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Sixers lose on controversial ending to Clippers in James Harden's return to Philly

Sports / Basketball /

PHILADELPHIA — As expected, James Harden was Public Enemy No. 1 during his return to the Wells Fargo Center in a Los Angeles Clippers uniform on Wednesday night. But the man who refused to play for the 76ers this season and his teammates celebrated at the end after a controversial 108-107 victory over the 76ers.

It was controversial because a...Read more

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Hawks extend win streak to three by beating Trail Blazers, 120-106

Sports / Basketball /

ATLANTA — The Hawks hosted a young Trail Blazers team that had seven veteran players absent, and they took advantage en route to a 120-106 victory Wednesday night.

Here are five observations:

— 1. Though the Trail Blazers had so many veterans out due to various injuries, the Hawks had theirs to lean on. Dejounte Murray set the tone with an...Read more

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Cam Thomas scores 38 points as Nets defeat Wizards in overtime

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WASHINGTON — Cam Thomas returned from a one-game absence on Wednesday against the Washington Wizards and his torrid scoring pace continued.

Dennis Schröder, Nic Claxton and Mikal Bridges each had decent offensive games in their own right, at least in terms of efficiency. But throughout certain stretches of the Nets’ 122-119 overtime defeat...Read more

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Knicks score their most points since 1980 in 145-101 rout of Raptors

Sports / Basketball /

Nothing to see here — just the high-powered New York Knickerbockers buzzsaw slaughtering opponents on the road.

Make it seven wins in eight games for the Knicks, whose 145-101 rout of the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night helps improve New York’s bid for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Knicks recorded 37 ...Read more

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Timberwolves overcome Anthony Edwards' off night to defeat NBA-worst Pistons, 106-91

Sports / Basketball /

MINNEAPOLIS — It's not every game that the man with the moniker "Slo-Mo" excites a crowd with his moves around the basket.

That happened Wednesday night in the Timberwolves' 106-91 victory over the Detroit Pistons during the fourth quarter when Kyle Anderson pulled off a couple of typically methodical, but sharp, changes of direction on his ...Read more

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Joel Embiid 'on the court', Nick Nurse confirms. But Sixers coach doesn't reveal much else.

Sports / Basketball /

PHILADELPHIA — Anyone expecting a detailed update Wednesday on 76ers center Joel Embiid’s return-to-play process were out of luck.

”He’s on the court as you guys know, and we still don’t have a timeline for his return,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said before facing the Los Angeles Clippers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Embiid has been ...Read more

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Rui Hachimura is bad luck for Grizzlies again as Lakers win, 136-124

Sports / Basketball /

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Maybe the Grizzlies haven’t learned?

Despite being ravaged by injuries and suspensions, their season largely a throwaway, Wednesday’s game with the Lakers was their first time this year to host the team that ousted them last spring.

But, somehow, Rui Hachimura was still open.

After Hachimura set the tone in the playoff ...Read more

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Warriors shock Magic despite Draymond Green's ejection

Sports / Basketball /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Steph Curry keeled over with his hands on his knees. He tugged the neck of his jersey over his red face, visibly upset that his longtime teammate got himself tossed.

Draymond Green, the Warriors’ embattled defensive star, got ejected less than four minutes into Wednesday night’s game for arguing with official Ray Acosta.

...Read more

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Luke DeCock: UNC, Arizona on collision course? Sometimes, basketball gods know what's good for ratings.

Sports / Basketball /

If you were the type to gamble on college basketball — and you really shouldn’t, unless it’s with someone else’s money — then it seems a safe bet that North Carolina and Arizona will play for a trip to the Final Four on Saturday.

Because there’s one rule of the NCAA Tournament that remains inviolable, and it’s that CBS tends to ...Read more

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UConn notes: Ahead of Sweet 16, Donovan Clingan reflects on his late mother's impact

Sports / Basketball /

BOSTON — Donovan Clingan sat at the dais in Boston’s TD Garden on Wednesday, his sole focus on the next day’s Sweet 16 matchup with San Diego State.

