Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 103-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans (15-21) on Thursday night at Smoothie King Center in the final game before the All-Star break. The Heat, which resumes its schedule with a March 11 home game against the Orlando Magic, enters the break at 18-18 after a 7-14 start to the season:

-- Jimmy Butler ...Read more

A year after LeBron James selected Kevin Durant as the first overall pick, the two superstars found themselves as opponents on Thursday for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game draft.

James, the Western Conference captain, said he is less than enthused by the festivities this year due to the shortened offseason and the COVID-19 pandemic, and Durant won't...Read more

NEW YORK — The hallmark of a good team is consistently beating the not-so good teams. After all the pump-faking they’ve done over the years, it’s too early to crown the Knicks a good team, but they sure looked like one in their 114-104 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.

It’s a result that has been consistent over what could be ...Read more

LAWRENCE, Kan. — No. 13-ranked Kansas, which defeated then-No. 2-ranked Baylor by 13 points on Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse, entered Thursday’s add-on home game against unheralded UTEP as 17-point favorites.

In a shocking development, the Jayhawks (18-9) came out flat. They trailed by 11 points early, 12 points at the final TV time ...Read more

For a moment during Thursday’s second quarter, it looked as though the Clippers were about to make any more handwringing over their crunch-time efficiency moot.

Coming off of two losses in which their offense stalled in the fourth quarter’s final minutes, the Clippers were not leaving their matchup against Washington to chance. Despite foul...Read more

MIAMI — The evolution of sports memorabilia, of collectibles, struck me this week as I discovered for the first time a phenomenon of a fad called NBA Top Shot.

I'm closer to a Luddite than someone out front on the latest trends, so it was no surprise I'd been unfamiliar with these so-called "digital basketball cards."

I happened to learn of ...Read more

NEW YORK — If Knicks fans are looking for some clarity on why Derrick Rose did not play against the Pistons on Thursday, they can look across the bridge to the league’s handling of Nets star Kevin Durant.

Rose was first held out of the team’s Tuesday loss to the San Antonio Spurs due to an inconclusive COVID-19 test result. He ...Read more

The optimistic line regarding the “troubles” that have enveloped the Kentucky men’s basketball program this winter is that the Wildcats’ competitive collapse is a “one-off” created by unique circumstances unlikely ever to be replicated.

By that school of thought, a chastened John Calipari will preside over a “return to normalcy”...Read more

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan wasn’t going to waste another chance to secure the Big Ten crown.

Not after getting run over by Illinois. Not on Senior Night. And especially not against rival Michigan State.

The No. 2 Wolverines refused to be denied as they dominated the second half to bury the Spartans, 69-50, in a foul-filled, wire-to-wire ...Read more

TCU basketball is reeling toward the finish line.

The Horned Frogs suffered another loss to a ranked team as No. 6 West Virginia pulled away for a 76-67 victory on Thursday night at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

TCU (12-12, 5-10 Big 12) scored a season-low 18 points in the first half en route to dropping to 0-9 all-time in Morgantown. The Frogs ...Read more

When Nets general manager Sean Marks lost defensive anchor Jarrett Allen in the James Harden deal, he acknowledged there was no replacing what Allen brought to the team. Marks also acknowledged The Fro’s departure as an opportunity for someone else on the roster to step up.

“People can sort of seize this moment and take their games to ...Read more

The news came back Thursday about Villanova point guard Collin Gillespie’s knee injury, and it wasn’t good.

Villanova’s senior leader tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in the first half of Wednesday night’s win over Creighton and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, the program announced. The diagnosis was...Read more

After he forced a trade from the Houston to Brooklyn, much to the chagrin of the Rockets’ organization and fans, and after he emerged as a Most Valuable Player of the Year candidate for a Nets team that has thrived since his arrival, James Harden says nothing has changed, that he’s the same player and leader in Brooklyn that he was in ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Perhaps I should be flattered that Joel Embiid is using me as motivation.

Give the 76ers’ All-Star center credit. He posted an MVP-worthy performance while dominating the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert in Wednesday night’s 131-123 overtime victory.

His 40-point, 19-rebound effort against Gobert, a two-time NBA Defensive Player ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — As the college basketball season painfully plows towards its March Madness, a pair of coaches in Texas are persons of interest for a blue-blood program that is now only blue only because of its sadness.

Baylor’s Scott Drew and Texas Tech’s Chris Beard make sense to potentially replace current Indiana University coach ...Read more