NEW YORK – When it comes to slumps, skids and defeats in droves, it’s as if the logic for the losses is without limitation.

Sometimes it’s death by 3-pointers. Sometimes it’s an opposing hot hand. Sometimes one bad stretch doing the damage.

Sunday night, in falling for the seventh time in eight games with a 132-125 loss to the New York...Read more

NEW YORK — Defense set the tone Sunday night and carried Brooklyn home to a win.

The Nets limited the Toronto Raptors from the opening tip through the final possessions, pulling away late for a 96-81 win Sunday night at Barclays Center to move to 8-19 on the season.

After struggling against the Miami Heat, Michael Porter Jr. led the way with...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves are nothing if not predictable.

Two nights after picking up their best victory of the season against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, a team they rarely lack motivation to play, the Bucks came to town without former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Wolves’ tendency to play to the level of ...Read more

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan coach Dusty May was wary about this stretch of the schedule.

With final exams in the rearview mirror and Christmas break on the horizon, it’s a time of the year that seems to be ripe for upsets. Teams that try to coast into the holidays and have wandering minds can get caught slipping by lesser competition.

The ...Read more

Alex Karaban matched his season-high with 21 points as the UConn men’s basketball team overcame a slow start without leading scorer Solo Ball to beat DePaul, 72-54, in Chicago’s Wintrust Arena Sunday night.

The No. 5 Huskies improved to 12-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Big East as they head into a short holiday break.

It was UConn’s ...Read more

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas assistant basketball coach Joe Dooley was arrested late Saturday night in west Lawrence, Kan., on suspicion of driving under the influence, failure to stop at an accident and transporting an open container, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office booking recap report.

He has been suspended from coaching ...Read more

NEW YORK — Having already experienced both sizzle and stumble, it has become clear that this could well be a season determined in the margins for the Miami Heat.

As in the margin between yet another trip to the play-in round — a fourth in a row — or something more substantive.

As in the margin of one more 3-pointer or one more rebound, ...Read more

When Luka Doncic sustained a left leg contusion and sat out the entire second half Saturday against the Clippers, he became the latest in a growing list of ailing Lakers players.

Doncic became the fourth injured Lakers starter in a 103-88 defeat to the struggling Clippers at Intuit Dome.

Doncic played 19 minutes in the first half, but he didn�...Read more

NEW YORK — Duke came into Madison Square Garden, the famous arena it knows well, undefeated, ranked third nationally and easily the favored team for most of a sellout crowd.

The No. 3 Blue Devils had met every big basketball test this season, winning against Kansas, Florida, Michigan State, Arkansas and Texas. They were favored to add Texas ...Read more

Point guard remains a problem for St. John’s.

The Red Storm’s lack of a premium floor general was again a factor in Saturday afternoon’s 78-66 loss to Kentucky, during which No. 22 St. John’s committed 12 turnovers, including eight in the second half.

“That’s our fault in recruiting,” Pitino said after the loss at State Farm ...Read more

Despite large swaths of San Francisco struggling with blackouts as heavy rainstorms moved through the Bay Area on Saturday night, the Warriors’ 119-116 over the Suns was not lacking for juice.

Less than 48 hours after the Suns beat Golden State in a chippy one-point game, the teams squared off again, this time in the Bay Area.

Like many of ...Read more

DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons have five more games before New Year's, but Saturday's Eastern Conference contest against the Charlotte Hornets was their final home game of 2025. The Pistons sent their fans home with high hopes for 2026 with a 112-86 victory at Little Caesars Arena. With the victory the Pistons improved to 22-6 on the season.

...Read more

The Celtics didn’t need their No. 1 option to take down the Raptors on Saturday night.

With Jaylen Brown (illness) sitting out on the second night of a back-to-back, Boston rode a standout performance by Payton Pritchard and a banner day from its bench to a 112-96 win over Toronto at Scotiabank Arena.

Pritchard played one of his best all-...Read more

ATLANTA — Until early Saturday afternoon, second-guessing Mark Pope had been the predominant activity of the 2025-26 Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball season.

With the Wildcats starting the season 0-4 in games vs. ranked opponents — and looking bad in doing so — the UK coach’s roster construction, how he had deployed the ample ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Jonathan Kuminga has returned to the Warriors’ rotation, occupying a position as sturdy as a late-game Jenga tower.

He began the season as the unquestioned starter next to Jimmy Butler, missed seven games with injury, came back and produced lackluster results and was then yanked from Steve Kerr’s rotation entirely for ...Read more

DENVER — David Adelman’s coaching rite of passage wasn’t enough to spark the Nuggets to an improbable comeback.

Adelman earned the first ejection of his career as an NBA head coach Saturday, and the Nuggets’ offense looked mortal for the first time all season in a 115-101 loss to the Houston Rockets.

Their defense was mostly stingy ...Read more

A potentially significant win slipped through Maryland men’s basketball’s grasp.

Armed with an eight-point lead late in the first half, the Terps were outscored by 16 points the rest of the way in an 80-72 setback at No. 23 Virginia on Saturday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.

Maryland (6-6) dropped its third game in ...Read more

ATLANTA — That’s probably not what Hubert Davis had drawn up, right?

But, luckily for the Tar Heels, when Seth Trimble stumbled to the floor and lost control of the ball with the game on the line, Henri Veesaar was there to scoop it up and flush it home for a victory-sealing dunk. On the other end, Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr. missed a 3-...Read more

ATLANTA — An eventful afternoon for the Kentucky men’s basketball team ended with a victory Saturday in State Farm Arena.

Mark Pope’s Wildcats defeated Rick Pitino’s No. 22 Red Storm 78-66 in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.

In addition to the much-anticipated battle between Pitino and Pope — the head coach and co-captain, ...Read more