PHOENIX — The South Carolina women’s basketball team’s season is over.

It ended Sunday without the Gamecocks cutting down the nets. It ended with blue and yellow confetti falling in Mortgage Matchup Center, not garnet and black.

The spot in South Carolina’s trophy case for a fourth national title will remain vacant for another year.

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The Nuggets were offered a free pass into third place a week before the playoffs. The Trail Blazers almost ripped it away from them on Monday night at Ball Arena.

Vexed by an inexplicable disparity from the 3-point line for most of the night, Denver charged back from a 16-point deficit with 8:30 to play. It was the team’s second consecutive ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — Nobody said winning a national title was going to be easy.

An offensive grind from start to finish. A first half without a single made jumper. A version of Yaxel Lendeborg that was less than 100%.

No. 1 seed Michigan, like it has all season long, found a way to overcome it all and push past No. 2 seed UConn, 69-63, in Monday�...Read more

Nickeil Alexander-Walker is your Most Improved Player of the Year, the Atlanta Hawks have no answer for any of the Knicks‘ centers and Jalen Brunson’s clutch gene has activated just in time for New York’s playoff push.

And yet the Knicks nearly needed an extra period to put away the pesky Hawks, 108-105, at State Farm Arena Monday.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — The Detroit Pistons entered the fourth quarter leading 98-76, appearing to be on the verge of one of their worst losses of the season. For three quarters, the Pistons struggled against the Orlando Magic and trailed by as many as 26 points.

Javonte Green started the fourth quarter with a 3-point shot, helping the Pistons begin ...Read more

CHICAGO — It’s been more than 41 years since Chicago Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf made it clear there would be no tanking involved in the 1985-86 season.

“That’s losing, and I don’t like losing on purpose,” Reinsdorf said in December 1985. “I don’t ever want to be party to losing on purpose. Losing breeds losing, and pretty ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — UNC just made a thoroughly unorthodox hire as its new head basketball coach.

Michael Malone isn’t just from outside the UNC basketball family, he’s from outside the entire college basketball family. Malone is like one of those distant relatives you might find on Ancestry, the fourth cousin you’ve never seen who lives ...Read more

There was joy. There was euphoria.

There was the Chef, back in the kitchen, tossing 29 points into the pot in 26 minutes like he hadn’t missed a thing while he sat out the last 27 games.

But then, because these are the 2025-26 Golden State Warriors, there was a loss.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr emerged from the chaos that was Sunday’s 117-...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina is set to hire former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone as its next men’s basketball coach, a source confirmed to the News & Observer Monday afternoon. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Malone, 54, led Denver to its first NBA title in 2022-23 and compiled 510 wins as an NBA head coach ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls fired executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley, the team announced Monday.

The Bulls missed the playoffs in five of the six seasons with Karnišovas and Eversley at the helm. They’re currently 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 29-49 record after ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky made a blockbuster trade Monday, sending two-time WNBA All-Star forward Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for two future first-round draft picks. The Dream also receive the right to a second-round pick swap in 2028.

The deal cuts short Reese’s tenure in Chicago after two rocky seasons. The Sky traded up ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO – With the gospel track “Father I Stretch My Hands” blasting through the Chase Center sound system on Easter Sunday, a hooded Steph Curry glanced toward the basket.

As the music crescendoed, he raised both arms out and above his head, a smile etched upon his face as the fans began to cheer.

Curry may not have been in the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — With Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels again sidelined, the Minnesota Timberwolves watched a halftime lead slip away in a 122-108 loss to the surging Charlotte Hornets on Sunday at Target Center.

Bones Hyland scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half, including shooting 4-for-5 from three in the second quarter, to put the ...Read more

When asked prior to Sunday’s game at New Orleans what would be a key for success, the first thing Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said was that his squad must protect the paint against the New Orleans Pelicans.

And that was the first thing Orlando failed to do. New Orleans racked up 50 points in the paint to go ahead by as many as 15 points...Read more

DALLAS — The Los Angeles Lakers are as shorthanded as they can be, their dynamic starting backcourt of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out with injuries at a pivotal time of the season.

They’re the offensive engines for a Lakers team battling for the No. 3 playoff seeding in a competitive Western Conference.

The 41-year-old LeBron James is ...Read more

NEW YORK — Sunday’s Brooklyn Nets-Washington Wizards game at Barclays Center looked exactly like what it was on paper: two teams deep in the lottery, playing a late-season matchup with more draft implications than standings relevance.

The Nets still treated it like a normal work day.

Brooklyn beat Washington 121-115, picked up its 19th win...Read more

BOSTON — During his pregame news conference Sunday at TD Garden, Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic was asked about the recent return of Jayson Tatum.

Was Rajakovic, whose team had faced the Celtics three times during Tatum’s Achilles rehab and lost all three games, curious to see how Boston looked with its central superstar now ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — When the clock hit zero, Illinois senior forward Ben Humrichous dropped to a squat and bowed his head. Freshman guard Keaton Wagler looked back toward his team’s bench as UConn celebrated its 72-61 national semifinal win over the Illini, and he saw Humrichous having a private moment.

“When I saw that, the tears started ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — After destroying Arizona in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in the battle of top seeds, Michigan opened as a 7 1/2 point favorite over UConn in Monday’s title game.

UConn coach Dan Hurley called Michigan’s front line the “Monstars,” the cartoon super-team from “Space Jam,” and said the Wolverines ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS – Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg is determined to play in Monday’s national championship game against UConn, and he got a positive sign Sunday.

According to UM coach Dusty May, Lendeborg had an MRI scan Sunday morning for his sprained MCL that limited him in a Final Four win over Arizona.

“All imaging has come back clean, ...Read more