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Erik Spoelstra breaks Jimmy Butler silence, with Heat offering pushback to Butler's rebukes

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — Friday, the silence was broken, the uneasy truce between Jimmy Butler’s side of the story and the Miami Heat’s side when it came to the past two months of unease that led to Thursday’s finalization of the trade of the former All-Star forward to the Golden State Warriors.

For weeks, ahead of media sessions with coach Erik ...Read more

Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Mavericks brace for boos, 'weird' scene in first home game since Luka Doncic trade

Sports / Basketball /

Klay Thompson doesn’t know quite what to expect when the Mavericks take the floor for their first home game since the franchise-altering trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers.

Thompson said he is bracing to hear boos from heartbroken Mavericks fans during Saturday’s game against the Houston Rockets at Dallas’ American Airlines Center....Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Kristian Winfield: These 5 NBA trade deadline deals made you forget about Super Bowl Sunday

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — Super Bowl Sunday? Try NBA trade deadline Thursday.

One sport is stealing the spotlight ahead of Sunday’s championship showdown between Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs and Jalen Hurts’ Philadelphia Eagles — and it’s not football.

Instead, the NBA hijacked the headlines with a flurry of landscape-altering, internet-...Read more

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LeBron James defies his age again, scoring 42 in Lakers' win over Warriors

Sports / Basketball /

LOS ANGELES — The energy was flowing from the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James’ teammates placing an imaginary crown on top of his head after he scored nine points on the three shots over 38 seconds in the second quarter.

It was a statement, the game’s all-time leading scorer putting on a show while his future partner, Luka Doncic, ...Read more

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Clippers fail to heed Tyronn Lue's words, falling to Pacers for third straight loss

Sports / Basketball /

LOS ANGELES — The message was clear from Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue to his group: Play hard and compete.

After seeing his players struggle in the last three games — including two losses — Lue insisted his players perform at a higher level against the fast-paced Indiana Pacers on Thursday night at Intuit Dome.

Lue wasn’t ...Read more

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Offensive struggles continue as Sacramento Kings fall to Blazers in Valanciunas' debut

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Anfernee Simons scored 30 points to help the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers beat the Sacramento Kings 108-102 on Thursday at Moda Center.

The Blazers spoiled the debut of Jonas Valanciunas one night after the Kings suffered a 130-111 loss to the Orlando Magic in Zach LaVine’s debut.

Shaedon Sharpe came off the bench to score 24 points for ...Read more

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'Artist' Michael Porter Jr. stays hot, leads Nuggets to fifth consecutive win

Sports / Basketball /

DENVER — Coach Michael Malone wants Michael Porter Jr. to shoot early and often.

So he did.

Porter scored 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting in the Nuggets’ 112-90 victory over the offensively-challenged Orlando Magic Thursday night at Ball Arena.

“He’s one of the best shooters in the league and has one of the prettiest jump shots I’ve ...Read more

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Timberwolves pull away from Rockets behind Anthony Edwards' 41 points

Sports / Basketball /

MINNEAPOLIS — The Timberwolves stood pat at Thursday’s trade deadline in part because there is a strong internal belief that when they are fully healthy, the Wolves have the ability to make a run.

With Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo out at least another few weeks, the Wolves have to make do between now and the All-Star break. They ...Read more

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Nets silent at trade deadline; Ben Simmons negotiating buyout

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — Thursday’s trade deadline came and went, and the Nets were silent. There were rumblings that veterans such as Cam Johnson, Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe could be on the move, but no deals were made, and all three remain in Brooklyn for now.

“Our group has handled it great, because our group has been involved in [rumors] from...Read more

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Dom Amore: 'He didn't talk loud, he played loud.' Ben Gordon taking his place among UConn greats.

Sports / Basketball /

HARTFORD, Conn. — Jim Calhoun was watching an AAU game one quiet Sunday morning with Mike Krzyzewski when they began talking about a player they were watching. He had talent, but didn’t look to fit the usual mold of a position.

Where would he play? “Somewhere on the court,” Calhoun said, when he returned to the UConn campus to discuss ...Read more

Julia Poe: Bulls remain in their comfort zone of mediocrity after another underwhelming trade deadline

Sports / Basketball /

CHICAGO — Another NBA trade deadline passed Thursday with a familiar sense of dissatisfaction in Chicago.

