SAN ANTONIO -- Timberwolves three-time All Star Jimmy Butler predicted Wednesday's season opener at San Antonio might not be pretty, but it might begin to reveal his team's nature.

He's 2-0 in predictions while the Wolves are now 0-1 in the standings after a 107-99 loss to the Spurs at AT&T Center.

Before Wednesday's game, Butler wasn't ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The young man at the center of all the commotion smiled calmly on Wednesday, the day before the first meaningful game of his NBA career.

Lonzo Ball is rarely any other way.

"It is going to be a lot of fun," Ball said.

On Thursday night the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Los Angeles Clippers in the season opener for both teams...Read more

WASHINGTON -- 76ers coach Brett Brown thinks it's unintelligent to make a judgment on his squad after one game.

He thinks folks will get a better sense of his squad after the first third of the season. Perhaps we will learn more then.

The Sixers looked a like a team worthy of all the offseason hype before ultimately falling, 120-115, to the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Los Angeles Clippers were finally intact for practice after an injury-ravaged training camp.

On Thursday, the Clippers will take their healed group to Staples Center to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the season opener for both teams.

No one is more curious to see what this team has than Clippers ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Ready or not, here comes Lauri Markkanen.

In the first year of a full rebuild, the Bulls projected the first-round pick to play an important role. But nobody expected the Finnish forward to start Thursday's season opener in Toronto, as coach Fred Hoiberg announced Wednesday, a day after the altercation in practice that left Nikola ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Udonis Haslem has been around for a few "misunderstandings" between teammates in his 15 years with the Heat.

But he's never seen anything like what happened Tuesday in Chicago when Bobby Portis (6-11, 230) sent Nikola Mirotic (6-10, 220) to the hospital with two broken bones in his face and a concussion after a vicious punch ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. -- It was a celebration of the start of the NBA season that Erik Spoelstra was spending with his Miami Heat coaching staff. And then it became anything but a festive evening.

Though Spoelstra never got his chance to coach Gordon Hayward, he was part of the Heat's all-out push for the versatile All-Star forward in free agency. And ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- It appears that 76ers coach Brett Brown may be weary of answering minutes restriction questions in regards to Joel Embiid.

Either that or Brown is giving himself a little wiggle room for Wednesday night's season-opener against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.

"There's a range that we are going to figure out," said ...Read more

Giannis Antetokounmpo officially arrived as a star in the NBA sky last season.

He established himself as one of the top players in the league, led the Milwaukee Bucks in every major statistical category and became both an All-Star and the league's most improved player in his fourth season.

At just 22 years old, Antetokounmpo has become the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES--Twin brothers Brook and Robin Lopez were always up to something, even when they were 5 years old in the back seat of their mom's car on the way to their older brothers' basketball games.

They created their own little world, drawing pictures or plotting stories they invented with fictional characters from their vibrant imaginations....Read more

LOS ANGELES--For six years, the Los Angeles Clippers stood among the best of the NBA, a team listed in the company of the championship contenders despite their constant playoff failures.

They are no longer seen in the same light.

As the Clippers prepare to launch their 2017-18 season, they now are regarded as a team at the crossroads.

No one ...Read more

Joel Embiid is not afraid to share how he feels.

Using a string of expletives, the 76ers center voiced his displeasure with the coaching and medical staffs' decision to keep him on a minutes restriction.

"I always think I have a voice, and that they're listening to what I have to say, too. They're making the decision based on what they think, ...Read more

Starting power forward Nikola Mirotic will miss Thursday's season opener and be sidelined indefinitely after getting punched in the face by Bobby Portis during a practice altercation, a source said.

One source said Mirotic suffered two broken bones in his face and was evaluated for a concussion at the hospital. He has since been released.

The ...Read more

You look at the 76ers' version of "The Big Three."

There's Joel Embiid, the towering best player on the team, and perhaps the most intriguing player in the NBA.

Then there's a confident costar in Ben Simmons, who just might reinvent the point guard position.

And there's multitalented youngster Markelle Fultz. While his time with the Sixers ...Read more