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Celtics finish road trip strong, produce best performance since All-Star break with dominant win over Kings

Sports / Basketball /

Before the Celtics took off for their longest road trip of the season, they stressed a sense of urgency. They knew they weren’t playing up to their standards, and they recognized the importance of correcting their inconsistencies with the playoffs coming soon.

“For us, being able to know that we don’t have any games left in the regular ...Read more

Paul George injured late as Clippers fall short against Thunder

Sports / Basketball /

Four years ago, in the afterglow of one of the most transformative nights in Clippers franchise history, there were some within the organization who found themselves as excited by the additions of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard as they were mournful over the cost.

There was no way the Clippers could have pulled off a trade with Oklahoma City ...Read more

Sarah Stier/Getty Images North America/TNS

Pistons bullied on the boards in 129-107 loss against Hawks

Sports / Basketball /

ATLANTA — The Pistons are short-handed most nights, which has become routine down the final stretch of the regular season. However, that fact becomes more glaring when they face opponents with prominent frontcourts, especially without two of their best big men.

Detroit couldn’t keep the Atlanta Hawks off the offensive glass, which led to ...Read more

Al Bello/Getty Images North America/TNS

Nets lose 4th in a row; rally late and fall short to Cavs, 115-109

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — No wonder the Cavaliers want the Nets in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs this season.

If that hypothetical series goes anything like the Nets’ 115-109 loss to the Cavaliers on Tuesday, Cleveland may as well own a first-round bye.

Reports emerged out of Cleveland on March 17 suggesting Cavaliers personnel ...Read more

Mike Bianchi: NCAA football is pillar of integrity compared to NCAA basketball

Sports / Basketball /

How do we do it during March Madness?

How do we manage to bury our heads in the sand while simultaneously painting our faces in school colors?

We are either magicians or contortionists.

How else do you explain our ability to raucously stand up and clap our hands while we’re holding our noses at the same time to avoid the stench emanating ...Read more

Why Duke basketball's future looks bright, despite an early loss in the NCAA Tournament

Sports / Basketball /

DURHAM, N.C. — Long and lanky, Dereck Lively stretched out in a chair in front of his locker inside Orlando's Amway Center Saturday night staring ahead, lost in thought.

Still wearing his Duke No. 1 jersey, the 7-1 center was still absorbing the abrupt end to his freshman — and likely only — season with the Blue Devils.

"This isn't what ...Read more

Sean Gardner/Getty Images North America/TNS

NBPA VP Jaylen Brown: Nets' Kyrie Irving suspension violated CBA

Sports / Basketball /

National Basketball Players Association Vice President Jaylen Brown called the nature of the eight-game suspension the Nets handed Kyrie Irving in November “unjust,” and said it violated the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.”

“That’s my job as vice president of the union,” Brown said in an interview with The Ringer’s Logan ...Read more

Bryce Miller: The 3s could tilt fates in Sweet 16 clash between San Diego State and Alabama

Sports / Basketball /

Analysis of San Diego State's Sweet 16 tangle-in-waiting with No. 1 overall seed Alabama on Friday in Louisville, Ky., hints at a different sort of crimson against the Crimson Tide.

The Aztecs are one of the most physical teams in college basketball. Alabama counters with one of the most towering front lines in the country, averaging more than ...Read more

Harry How/Getty Images North America/TNS

Lakers not feeling pressure as sprint to the finish begins

Sports / Basketball /

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers arrived Tuesday at their practice facility and took a team photo.

They'll begin to know Wednesday if those smiles can be lasting.

The game against the Phoenix Suns in Los Angeles begins the final 10 of a wildly up-and-down season, one in which optimism slowly built over the last month despite the team never reaching ...Read more

staff/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/staff

Dave Hyde: A campus walk with Jim Larrañaga is evidence of Miami Hurricanes' Sweet 16 success

Sports / Basketball /

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — It’s just after noon and a soft sunshine plays across the University of Miami campus as Jim Larrañaga leaves his basketball office for his daily walk.

He wasn’t sure he’d have time for it Tuesday between the two-hour staff meeting, the nine media interviews, the private talks with various players and the general ...Read more

He's 'questionable': Could Karl-Anthony Towns return to Timberwolves after 52-game absence?