Is that ... it?

Sure, the Bulls didn’t stand pat this time. Change finally came in the form of trading longtime star Zach LaVine, a years-long goal the front office finally accomplished Sunday with a three-team trade that sent LaVine ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dylan Hernández: Trade deadline deals transform Lakers from sideshow to NBA title contenders

Sports / Basketball /

LOS ANGELES — They spent the last four years feeling as if they were stuck in rush-hour traffic. Now, the Lakers are racing down an open road.

Toward relevance.

Toward contention.

Toward a potential 18th championship.

Everything changed for the Lakers in the five days leading up to Thursday's trade deadline, as they evolved from a high-...Read more

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Cavaliers and Lakers get better, Kevin Durant stays put after instant-classic NBA trade deadline

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — As it turned out, the bulk of the NBA trade drama occurred before the day of the deadline.

There were no deals Thursday that matched the magnitude of Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis or Jimmy Butler changing teams.

Kevin Durant remained with the Phoenix Suns through the 3 p.m. cutoff, while Paul George stayed with the Philadelphia 76ers...Read more

Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Hawks trade De'Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic on deadline day

Sports / Basketball /

ATLANTA — The Hawks did not stand pat at the NBA trade deadline Thursday. They made several deals ahead of the 3 p.m. deadline, including moving on from De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Cody Zeller, according to a person familiar with the situation.

In exchange for Hunter, the Hawks received wing Caris LeVert, forward Georges Niang, ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA native upset Luka Doncic is a Laker. He's raising money to protest trade with billboards in Dallas.

Sports / Basketball /

LOS ANGELES — Many people from the Los Angeles area are thrilled with the blockbuster trade that made former Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic a member of the Lakers over the weekend.

Jacob Posner is not one of those people.

That's because the Palisades Charter High School graduate is a diehard Mavericks fan — and he became one because of ...Read more

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Lakers trade for center Mark Williams, deal Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish and draft picks

Sports / Basketball /

LOS ANGELES — Rob Pelinka, the Lakers' general manager and frequent target of the team's fan base for inaction on the trade market, sat in front of cameras and told everyone there was no way to wave a "magic wand" and make the right center appear.

For months the Lakers' front office signaled there wasn't a center available who fit their price...Read more

Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Mac Engel: Mavericks fan expresses heartbreak post-Doncic trade: 'I want them to lose'

Sports / Basketball /

FORT WORTH, Texas — The pall that Nico Harrison created for the Dallas Mavericks may not evaporate with an 2025 NBA title.

The hurt, wrath and anger that the general manager of the local NBA franchise has created by trading Luka Doncic really has no sports equal in this town. Not with the Texas Rangers. Not with the Dallas Stars. And not even...Read more

Beede's Breakdown: How Magic found identity again in win at Kings

Sports / Basketball /

Hours before the Magic battled the new-look Kings late Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center, All-Star forward Paolo Banchero laid out exactly how Orlando would get out of its 4-game skid.

“It just starts at the top,” Banchero said at shootaround earlier in the morning. “It starts with me. It starts with Franz [Wagner]. Getting us out of ...Read more

Al Diaz/Miami Herald/TNS

Greg Cote: Heat fail (again) to land Durant -- but trading Butler is a gust of fresh air

Sports / Basketball /

MIAMI — The Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler drama mercifully and finally ended Wednesday night, a day ahead of the NBA trade deadline, and allow me to offer this reaction in order of importance.

— 1. Jimmy is gone. And the angels sang! I try to be careful with words. Won’t say he had become a “cancer,” in respect to people actually ...Read more

Al Diaz/Miami Herald/TNS

Dieter Kurtenbach: The Warriors' deal for Jimmy Butler is exactly the right type of gamble

Sports / Basketball /

The Golden State Warriors had one route to relevancy remaining before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline — one last shot to find a second star to pair with Steph Curry for the last few seasons of his career.

On Wednesday night, they took it.

It took them long enough.

On the day that Kevin Durant said “no thanks” to a Bay Area return, the ...Read more