David Adelman saved a challenge for the end, and it saved the Nuggets from a disastrous loss.

Keyonte George was going to the foul line with 16 seconds left and a chance to give Utah the lead Monday night. If he made both, Denver was going to have to score without Nikola Jokic. He had just fouled out trying to stop George at the rim.

Turns out...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO – The postseason does not start until late April, but Monday’s matchup between the Warriors and Clippers at chase Center undeniably had postseason implications.

The Warriors entered the night as the eighth seed and up 2.5 games on the Clippers, which meant that if the Play-In tournament began that night, the Warriors would be ...Read more

At least one NBA player objects to the Atlanta Hawks paying tribute to the famous Magic City adult entertainment club during their game Monday against the Orlando Magic.

San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet posted a statement on Medium asking the Hawks to call off the promotion "as to ensure that the NBA remains a safe, respectful, and ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — N.C. State talked a lot during the offseason about a “Red Reckoning,” and how the Wolfpack would be a threat in college basketball.

While the Pack is largely improved from a year ago, a full-on reckoning may have been a little strong. In fact, N.C. State head coach Will Wade said last week at Virginia that his team was not...Read more

The Boston Celtics’ fourth-stringer-turned-standout center delivered the best game of his NBA career on Sunday night.

Twenty-four hours later, their youngest player did the same.

Rookie Hugo Gonzalez put on a terrific two-way performance to lead the short-handed Celtics to a 108-81 win over Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks at ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — USC's decision to dismiss top scorer and 3-point shooter Chad Baker-Mazara on the doorstep of the postseason left many wondering Sunday why coach Eric Musselman would seemingly sabotage his team's already-tenuous hopes of making the NCAA tournament.

To Gilbert Arenas, the former NBA star and podcast host whose son Alijah is a ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — The UConn men’s basketball team enters the final week of the regular season at No. 4 in the AP Top 25 poll after a 2-0 week that included its eighth Quad 1 victory in 10 opportunities this season.

Bracketologists have UConn positioned to land the fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament come Selection Sunday, which would ...Read more

The search for sustained consistency remained a focus for the Lakers on Sunday against a Sacramento Kings team with the NBA’s worst record.

And it helped that the Lakers were completely healthy against the Kings, something that has eluded them nearly all season.

Behind strong efforts from Luka Doncic and LeBron James, the Lakers defeated the...Read more

DENVER — With 36 hours of distance from Nikola Jokic’s altercation with the Oklahoma City Thunder, David Adelman had a much stronger opinion on the play that sparked it than he initially did.

In particular, he and the Denver Nuggets weren’t thrilled by Thunder coach Mark Daigneault’s dismissive postgame attitude about the flagrant two ...Read more

BOSTON — Call it the Neemias Queta Game.

The Celtics center, whose ascent from fourth-stringer to impact starter has been instrumental to Boston’s success this season, delivered the best performance of his career Sunday night to power his team to a 114-98 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden.

Queta finished with a career-high ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — A Golden State Warriors team scratching and clawing for better playoff seeding will be without its superstar for much of the postseason push.

Steph Curry will be re-evaluated in 10 days as he continues to recover from inflammation in his right knee, Golden State announced in a press release on Sunday afternoon. It will keep ...Read more

After going 4-0 against the Denver Nuggets last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have struggled with their division rival this season, having dropped their first three matchups against them, including an overtime loss on Christmas Day.

Their matchup Sunday Denver’s Ball Arena had weight in the Western Conference standings, and the Wolves’...Read more

NEW YORK — That’s eight straight losses for Brooklyn, with the draft lottery looming in the background.

The Nets fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-102 Sunday afternoon at Barclays Center, dropping to 15-45 and cementing a season-worst stretch. And yet, in the middle of another loss, Brooklyn found something it hasn’t been able to count ...Read more

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— Michigan State came to Indiana at a crossroads, but its past two games have made clear its direction entering March.

In a wire-to-wire victory, Michigan State drew as much as a 13-point lead in dispatching Indiana, 77-64, Sunday at Assembly Hall. Jaxon Kohler and Jeremy Fears Jr. each scored 21 points, while Kur Teng caught...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Sixth-year senior guard Chad Baker-Mazara, who spent most of this season as the Trojans top scorer, is no longer with USC’s men’s basketball program, the school announced Sunday.

A person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly said that it wasn’t any one incident, but an accumulation of issues ...Read more

NEW YORK — Which New York Knicks were going to show up to Madison Square Garden on Sunday?

It was the question of the hour as a mixed bag of Knicks chock full of inconsistencies on both ends of the floor hosted the Western Conference’s No. 2-seeded San Antonio Spurs in a matinee matchup serving equal parts barometer and way-too-early NBA ...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Roy Williams pulled a doubleheader, in his own words, on Saturday. The day started by watching his former player, Coby White, drop 20 points in a Charlotte Hornets victory over the Portland Trailblazers — a fitting performance in White’s home debut. With one win down, Williams made his way back to Chapel Hill for No. 18...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The Lakers seemingly lost their mojo after the All-Star break, with three consecutive losses leaving them in search of the “consistency” and “togetherness” they had earlier in the season.

Their 129-101 win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday at Chase Center was a step in the right direction, even if the Warriors...Read more

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — On the eve of college basketball’s biggest month, Florida coach Todd Golden’s red-hot Gators looked like a team ready for another deep postseason run.

With a 111-77 win Saturday night against No. 20 Arkansas, the No. 7 Gators ended a flawless February 8-0 and poised for another memorable March — the time when ...Read more