish the season. Both have already been eliminated from any postseason hopes and were mired in the lower tier of their respective conferences. The rosters have been so fluid this season that each has surpassed the record for most players used in league history — 31 for each.

    The Grizzlies listed a dozen players unavailable with some type of ailment, while the Pistons were without seven on their injured list — including Cade Cunningham, the Pistons’ leading scorer at 22.7 points a game.

    UP NEXT

    Pistons: At Brooklyn on Saturday.

    Grizzlies: Host Philadelphia on Saturday.

    ___

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  • Zion Williamson scores 36 as Pelicans send short-handed Pistons to 6th straight loss

    Zion Williamson scores 36 as Pelicans send short-handed Pistons to 6th straight loss

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    DETROIT — Zion Williamson scored 36 points and led the New Orleans Pelicans to a 114-101 victory over the short-handed Detroit Pistons on Sunday.

    Williamson shot 13 for 14 from the floor and 10 for 14 from the line in 36 minutes. He added seven rebounds and six assists and received applause from the crowd at Little Caesars Arena when he left the game with 1:20 remaining.

    “He got it going about halfway through the first quarter, and we were just going to ride it,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “That’s why I didn’t take him out until the second.”

    Williamson became the third player in the last 20 years to score 35 points without a 3-pointer and with fewer than 15 field goal attempts. Dwyane Wade did it in 2005 and 2006, and Dwight Howard accomplished the feat in 2013.

    “I know my teammates and my coaches trust me,” said Williamson, who had four points against Miami on Friday. “I wasn’t tripping over that game. Coming into this game, I just wanted to get the win and that’s what we did.”

    CJ McCollum scored 23 points for the Pelicans (44-27), who have won five of six.

    The Pistons played without four of their five starters. Cade Cunningham (knee), Jalen Duren (back), Isaiah Stewart (hamstring) and Ausar Thompson (illness) missed the game, and sixth man Simone Fontecchio (toe) was also sidelined. Jaden Ivey was the only available player to have scored more than 500 points this season.

    Chimezu Metu and Malachi Flynn each scored 17 points for Detroit (12-59), which lost its sixth straight. Ivey added 16 points and Buddy Boeheim had a career-high 13. The Pistons need four wins in their last 11 games to avoid exceeding the franchise record of 66 losses.

    “Our guys believed they could play with the Pelicans,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said. “They went out there and gave us a chance to compete. Zion’s just a load when he’s playing downhill.”

    New Orleans led 57-41 after two periods and did just enough to keep the Pistons from mounting a significant rally in the second half.

    The Pistons’ patchwork offense has struggled to score. In the first quarter, Detroit shot 21.1% (4 for 19) from the floor, including 0 for 10 from 3-point range, on the way to a season-low 10 points. New Orleans managed more points off turnovers (11) and led by 19 points heading into the second quarter.

    “We just turned it over,” Williams said. “We had eight or nine in the first quarter. The ball wasn’t sticking and we were playing in the crowd.”

    Boeheim matched his career high with eight points in the second quarter and the Pistons trailed by 16 points at the break.

    UP NEXT

    Pelicans: Host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

    Pistons: At the New York Knicks on Monday.

    ___

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  • Nuggets edge youthful Trail Blazers 114-111 after Portland starts 5 rookies

    Nuggets edge youthful Trail Blazers 114-111 after Portland starts 5 rookies

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — Reggie Jackson scored 23 points, Aaron Gordon had 22 points and 12 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 114-111 on Saturday night.

    The Nuggets won without their star duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on a night when the Blazers became the second team to start five rookies since NBA box scores started tracking starters in the 1971-72 season.

    The reigning champs have won eight of their last nine and are 14-2 since the All-Star Break.

    “Any time you can win a game without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, especially on the road, you’re always going to take that,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I’m proud of our group for just fighting through it. Give them credit, they came out of halftime with a head of steam and got us on our heels.

    “We didn’t play any defense in (third) quarter, but down the stretch we made enough plays to get the win.”

    Rookie Duop Reath led the Trail Blazers with 24 points. Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s draft, finished with 22 points and six assists as the Blazers dropped their sixth straight.

    Denver’s biggest lead was 15.

    “When we called timeout, our leaders of the team were taking over the huddle making sure we were locked in,” Jackson said of Denver’s resolve in the second half. “We just wanted to get stops, stop offensive rebounds and just make sure we got good shots.”

    After Porter gave the Nuggets a 109-98 lead with 2:04 remaining, Portland made its final run starting with a 3-pointer by Reath. The Blazers forced a turnover and cut the lead to 109-105 on a layup by Toumani Camara with 50.5 seconds left.

    A layup from Jackson pushed the Nuggets ahead 111-105. Henderson responded with a layup to make it 111-107 with 27 seconds remaining.

    Henderson’s layup with 10 seconds left made it 112-109 after Jackson split a pair of free throws. After Gordon split a pair of foul shots of his own, Henderson made another layup to make it 113-111.

    Portland fouled Jackson with 1.9 seconds and he made one of two at the line again, but Kris Murray’s full-court heave to tie missed.

    After going 0 for 11 from deep in the first half, Portland made six 3-pointers in the third quarter to get back into it.

    “I think some of the ones we took in the first half weren’t the ones that we wanted,” Henderson said of Portland’s shooting. “I think in the second half, we were really finding that shot, getting into the paint and then kicking out. We were getting paint touches and then spraying 3s.”

    A free throw from Dalano Banton cut Denver’s lead to 85-83 heading into the final period.

    YOUNG BLAZERS

    Henderson started along with Camara, Reath, Kris Murray and Rayan Rupert.