He was peppered with questions about NIL and betting and all of the things that have marred the current college sports landscape and answered “no comment” to most of them, reiterating his...Read more

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Bryce Miller: The key to upsetting No. 1 UConn? Start with San Diego State guards Darrion Trammell, Lamont Butler.

Sports / Basketball /

BOSTON — Finding a way to beat No. 1 overall seed UConn in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament will require San Diego State finding Darrion Trammell and Lamont Butler.

They need to be thorns, poking holes in the game plan of the defending national champion as the Huskies pack the paint like a Manhattan commuter train to slow Aztecs' wrecking ...Read more

Brad Underwood's intense ways invite fan scrutiny, but his Illinois players see a method in the madness

Sports / Basketball /

When Brad Underwood was introduced as Illinois men’s basketball coach seven years ago in Champaign, the idea of a national title seemed far-fetched.

The John Groce era was a disaster and Underwood had never coached a team past the second round of the NCAA Tournament in three attempts at Stephen F. Austin and one year at Oklahoma State.

“I ...Read more

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Heat's Tyler Herro claps back at injury report with seemingly sarcastic, 'ain't coming back no time soon'

Sports / Basketball /

MIAMI — There was no need Wednesday to brace for the latest twists on the Miami Heat’s ever-evolving injury report. Without a game on Thursday, the team did not have to submit one to the NBA.

But that also did not mean it was a drama-free day from an injury perspective.

It started with a report about the Heat from The Athletic’s Shams ...Read more

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Matt Calkins: Why Washington did it right in hiring men's basketball coach Danny Sprinkle

Sports / Basketball /

SEATTLE — And ... we have a winner.

Well, the Washington men's basketball program has a winner. And I don't mean simply that the university picked a new coach to replace Mike Hopkins a few weeks after his firing.

I just mean that Danny Sprinkle — the new head Husky — wins everywhere he goes. That's what the university should have been ...Read more

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Lakers open six-game trip with double-overtime win over Bucks

Sports / Basketball /

MILWAUKEE — The key, coach Darvin Ham said pregame, would be for the Lakers to move on after mistakes, to not let the errors pile up, to employ what he, and every NBA coach calls, a “next-play mentality.”

Opening a six-game road trip Tuesday in Milwaukee, forget about the next play. The Lakers, even before the game, looked like a team ...Read more

Warriors defeat depleted Heat to regain footing

Sports / Basketball /

MIAMI — Draymond Green said it best after the Warriors’ Sunday night loss in Minnesota. Losing too many games against teams you should beat isn’t going to get you very far in the NBA.

The Warriors have lost too many games against undermanned teams. Against teams they built up big leads against, but failed to bury. Against opponents ...Read more

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Some Bulls frustrated by reality of sports gambling in NBA: 'It takes away the purity of the game'

Sports / Basketball /

CHICAGO — In the six years since the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, the NBA has embraced the new addition to basketball culture with open arms. And if this year is any predictor, the influence of sports betting in basketball will only grow throughout the coming seasons.

But ...Read more

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'We are bulletproof': Dan Hurley's unwavering confidence on display as UConn men advance to Sweet 16

Sports / Basketball /

The No. 1 overall seed UConn men imposed their will and took complete control over 9-seed Northwestern not five minutes into Sunday’s Round of 32 game in Brooklyn.

The Huskies took a commanding lead over the shorthanded fourth-place finishers in the Big Ten, holding the Wildcats to just 25.8% from the field and 0-for-8 from 3 in the first ...Read more

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With Timberwolves, sideshows haven't become the main attraction

Sports / Basketball /

MINNEAPOLIS — When Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez agreed to purchase the Timberwolves and Lynx from Glen Taylor — who also owns the Star Tribune — way back in 2021, one of the major story lines was whether these outsiders were intent on whisking the franchise away to some other more lucrative market.

Here we are in 2024, with the transfer ...Read more

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Why a summer of seething helped Duke basketball advance to NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16

Sports / Basketball /

This, as Tyrese Proctor bluntly put it Sunday, is why he’s still a Duke basketball player.

Taking part in a blowout win in the NCAA Tournament’s second round, a 93-55 romp over James Madison at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, allowed Proctor and four other starters who returned from last season to revel in experiencing something new.

Duke ...Read more