Jordi Fernandez was officially named the Nets’ 24th head coach on Monday after days of speculation. General manager Sean Marks will introduce the 41-year-old at a press conference on Wednesday in Brooklyn, per release.

The Badalona, Spain, native joins the Nets after spending two seasons as an associate head coach for the Kings under head ...Read more

There is a chair in front of Michael Porter Jr.’s locker where the artwork rests. It was a gift from teammates Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jamal Murray, a reminder that there is no paved road back to an NBA title. It reads simply: “I am going to do today what others won’t, so that tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”

Porter looked ...Read more

Joel Embiid was feeling “pretty good” a day after the 76ers superstar’s latest injury concern, according to his coach, but was officially listed as questionable for Monday’s Game 2 against the Knicks.

Embiid missed the final 2:37 of the second quarter of Game 1 on Saturday after appearing to tweak his left knee during an emphatic alley-...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The final word came down late Sunday morning.

The inflammation in Kawhi Leonard’s right knee kept him out of the Clippers’ playoff opener against the Dallas Mavericks.

And so Paul George, James Harden and the rest of Clippers coach Tyronn Lue’s group had to press forward without their best player.

Harden and George did ...Read more

BOSTON — Kristaps Porzingis predicted the Celtics’ first-round series against the Miami Heat would be a “war.”

Bam Adebayo used the word “dogfight” to describe the teams’ fourth playoff meeting in five years.

Game 1, though, proved to be a walkover.

The Celtics kicked off their latest quest for Banner 18 by breezing past their ...Read more

Brace yourself, because it’s happening … again.

Just when you thought you were out — no longer to spend an offseason pining for star-level talent that ultimately falls beyond your grasp — the NBA offseason has a way of sucking (and suckering) you right back in, sometimes even with the same names.

So if it isn’t ESPN’s Stephen A. ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — It is some six months until the return of the University of Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness” heralds the dawn of another college basketball season in the commonwealth.

Likely, it will be some seven months until the UK men face Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic in what will be the first marquee game of the Mark Pope ...Read more

DENVER — The series opener felt a lot like every other Nuggets-vs.-Lakers game.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis scored easy buckets early, Los Angeles hit the defending champions with its best shot — even taking a double-digit lead — and then Denver slowly, steadily sledge-hammered its challenger into submission.

Nikola Jokic went for 32 ...Read more

NEW YORK — He began the game by scoring the 76ers’ first three baskets and 15 of their 34 first-quarter points.

This is what responsibility looks like.

He played in the entire first quarter despite being hit above his left eye.

This is what accountability feels like.

He went to the locker room after landing awkwardly on his surgically-...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — With under a minute to play in the third quarter Saturday, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards shifted around a screen and pulled the trigger on a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Phoenix forward Kevin Durant was a step slow on the play, and Edwards had plenty of room to drain the shot, one of the final blows he dealt in a masterful...Read more

NEW YORK — Whatever percent healthy Joel Embiid was before Game 1 between the Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday evening, slice it in half.

Embiid — one of the most dominant centers in all of basketball — flexed his particular brand of dominance with under three minutes left in the second quarter when he used an off-the-backboard ...Read more

NEW YORK — Playoff basketball returned to Madison Square Garden Saturday night. In the minutes leading up to tipoff, fan anticipation for Game 1 of the Knicks‘ first-round matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers reached its peak.

The venue revered as the World’s Most Famous Arena was filled to capacity. Former Knicks greats such as Bernard...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — For a week, the Timberwolves heard the talk that the Suns were a bad match for them in the first round of the playoffs.

For a week, the Wolves had a chance to devise counters to the weaknesses Phoenix exploited in their three regular-season matchups.

The Wolves had an answer for all of the above in a resounding 120-95 Game 1 ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — At exactly 10:58 a.m. Saturday, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue’s latest injury update on Kawhi Leonard and his availability was cautious and optimistic for Game 1 of the Western Conference playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.

Leonard’s teammate, Paul George, in his session with reporters before ...Read more

CLEVELAND — Before the Magic and Cavaliers took the floor inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for Game 1 of the best-of-7 series between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in the East, both coaches stressed the importance of starting strong.

First, it was Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff who said ahead of tipoff that he wanted Orlando to chase all Saturday ...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina basketball’s offseason rebuild now includes replacing Harrison Ingram, who declared for the NBA draft on Saturday morning.

“I would first like to thank my family and God for their sacrifices and support throughout my life,” Ingram said in a social media post. “To Coach [Hubert] Davis and the rest of ...Read more

The Sacramento Kings proved they were capable of beating all the top teams in the Western Conference this season, but they never found an answer for the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Pelicans secured the No. 8 seed in the West with a 105-98 victory over the Kings in a play-in tournament game Friday night at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Since the Suns put the capstone on their seasonlong shellacking of the Timberwolves with a 125-106 victory Sunday at Target Center, there has been plenty of time for fans, players and coaches to roll around the matchup in their heads.

Among the points of discussion: Does Phoenix present an unsolvable matchup defensively for the ...Read more

MIAMI — How hard would you fight to win if winning meant a hugely harder battle ahead — one everyone seemed sure you would lose decisively? Perhaps even embarrassingly. And that you’d have to undertake this biggest of challenges without your biggest star and top scorer?

That is how much fight the Miami Heat brought Friday night in the ...Read more