Sports / Basketball /

MINNEAPOLIS — Another turn of the wheel in the Timberwolves' recent injury drama came Tuesday as fans were teased with the prospect that Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards might both play in Wednesday night's home game against the Hawks — only for coach Chris Finch to throw water on that notion later in the afternoon.

But then the team'...Read more

Keith Bedford/Getty Images North America/TNS

Marv Albert remembers Willis Reed as 'heart and soul' of the Knicks

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — “Here comes Willis Reed.”

Marv Albert now says it was a throwaway line before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, but it became a signature sound byte of his Hall of Fame career — and the signature moment of the New York Knicks.

Albert made the call on the radio knowing prior Reed’s intention of playing that night. The Madison ...Read more

Trend or aberration? All Triangle basketball teams miss Sweet 16 for 1st time in years.

Sports / Basketball /

The pep bands will play on, in New York and Louisville and Kansas City and Las Vegas, in Greenville and Seattle, but there will only be silence coming from here.

The mighty Triangle has struck out.

With Duke’s overtime loss to Colorado on Monday in the NCAA women’s tournament, the Triangle — the self-proclaimed center of the college ...Read more

Michigan State carrying the banner as lone Big Ten team left in tournament

Sports / Basketball /

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The NCAA Tournament marches on this week and, once again, the Big Ten is the convenient punching bag for fans and national media alike.

As No. 7 seed Michigan State prepares to face No. 3 Kansas State on Thursday in the Sweet 16 of the East Region, the Spartans do so as the only Big Ten team remaining in the field, ...Read more

Jason Miller/Getty Images North America/TNS

Does anyone fear LeBron James? Here's what former Heat guard Mario Chalmers said.

Sports / Basketball /

MIAMI — Former Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers recently was interviewed on the “In Shambles” podcast via Playmaker HQ.

And in the age old debate over who is better between his former teammate LeBron James or Michael Jordan, Chalmers was asked to weigh in on the greatest of all time topic.

“Nobody fears ‘Bron,” Chalmers said. “...Read more

Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Dieter Kurtenbach: The Warriors stink, but it might not matter

Sports / Basketball /

The streak is over. Eleven road losses in a row did not become 12.

Ending the streak — which lasted nearly two months — is a reason for celebration for the Dubs.

“That was gross,” Klay Thompson said of the losing streak.

But so was the Warriors’ win over the Rockets.

The Warriors didn’t win the game so much as the young Rockets ...Read more

Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images North America/TNS

Marcus Hayes: George Karl's 'lazy' comments on Joel Embiid aren't racist, they're ... lazy. Ironic, right?

Sports / Basketball /

PHILADELPHIA — George Karl isn’t a racist for saying Joel Embiid looks lazy, but he’s doing a great job of proving Kendrick Perkins right. And no, Perkins isn’t right.

Karl, 71, is a Hall of Fame coach, basketball royalty, a star at North Carolina, and a five-year ABA pro with 1,175 NBA coaching wins. I’ve known him for more than ...Read more

Madeleine Cook/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Mac Engel: With Mike Miles expected to turn pro, TCU turns attention to retaining its current roster

Sports / Basketball /

About three seconds after TCU’s season ended on Sunday night in the NCAA Tournament the immediate focus turned to arguably the most talented player in program history.

Mike Miles, whatcha thinkin’?

Pro, or run it back.

The same can be asked to the rest of the roster; everybody on the team can potentially return for another run.

A good, ...Read more

Rob Carr/Getty Images North America/TNS

Rick Pitino introduced as St. John's basketball coach and vows program 'will be back'

Sports / Basketball /

NEW YORK — Rick Pitino promised a St. John’s return to prominence during his introduction Tuesday as men’s basketball coach, saying a turnaround will happen “in a big way” at a program beleaguered by mediocrity the past two decades.

“St. John’s is one of the legendary names in all of college basketball,” Pitino said during a ...Read more

Greg Fiume/Getty Images North America/TNS

Dom Amore: UConn men bring all the ingredients and roll into the NCAA Sweet 16

Sports / Basketball /

ALBANY, N.Y. — It has been a long time, almost a decade, an eternity by UConn’s lofty basketball standards, but the men’s program is once again at the center of March Madness.

“This is such a special team,” said freshman Donovan Clingan. “It’s a great team, and we’re not done yet. You can definitely say ‘UConn’s back,’ we�...Read more