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Marcus Hayes: Tyrese Maxey, new Sixers alpha, would not let them lose Game 5 in New York despite Joel Embiid's struggles
NEW YORK — As it turns out, the reports of the Sixers’ death were greatly exaggerated.
Surely, the reports were only premature — it’s got to end badly sooner or later — but they’re not dead yet.
Not as long as Tyrese Maxey is running, Tobias Harris is hustling and Joel Embiid is limping.
Maxey dropped 46 points on the Knicks, ...Read more
Tyrese Maxey saves Sixers' season with incredible performance in 112-106 Game 5 overtime win vs. Knicks
NEW YORK — Joel Embiid dove for the loose ball. Nick Nurse called timeout. And a crowd at Madison Square Garden that has spent so much of this first-round playoff series in a frenzy quietly began to file for the exits.
Then, Tyrese Maxey stepped to the free-throw line to cap an epic 46-point, nine-assist, season-saving effort.
The Sixers ...Read more
Magic drop Game 5 vs. Cavaliers, return home for elimination game
CLEVELAND — It’s officially do-or-die time for the Magic.
They couldn’t hold onto a late lead in the fourth quarter Tuesday night — and Evan Mobley blocked Franz Wagner’s layup attempt to tie it in the waning seconds — and fell to the Cavaliers in a pivotal Game 5, 104-103, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse despite Paolo Banchero’s ...Read more
Jaquez (hip) latest Heat player sidelined; Butler, Rozier also out for Game 5, as is Celtics' Porzingis
BOSTON — The Miami Heat now will need a next man up for their next man up amid their injury-riddled ride through the opening round of the NBA playoffs.
Moved into the starting lineup in the wake of injuries to teammates Terry Rozier and Jimmy Butler, first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr. on Tuesday was ruled out by the team for Wednesday night’...Read more
Shakeia Taylor: Candace Parker's impact, from a 3-time Ms. Basketball of Illinois to a 3-time WNBA champion
CHICAGO — What does it mean to be one of the greatest of all time?
It’s something we hear tossed around in sports discussions constantly. We each define it differently, some metrics carry more weight than others. It’s completely subjective, but we ask anyway. It’s one of the greatest and forever arguments in sports.
Is it championships...Read more
Knicks' Bojan Bogdanovic out for postseason due to wrist and foot surgeries
NEW YORK — Knicks forward Bojan Bogdanovic will undergo season-ending surgeries to repair foot and wrist injuries, the team announced on Tuesday.
The news of the Knicks losing a key role player comes with the team up 3-1 in the first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Bogdanovic appeared to suffer the foot injury after ...Read more
How LeBron James, Darvin Ham and the Lakers reached a critical offseason crossroads
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James and his Lakers teammates were overcome with disbelief. They rushed to the monitor on the scorer’s table in Minnesota to see the play in dispute.
They pleaded and pointed at the zoomed-in image of the toe of James’ right sneaker and the blue 3-point line it might or might not have touched.
James was sure he was ...Read more
Troy Renck: Jamal Murray made another shot. The bigger the moment, the better the Nuggets star gets.
DENVER — Jamal Murray made another shot.
Because of a flick of a wrist, LeBron James is gone. And he took Anthony Davis with him. The Nuggets vanquished the Lakers, beating them for the 12th time in 13 games to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Denver got the win. Los Angeles got the whine.
No more stamping of feet, throwing arms...Read more
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch to have surgery; playoff coaching plan uncertain
MINNEAPOLIS — Timberwolves coach Chris Finch is set to have knee surgery Wednesday to repair a ruptured right patellar tendon.
The Wolves open their NBA Western Conference semifinal series in Denver on Saturday, and the team is still figuring out how Finch could help coach from near the bench area, a source said Tuesday.
Finch, 54, will have...Read more
Bill Plaschke: Lakers stuck in mediocre hell with no hope in sight after season-ending loss
LOS ANGELES — Sigh, scream, here we go again, same Lakers ending, same Lakers failure, same two tiresome words.
What now?
For the 13th time in 14 seasons, the Lakers have fallen far short in their bid to pile on another NBA championship, and, man, is this getting old.
The latest quest ended Monday night with a 108-106 loss to the Denver ...Read more
Dylan Hernández: The Lakers have no choice. They must do whatever it takes to keep LeBron James.
