HOUSTON – No tournament opponent has been able to get within single digits of the UConn men’s basketball team. In a hard-fought Final Four battle against Miami on Saturday in Houston’s NRG Stadium, the Huskies prevailed, 72-59, to advance to the program’s fifth-ever national championship game on Monday night.

Adama Sanogo led the ...Read more

NEW ORLEANS — When the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard in a landmark free-agency acquisition four years ago, the significance was obvious for all to see. A franchise beleaguered by a woeful record in high-stress moments now had their stone-faced closer, a two-time NBA Finals most valuable player whose pulse seemed to rarely rise above resting. ...Read more

HOUSTON — The buzz around the University of Miami team hotel was palpable for days leading up to the Hurricanes’ Final Four game against Connecticut late Saturday night.

Thousands of fans and former players spanning all the eras, milled around the lobby, marveling at how a program that didn’t even exist in the mid-’80s and then held ...Read more

MIAMI — For extended stretches Saturday night at Miami-Dade Arena, defense was optional, which for the Dallas Mavericks has become the story of a season gone sour.

For extended stretches Saturday night, the Miami Heat found themselves nearly as defenseless.

Finally, a stand was made, one that snapped a three-game losing streak and moved the ...Read more

HOUSTON — San Diego State’s Lamont Butler took a dribble left, put up the shot just before the final buzzer, and that’s the thing about living the dream like Florida Atlantic this time of year. Sometimes the other team is living the same dream. Sometimes the magic is on their side for one final shot, too.

Butler’s jump shot went through...Read more

HOUSTON — San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher just stood there while the net danced and pandemonium erupted around him. Players charged onto the court and jumped on Lamont Butler, first Aguek Arop, then Darrion Trammell, then Elijah Saunder off the bench, maybe the fastest a 6-foot-8, 240-pound human has ever moved.

An assistant coach jumped ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — As expected, Cason Wallace’s first season as a Kentucky Wildcat will be his last.

Wallace — a 6-foot-4 guard from Dallas — has declared for the 2023 NBA draft and intends to keep his name in the pool, foregoing his final three years of college basketball eligibility.

“This season was fun. It had its ups and downs but...Read more

MIAMI — From the moment he walked off the court at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 10, 2019, with a career-ending triple-double, this moment Saturday in Houston at the NCAA Final Four was inevitable.

Miami Heat icon Dwyane Wade has been unanimously selected as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, with enshrinement ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Not all that often has there been a collection of hitters at the top of one team’s lineup like Xander Bogaerts, Juan Soto and Manny Machado.

Eventually, it will matter.

And it will matter on a night like Friday, when a pitcher like Nick Martinez deserved better than he got from the defenders behind him and the hitters ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Two days after overcoming a 20-point deficit to stun the New Orleans Pelicans, the Golden State Warriors faltered early again Friday night, but overcame the slow, sloppy start against the San Antonio Spurs to pull out a 130-115 victory.

Stephen Curry scored 33 points, Klay Thompson had 31 and Jordan Poole added another 27 off ...Read more

Friday's slate of NBA games included several matchups with playoff implications, but there was a battle between the teams with the worst records in the league being held in Houston.

Both franchises will be in line this summer to secure a top-five pick to add to their young rosters, but their latest meeting was about coming away with a victory. ...Read more

CLEVELAND — If this was a preview of a first-round playoff matchup, expect a mountain of points and a thrilling battle of guards.

Jalen Brunson won his matchup against Donovan Mitchell and the Knicks outlasted the Cavaliers on Friday night, 130-116, running away in the fourth quarter in their first game without injured Julius Randle.

...Read more

BOSTON — Less than 24 hours after one of their best wins of the season, the Celtics could have made excuses.

Travel issues made the Celtics stay an extra night in Milwaukee after their blowout win over the Bucks, and they didn’t land in Boston until about six hours before tip-off for their game against the Jazz. The visitors’ top players ...Read more

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — To reach the Memphis locker room after his pregame warmup Friday, the Grizzlies’ Luke Kennard had to first pass by a Clippers bench populated by a few of his former assistant coaches. Stopping to chat, Kennard playfully asked whether the Clippers, whose suffocating defense two nights earlier limited him to attempt three 3-...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — On paper, the Toronto Raptors were supposed to join the 76ers as one of this season’s Eastern Conference’s elite teams.

The Raptors’ season, however, has been a difficult one for their coach, Nick Nurse, from a number of standpoints.

“Early on, [Toronto] had some pretty serious injuries with some key guys,” Nurse ...Read more