Will Richard drove his hands right into the fray late in the fourth quarter as two Nets lay on their back with the ball near midcourt of the Barclay’s Center. The rookie from Florida ripped the ball away and dribbled toward a completely unguarded basket.

But instead of scoring the two easiest points of his young career, he dished off to ...Read more

MIAMI — For years, the Miami Heat have been struggling to find a way against the Denver Nuggets.

Entering Monday night’s matchup at Kaseya Center, the Heat had lost 11 consecutive regular-season games to the Nuggets, as well as six consecutive home games to Denver.

And then the Heat found their way, with a 147-123 decision ... against what...Read more

Facing a team that was playing on the second night of a back-to-back such as the Raptors on Monday night, the Magic had a chance to earn a quality win on the road in a contest between the No. 4 and No. 5 teams in the NBA‘s Eastern Conference.

Orlando failed to take advantage of the opportunity, falling, 107-106, inside Scotiabank Arena in ...Read more

CHICAGO — As the Timberwolves have trudged through the first two-plus months of the season, they have often played better basketball in second halves than first, especially against opponents they should beat.

Rarely does the burst of energy come in the second quarter, which is when the Wolves first showed up in what became an easy 136-101 ...Read more

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Wolverines closed out the 2025 portion of their schedule with a bang.

Another 100-point game. Another dominant performance. Another rout in front of a packed home crowd.

With the frontcourt trio of Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara leading the way, second-ranked Michigan overwhelmed McNeese State on ...Read more

Nikola Jokic limped to the locker room after injuring his left knee three seconds before halftime of the Nuggets’ game in Miami on Monday night.

Jokic’s left leg extended then buckled after the right foot of Denver’s Spencer Jones landed on his left foot during a defensive possession. In a nightmare visual for every Denver sports fan, ...Read more

Jaylen Brown etched his name alongside Larry Bird’s in the Celtics record books Sunday night in Portland. But his milestone came in a losing effort.

Brown scored 37 points to tie Bird’s franchise record of nine consecutive 30-point games, but it wasn’t enough in a 114-108 loss to the Trail Blazers that snapped Boston’s four-game win ...Read more

Despite possessing multiple double-digit leads in the second half, the Warriors found themselves in a familiar spot: stuck in a close game, with turnovers to blame in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.

Immanuel Quickley’s 3-pointer for Toronto with under a minute tied the game at 120. Brandin Podziemski gave the Warriors another lead by grabbing an...Read more

Maybe you could have scripted a better start to this Knicks season—but it wouldn’t have been easy.

The Knicks have been that good in their first year under head coach Mike Brown. They’re near the top of the Eastern Conference for a second straight season, only this time the championship talk doesn’t feel aspirational. It feels earned. ...Read more

MIAMI — Losing provides no rewards, but reality can. That makes this a December the Miami Heat should remember.

Because sometimes objects aren’t closer than they appear, such as the early-season notion of Erik Spoelstra’s team being in the thick of the Eastern Conference race.

That clearly stands as the province of the Detroit Pistons ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Four ACC basketball teams made the NCAA Tournament in 2025. Five teams made it in each of the three years before that. The Mountain West earned more bids (6) in 2024.

The ACC has not received more than five tournament bids since 2021, which is a slide and knocks some shine off the league, causing a widespread indictment.

...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Brooklyn Nets arrived in Minnesota with the NBA’s youngest roster, the lowest scoring average in the league and only nine wins.

The Timberwolves handled the assignment as if they were still distracted by an emotionally charged overtime loss in Denver two nights earlier.

Asleep defensively all game, the Wolves watched the ...Read more

Karl-Anthony Towns is beginning to heat up, all but one of the Knicks’ young prospects are making strides in the first year of head coach Mike Brown’s tenure, and Captain Clutch saved the day once again.

The three storylines were on display in the Knicks’ 128-125 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, a game they played without Josh ...Read more

MIAMI — For most of Saturday night’s Miami Heat game, if you hadn’t watched much of the Indiana Pacers, you would have thought they were high percentage with their shots, relentless with their offense.

Instead of entering the night last in the NBA in field-goal percentage and second-to-last in scoring.

With defensive anchor Bam Adebayo ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After the Lakers' third straight loss Thursday, JJ Redick promised things would get "uncomfortable." The second-year coach, frustrated after the team delivered a lump of coal in a Christmas Day blowout by the Houston Rockets, said he couldn't stand to rewatch the same tired story. Leaning his elbow on the table at his postgame ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls dynasty ended 27 years ago, but like any good dynasty the stories live on for generations.

And several tales from those glory days are retold in the recent book “Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players,” co-written by NBA.com writer Sam Smith and former Bulls coach Phil ...Read more

The Celtics opened their longest road trip of the season with an emphatic victory Friday night in Indianapolis.

Championship holdovers Jaylen Brown, Payton Prichard, Derrick White and Sam Hauser combined for 103 points to lead Boston to a 140-122 beatdown of the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Brown turned in his eighth straight 30-point ...Read more