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James raised the microphone to his face.
"Ummm," he started.
James smiled and looked at me.
"I'm not going to answer that," he said.
James nodded.
"Appreciate it," he said, still smiling.
With that, he walked off the dais.
The question I asked that James declined to answer: Did he have any thoughts on Monday night ...Read more
Mark Story: An NCAA rule that John Calipari loathed is helping Mark Pope rebuild UK basketball's roster
It was not a surprise for a coach who was synonymous with teams built around one-and-done freshmen, but John Calipari all but loathed the “make the game older” impact that the NCAA-granted “one free COVID year” has had on men’s college basketball.
The presence of players using a fifth season of college eligibility — like, say, ...Read more
College basketball's offseason has a free agency feel. Here's how Villanova is navigating the new world
PHILADELPHIA -- Alabama reached the men’s basketball Final Four and had 11 players in the transfer portal as of Friday afternoon. Duke reached the Elite Eight and then watched seven players submit their names to leave the program. Rutgers may have the best incoming recruiting class in its hoops history, but the Scarlet Knights are likely ...Read more
Dieter Kurtenbach: The time is right for Kevin Durant and the Warriors to reunite
Who helped whom?
If you listen to the toxic discourse surrounding NBA basketball, you’d be led to believe that the Golden State Warriors were some scrub team saved by Kevin Durant joining them for the 2016-17 season.
It sure seems that Durant needed the Warriors more than the Warriors needed him.
On Sunday night, Durant’s latest team, the...Read more
Jamal Murray scores another game-winner to lift Nuggets past Lakers in first-round series
Jamal Murray made a shot.
Again.
And in a playoff series that the Nuggets trailed more than they led on the scoreboard, they won four of five games.
Murray’s pull-up 14-footer with 3.4 seconds remaining handed the Nuggets a 108-106 Game 5 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and a first-round series win. Denver will advance to play the third...Read more
Celtics beat Heat, go up 3-1 in playoff series. Poor 3-point shooting again dooms Miami
MIAMI -- This Heat season, and perhaps this era of Heat basketball, stands one loss from expiration after a sixth consecutive home playoff loss and a second offensive dud against Boston in three days.
Undermanned and seemingly out of both firepower and answers, the Heat succumbed to the Celtics, 102-88, on Monday night at Kaseya Center and now ...Read more
Winderman's view: The reality is this also is a mess of the Heat's own creation
MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Monday night’s 102-88 NBA playoff loss to the Boston Celtics:
– Yes, this is about the Celtics.
– Whose depth of talent is such that even Derrick White can be a leading man.
– Whose depth of talent is such that they can survive a calf injury to Kristaps Porzingis.
– And, yes, ...Read more
Devin Booker's Knicks trade interest intensifies after Suns swept out of playoffs; report
The Minnesota Timberwolves were always going to sweep the superstar-heavy Phoenix Suns. And somehow the Knicks have entered the chat with things reaching a boiling point after a failed season in Phoenix.
The Suns’ season ended in disappointing fashion, a 4-0 series sweep underscoring the difference between a team — like the championship-...Read more
Bruins notebook: Mason Lohrei is rising to the occasion
BOSTON -- Mason Lohrei was not a member of the Boston Bruins last year when they lost a heartbreaking Game 7 to the Florida Panthers, but he got a good taste of what the vibe will be like when he’s expected to step onto the Garden ice for his first home playoff game on Tuesday for the potential close-out Game 5 against the Toronto.
And while ...Read more
Postgame presser with Towns showed how Edwards has grown as a leader
PHOENIX – After the Timberwolves swept their playoff series against the Suns, fans got a little glimpse into the leadership style of Anthony Edwards.
Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns did their postgame interview together at a small table near the locker room, and Towns was asked a question about how he navigated this series, then came up with ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Marcus Hayes: Tyrese Maxey, new Sixers alpha, would not let them lose Game 5 in New York despite Joel Embiid's struggles
- Tyrese Maxey saves Sixers' season with incredible performance in 112-106 Game 5 overtime win vs. Knicks
- Jaquez (hip) latest Heat player sidelined; Butler, Rozier also out for Game 5, as is Celtics' Porzingis
- Magic drop Game 5 vs. Cavaliers, return home for elimination game
- How LeBron James, Darvin Ham and the Lakers reached a critical offseason crossroads