NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope has made it clear the point guard position didn’t go as expected in the 2025-26 season.

A lot of that had to do with what happened this past offseason.

The Cats couldn’t have foreseen an injury-riddled season for junior transfer addition Jaland Lowe, who suited up just nine times for...Read more

DENVER — The game was played in exclamation points.

The Joker vs. The Alien. Boom! Pow! Splat! Block! Swish!

While Nikola Jokic appears destined to finish behind Victor Wembanyama in the MVP voting, another race remains very much in doubt.

The Nuggets, too hurt, too inconsistent, and too offensive for too long, can steal the Western ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — What was expected to be heavyweight showdown between two No. 1 seeds didn’t quite live up to the billing.

Rather, Michigan delivered a 40-minute pounding and throttled Arizona from start to finish — and did so without having Yaxel Lendeborg much of the first half.

The Wolverines ran the Wildcats off the floor at Lucas Oil ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — The UConn men’s basketball team is headed back to the national championship game for the third time in four years after taking down No. 3 seed Illinois, 71-62, in Saturday’s Final Four matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium.

It was the Indiana kid, Braylon Mullins, who starred and hit another clutch 3-point shot in the final minute ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — Fans in orange and blue streamed through the streets of Indianapolis hours before Illinois’ national semifinal against Connecticut on Saturday and showed up early to Lucas Oil Stadium, an hour or so before tipoff. One half of the stadium was covered in orange, as were large patches of seats in the upper decks.

A two-hour ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — It was almost as though time had stopped for Illinois six minutes into the second half of Saturday’s Final Four semifinal against UConn at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Andrej Stojaković’s put-back attempt rolled around the rim before coming to a dead stop on the back of the basket as everyone in the massive football stadium held ...Read more

Nearly two years ago, the Detroit Pistons concluded a four-game road trip in Philadelphia with a 120-102 loss to the 76ers. The loss occurred during the challenging 2023-24 season on April 9, 2024, marking another disappointing year for the Pistons, who finished with a 13-66 record. Not only did they have the worst record in the Eastern ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers will be without their starting backcourt for the rest of the regular season — five more games — after Austin Reaves was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique strain Saturday.

Lakers coach JJ Redick said Reaves underwent an MRI exam on his left olbique/rib area.

The team learned earlier this week that ...Read more

DENVER — With a taste of playoff-level basketball two weeks early, the Denver Nuggets were as determined to engineer a comeback as if their season was on the line.

Down 11 in the fourth quarter, down six with 90 seconds to go, Denver rallied for a 136-134 overtime win over the streaking San Antonio Spurs on Saturday at Ball Arena.

In a war ...Read more

MIAMI – This was an afternoon decidedly different for the Miami Heat.

A game after allowing 147 points in Wednesday night’s humbling loss to the Boston Celtics, the Heat this time practically were the can’t-miss proposition in Saturday’s 152-136 victory over the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center, finishing one point shy of the ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — The last time Illinois reached the Final Four, in 2005, the Illini’s best-known fan showed up to the national semifinals looking dapper. Bill Murray, an ardent Chicago and Illinois sports enthusiast, longtime bon vivant, a man of many talents and many roles, had that going for him.

Which was nice.

He donned a rumpled but ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — Illinois coach Brad Underwood became a meme last April, dressed up in an orange jumpsuit with a flat cap on in an AI photo that originally surfaced on the internet.

The message appeared to be that Underwood had recruited a group of Eastern European players by masquerading as a Balkan citizen. Underwood surprisingly played along...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — After Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant missed his first free throw, Sixers fans rose to their feet, waved their arms, and yelled as loud as they could. They knew what was at stake. Not a win or a loss, but free chicken.

With one more miss, they would get five free nuggets from Chick-fil-A thanks to the team’s ...Read more

When the Magic took down the Mavericks by one point inside Kia Center on March 5, Orlando needed a last-second dunk from Wendell Carter Jr. to escape at home.

The second and final meeting of the regular season between the cross-conference foes at American Airlines Center went a bit differently Friday night.

Behind a season-high 28 points from ...Read more

The Nets fell to the Atlanta Hawks, 141-107, Friday night at Barclays Center, dropping to 18-59. It was also the first game after the Nets announced Michael Porter Jr. and rookie Danny Wolf were ruled out for the rest of the season.

Brooklyn finished the night tied with the Indiana Pacers for the second-best lottery odds. Six Nets finished in ...Read more

NEW YORK — Ahead of tipoff against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Knicks coach Mike Brown said he wasn’t 100% pleased with where his team stood with five games left on the regular-season schedule before the playoffs begin in mid-April.

“You always want your team to be playing at the highest of high cylinders. Do I think we’re there right ...Read more

The Bucks are nearing the end of a lost season. The Celtics are gearing up for what they hope will be a deep playoff run.

Both teams looked the part Friday night in Milwaukee.

The Celtics closed out their final extended road trip of the season by bludgeoning the Bucks, 133-101, at Fiserv Forum. Boston’s magic number to clinch the No. 2 seed ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the aftermath of their worst loss of the season, few Lakers players or coaches had spoken to Luka Doncic after he limped off the court in the third quarter Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Austin Reaves didn't know the extent of Doncic's hamstring injury, but he knew how the Lakers' superstar would approach the ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — When Jimmy Chitwood hit the game-winning shot at the end of “Hoosiers” and became an Indiana high school legend, it was the climactic scene of the movie.

It’s a different story for UConn freshman Braylon Mullins, a fellow small-town Hoosier and Indiana Mr. Basketball, who became a March Madness legend Sunday when his game...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — Andrej Stojaković walked off the court at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday morning after Illinois’ open Final Four practice in front of a surprising sea of orange-clad fans.

He waved with both hands to some of the people leaning over the wall to greet the Illini players on their way to the locker room, then stopped to sign a hand...Read more