BOSTON — It was a night that was going to leave the Miami Heat at a loss, regardless of the outcome, with Jimmy Butler’s night done at halftime due to knee inflammation.

But that also is where the Heat held the line, riding the aggression of center Bam Adebayo to a harrowing 109-103 victory Saturday night over the Boston Celtics at TD ...Read more

DALLAS — Andrew Wiggins is listed as questionable for Game 3 of the Western Conference finals with ankle soreness, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr is certain the 27-year-old forward will play on Sunday night.

How can Kerr be so sure?

Following a team workout in Dallas Saturday, Kerr said Warriors vice president of communications Raymond Ridder...Read more

LOS ANGELES — So, the Lakers floated their three leading candidates for coach to the media this week as a sort of trial balloon.

Terry Stotts! Kenny Atkinson! Darvin Ham!

Pssssssst.

The news fell flatter than a Russell Westbrook jump shot. The options quickly lost all air, the shriveled remains floating harmlessly into the cluttered mess ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Coaching in the NBA playoffs is anything but easy.

Just ask Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown, who stepped into the Warriors’ head coaching role when Steve Kerr was out with COVID during Golden State’s semifinal series with the Grizzlies.

“Steve, if you’re watching, get healthy quick,” Brown implored Kerr after ...Read more

BOSTON — Another file has been added to Bam Adebayo’s motivation folder.

And, yes, the Miami Heat center is keeping score, while also appreciating that the most important scores are the ones at the ends of each game in these Eastern Conference finals.

Hours after being relegated to the NBA All-Defensive second team, Adebayo spoke ahead of ...Read more

CHICAGO — Keegan Murray is used to being doubted.

Shoot, he’s not entirely unsure he hasn’t been part of the crowd casting the doubt.

So, the notion the All-America selection from Iowa is on the verge of being a lottery pick in next month’s NBA draft might have seemed a tad farfetched at one point.

“If you told me three years (ago) ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers are continuing interviews with three coach candidates from their original pool, one step closer to finding a replacement for Frank Vogel.

Milwaukee assistant Darvin Ham, former Brooklyn coach and current Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson, and former Portland coach Terry Stotts advanced to the next ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The gold-clad crowd at Chase Center started to chant “M-V-P” in the third quarter of Game 2 of the Western Conference finals Friday night.

But it wasn’t Stephen Curry stepping up to the free-throw line.

The cheers were for Kevon Looney, who played harder than arguably any player on the court in the Warriors’ 126-117 ...Read more

BOSTON — In the end, Bam Adebayo had to settle for a consolation prize.

Beaten out for his primary goal of 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year by current Eastern Conference finals opponent Marcus Smart, the Boston Celtics guard, Adebayo had to settle for Friday being named second-team NBA All-Defensive.

It is the third consecutive year ...Read more

CHICAGO — Bobby Marks, ESPN’s NBA Front Office Insider, said Shaedon Sharpe made a great impression in a Monday workout arranged by an agent.

“One of the better individual workouts that I’ve witnessed,” said Marks, who is attending the NBA combine this week. “(Sharpe) shot the heck out of it.”

The problem for NBA people is they ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — It seemed like an outrageous claim:

“I think I do a terrific job!”

Doc Rivers said this after his basketball team just got demolished by a tepid Heat team in the second round of the playoffs. He said this a year after getting upset in the second round by a mangy kettle of Hawks.

Ridiculous, right? Wrong.

No coach in ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Sacramento Kings had better not mess this up.

When the Kings leapfrogged the draft order in Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery, the dark cloud hovering about the city’s Golden 1 Center lifted, at least for a moment, as the team secured its best chance at ending a 16-year playoff drought.

The basketball gods agreed and saw to it ...Read more

MIAMI — There is nothing subtle or soothing about this Heat-Celtics Eastern Conference Finals.

There is only mass destruction, the type of devastating damage that leaves you dazed and wondering “What the heck just happened?”

A third-quarter Heat tsunami in Game 1 was followed by a stunning Celtics first-half avalanche in Game 2, a 60-21 ...Read more

NEW YORK — No matter which side of the Kyrie Irving fence you sit on, it’s important to remember one thing:

If he leaves as a free agent this offseason, so do the Nets’ championship hopes because they don’t have the cap space to outright replace him.

That’s the gamble the Nets made in the summer of 2019, and what Nets GM Sean Marks ...Read more

Stan Van Gundy is not only down on the Knicks’ current roster, he’s skeptical that the vaunted connections of Leon Rose and William Wesley can make the team any better.

“The Knicks right now — do you love their roster? Because I don’t. People always say we’ve got talent. Well, hell, it’s the NBA. Every team has talent,” said Van...Read more

CHICAGO — It didn’t take long for the Orlando Magic’s draft lottery celebration to turn into speculation.

Moments after the Magic won the draft lottery Tuesday in Chicago, questions quickly started to surround Orlando, the winner of the No. 1 pick in the June 23 NBA draft.

What will be the Magic’s approach to having the top pick?

Will...Read more

I’ll admit it. I thought the Warriors dynasty was finished. I was there the night in Toronto when it turned, when I declared the dynasty kaput, ironically during a Warriors victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

The moment is easy to remember. Kevin Durant, the reigning two-time NBA Finals MVP, hobbled off the court with a torn Achilles, ...Read more