    Saturday marked the first time a team started five rookies since the Golden State Warriors on April 26, 2012, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

    Klay Thompson started that night for the Warriors alongside Charles Jenkins, Chris Wright, Jeremy Tyler and Mickell Gladness in their final game of a lockout-shortened season.

    The Blazers have the second-worst record in the Western Conference. On Saturday night, they were without several key players, including Simons, Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, Shaedon Sharpe and Malcolm Brogdon.

    UP NEXT

    Nuggets: Host Memphis on Monday night.

    Trail Blazers: At Houston on Monday night.

    —

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  • Clippers sweep 2-game set in Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 125-117

    Clippers sweep 2-game set in Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 125-117

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    Paul George scored 31 points, Kawhi Leonard had 22 and the Los Angeles Clippers swept a two-game set in Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 125-117 on Friday night

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Paul George scored 31 points, Kawhi Leonard had 22 and the Los Angeles Clippers swept a two-game set in Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 125-117 on Friday night.

    At 44-25, the Clippers have a 1 1/2-game lead over New Orleans for the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff race.

    Scoot Henderson had 24 points and 10 assists for Portland in its fifth straight loss. The Trail Blazers were without starting center Deandre Ayton and lost scoring leader Anfernee Simons midway through the third quarter because of a left knee injury.

    The Clippers shot 42% from 3-point range and were 56% overall. George was 10 of 14 from the field, and Leonard 9 of 15.

    Los Angeles’ largest lead was 26 points, with Leonard and George sitting out the fourth quarter.

    UP NEXT

    Clippers: Host Philadelphia on Sunday.

    Trail Blazers: Host Denver on Saturday night.

    ___

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  • Cavs coach Bickerstaff says he received threats from gamblers, feels sports betting ‘gone too far’

    Cavs coach Bickerstaff says he received threats from gamblers, feels sports betting ‘gone too far’

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    Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff revealed he received threats from gamblers last season and reported it to the NBA.

    While being asked Wednesday night about sports gambling following comments made by Indiana All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, who said he sometimes feels like a “prop,” Bickerstaff said gamblers contacted him.

    “They got my telephone number and were sending me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that stuff,” Bickerstaff said before the Cavs hosted the Miami Heat. “So it is a dangerous game and a fine line that we’re walking for sure.”

    Bickerstaff said he told security and that the gambler was located.

    “No charges,” Bickerstaff said. “But they found him.”

    With sports gambling growing in the U.S., Bickerstaff, who is in his fourth full season with the Cavaliers, said his job has become more challenging.

    “It brings added pressure,” he said. “It brings a distraction to the game that can be difficult for players, coaches, referees, everybody that’s involved in it. And I think that we really have to be careful with how close we let it get to the game and the security of the people who are involved in it.

    “Because again, it does carry a weight. A lot of times the people who are gambling like this money pays their light bill or pay their rent, and then the emotions that come from that. So I do think we’re walking a very fine line and we have to be extremely careful in protecting everybody who’s involved.”

    Because fans can bet on their phones in the arena — the Cavs have a sportsbook inside Rocket Mortage FieldHouse — Bickerstaff said the line between gambling and the game has never been closer.

    “There’s no doubt about it that it’s crossed the line,” he said. “The amount of times where I’m standing up there and we may have a 10-point lead and the spread is 11 and people are yelling at me to leave the guys in so that we can cover the spread, it’s ridiculous.

    “But again, I understand the business side of it and the nature of the business of it. But I mean, it is something that I believe has gone too far.”

    Following a recent game in Cleveland, Minnesota center Rudy Gobert said he felt gambling is “hurting our game.”

    Gobert made the comments after making a “money” gesture toward official Scott Foster, implying gambling was influencing the way the game was being called. He was fined $100,000, the maximum that the NBA could give under terms of the collective bargaining agreement that went into place last year.

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  • Jalen Duren has career-high 23 rebounds as Pistons beat Raptors 113-104 for 3rd win in 4

    Jalen Duren has career-high 23 rebounds as Pistons beat Raptors 113-104 for 3rd win in 4

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    Jalen Duren had a career-high 23 rebounds along with 24 points and five assists as the Detroit Pistons won three of four games for the first time in nearly two years, beating the Toronto Raptors 113-104

    DETROIT — Jalen Duren had a career-high 23 rebounds along with 24 points and five assists as the Detroit Pistons won three of four games for the first time in nearly two years, beating the Toronto Raptors 113-104 on Wednesday.

    Detroit, which trailed by 16 points in the second quarter, hadn’t won three of four since late in the 2021-22 season — a stretch of 145 games.

    Duren posted his second game this season with at least 20 points, 20 boards and five assists. Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis are the only other players with two this season.

    Cade Cunningham added 19 points for Detroit, which had six players score in double figures. The Pistons have the second-worst record in the league, one game ahead of Washington.

    Immanuel Quickley scored 25 points for Toronto, which matched a season high by losing five straight. Former Piston Kelly Olynyk scored 19.

    The Raptors led 57-52 at halftime but only scored 22 points in the third. That allowed Detroit to take an 83-79 lead on Stanley Umude’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.

    The Pistons continued to play good defense, holding Toronto to two points on 1-of-8 shooting in the first five minutes of the fourth. A pair of 3-pointers by Marcus Sasser put Detroit ahead 100-87 with 4:26 left, and the Raptors never challenged down the stretch.

    Toronto started the second quarter with a 26-5 run, with nine players contributing points. Cunningham and Duren combined to go 6 of 10 in the quarter, but the rest of the team shot 1 of 14.

    UP NEXT

    Raptors: Host Orlando on Friday.

    Pistons: Host Miami on Friday.

    ___

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