DENVER — With a possessed glare in his eye that Ball Arena hasn’t seen since the Nuggets let Russell Westbrook walk, Tim Hardaway Jr. signaled for a timeout on Toronto’s behalf.

The Nuggets have lacked an edge lately, as the dog days of the regular season have threatened to derail their playoff seeding. With a barrage of 3-pointers and an...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It was gold, white and blue against crimson and blue.

But really, it was green vs. blue.

Green, as in inexperienced. Blue, as in blue blood.

Cal Baptist made its first appearance in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Friday night at Viejas Arena. Kansas made its record 28th in a row.

The program with 163 games of NCAA ...Read more

TAMPA — Florida opened its national title defense looking like a team capable of repeating.

The top-seeded Gators coasted past Prairie View, 114-55, Friday night, putting last weekend’s SEC Tournament no-show behind them while making a statement on the sport’s biggest stage at the expense of an exhausted, outmanned opponent.

Playing ...Read more

It was a classic trap game — a quick one-game road trip against a lottery-bound, injury-ravaged opponent with nothing to lose — and it nearly ensnared the Celtics.

Boston trailed early in the fourth quarter against the remnants of the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night before locking in late and pulling away for a 117-112 win at FedEx Forum....Read more

DETROIT — As Jalen Duren continues to showcase why he should be in consideration for an All-NBA selection, his latest performance helped the Detroit Pistons take a 115-101 victory over the Golden State Warriors, Friday night inside Little Caesars Arena.

With the win, the Pistons improved to 51-19 overall and became the first Eastern ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — There was no buzzer-beater, no bracket-buster or March Madness miracle.

Nothing that will steal away from this year’s One Shining Moment montage.

Quite simply, UCF found itself in an all-too-familiar situation: late offensive woes led to the Knights trailing by double digits throughout much of the game before losing to UCLA,...Read more

NEW YORK — Better late than never. The orange and blue streak lives on in New York City.

It was only a matter of time before reality set in at Barclays Center, where a Nets team with zero incentive to win — save for putting up some semblance of a fight against the Knicks — exposed what’s become a fatal flaw: slow starts that have ...Read more

The stingiest defense in the country was no match for St. John’s.

The fifth-seeded Red Storm overwhelmed 12th-seeded Northern Iowa early, then cruised to a 79-53 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at San Diego’s Viejas Arena.

St. John’s began the game on a 13-0 run and never looked back, controlling the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The “U of A” chants began 20 minutes before tipoff of Friday’s first-round NCAA Tournament matchup between Arizona and Long Island University, the energy and anticipation building inside Viejas Arena like a summer storm.

The cheering and thumping rolled like thunder when Arizona’s first 3-pointer, a shot by Brayden Burries...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Labaron Philon Jr. scored 29 points and No. 4 seed Alabama rallied from an early double-digit deficit to beat 13th-seeded Hofstra, 90-70, in a first-round game in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The Crimson Tide (24-9) advanced to a second-round matchup against fifth-seeded Texas Tech (23-10), a 20-point ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Kevin Willard going viral in the NCAA Tournament, a March tradition unlike any other. Or something like that.

In a sideline interview with TNT’s Lauren Shehadi early in the first half of Villanova’s 86-76 first-round loss to Utah State, Willard joked that he was going to fire his staff after the Aggies executed multiple ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Coach Kevin Willard knew the blueprint.

If Villanova was going to beat Utah State and advance to the Round of 32, it was going to need to limit the ability of the Aggies’ guards to get into scoring areas and cause havoc.

Villanova knew it: Utah State goes as Mason Falslev and MJ Collins Jr. go. Stopping the duo proved easier ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Virginia coach Ryan Odom was on the other side of this kind of game in the past.

In fact, he did it quite famously to the Cavaliers in 2018, when Maryland-Baltimore County became the first No. 16 seed to topple a No. 1. That feat took him to Utah State, Virginia Commonwealth, and ultimately to the big stage in Charlottesville ...Read more

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer said Pat Ngongba is returning to practice on Friday and there’s hope he’ll play in the NCAA Tournament game Saturday against TCU.

“I’m hopeful he’s gonna be available for tomorrow,” Scheyer said during a Friday press conference. “So we’ll see what he can do in practice today...Read more

GREENVILLE, S.C. — VCU’s Lazar Djokovic said it plainly on Wednesday: “We play against UNC, but we don’t play against the brand.”

The next day, just before the two teams faced off in the NCAA Tournament first round, North Carolina senior guard Seth Trimble reminded his teammates of those words: They’re not respecting the brand. Let�...Read more

ST. LOUIS — Otega Oweh and Brandon Garrison teamed up to make the play to extend Kentucky’s season.

It was a fitting end to a game in which the Cats got plenty of big plays from both players.

No. 7 seed Kentucky survived a major scare from 10-seeded Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon, beating the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain following an MRI performed Wednesday, a new setback that adds more uncertainty to the finish line of Brooklyn’s season.

Porter is listed as out and will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks, according to the team. He missed his fifth straight game ...Read more

SEATTLE — You could make the case that players have never been better. But can the same be said of the game?

Never has basketball been played so efficiently. But can it engage audiences effectively?

This seems to be a lingering question as a Sonics return becomes increasingly likely. It’s still a long way from official, but next week’s ...Read more