ATLANTA — The Knicks knew the Atlanta Hawks were fighting for their playoff lives.

They didn’t let Atlanta even come up for air.

In a historic display of domination, the Knicks punched first and just kept pounding in Thursday night’s first-round-series-clinching 140-89 victory over the Hawks in Game 6 at State Farm Arena.

The Knicks led...Read more

ATLANTA — Maybe the Hawks booked their flights to Cancun a day in advance.

Maybe they drank their own Kool-Aid and thought home-court advantage alone would be enough to force a sudden-death Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. Maybe the bright lights of a win-or-go-home playoff game proved too big of a moment for a young, inexperienced Hawks team...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Days ago, the Celtics looked poised to coast into the Eastern Conference semifinals after bludgeoning the 76ers in Game 4 of their first-round series.

Now, coach Joe Mazzulla’s bunch finds itself one loss away from a disastrous end to the season.

After collapsing on their home floor in the second half of Game 5, the Celtics ...Read more

NEW YORK — Only 71 players filed as early-entry candidates for the 2026 NBA draft. According to the NBA, that’s down from 106 in 2025, 283 in 2022 and 353 in 2021. ESPN noted that this year’s number is the smallest early-entry group in more than two decades.

Now, that number doesn’t suggest players suddenly care less about reaching the ...Read more

DETROIT — Although the Magic would have rather closed out their best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Pistons on Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena, Orlando now has an opportunity to accomplish a franchise first.

With eighth-seeded Orlando leading the series 3-2 after Wednesday’s 116-109 road loss, Friday’s Game 6 ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — So that Game 3 overtime win Friday in Houston was fun, huh?

The Lakers needed it, of course. The Lakers wanted it.

The Lakers are paying for it.

Because LeBron James hasn't looked superhuman since playing those 45 minutes, including all five gutsy minutes of overtime.

He hasn't looked great.

Not even particularly good, not ...Read more

An hour before tip-off of Game 5 of the first-round playoff series against Houston, the word came down that Austin Reaves was available to play for the Lakers, his wait over, his time away with Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain no longer an issue.

Reaves missed the first four games of the series and the last five regular-season games since ...Read more

The Orlando Magic walked into Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night with a chance to finish something.

Instead, they walked into a fight — the kind of barroom brawl that defines a playoff series where both teams are trying to emerge from nearly two decades of NBA irrelevance.

But let’s make one thing perfectly clear: Before ...Read more

DETROIT — The Pistons held a three-point lead with one minute remaining in the game. Tobias Harris missed a floater, but Ausar Thompson grabbed the offensive rebound, giving the Detroit Pistons 14 seconds to work with on their possession. Cade Cunningham was able to find his spot and hit a mid-range jump shot. As the Magic called a timeout, ...Read more

BOSTON — It looked a lot like they imagined it would, once upon a time.

Joel Embiid was scoring buckets and drawing crowds.

Tyrese Maxey was zigging and zagging through the resulting alleyways.

Paul George was knocking down 3s and playing ironman minutes of solid defense.

That was the vision, wasn’t it? However much longer the 76ers’ ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors’ coaching situation will remain unresolved through the weekend.

Longtime coach Steve Kerr met with team owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy for two hours earlier this week, according to a report Wednesday from ESPN.

No resolution was reached almost two weeks after the Warriors were ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Ever-growing power conferences are the driving force behind an impending expansion of the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, which ESPN reported could be formalized within weeks and begin next season.

The field would grow from 68 teams to 76 that would include eight additional at-large teams in each tournament. The ...Read more

NEW YORK — Game 5 wasn’t a Knicks escape. It was a Knicks takeover.

The Knicks had controlled stretches of this series before. Tuesday night, they did it for long enough to leave very little doubt. The Atlanta Hawks kept searching for answers and never found one that changed the game, and the Knicks won, 126-97, at Madison Square Garden to ...Read more

BOSTON — Round 1, not done.

One win away from securing their fifth consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics fell flat Tuesday night at TD Garden, losing 113-97 to the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 5.

Boston held a 13-point lead early in the second half but couldn’t hold it. The Sixers closed the gap with a cascade of...Read more

DENVER – Even while shorthanded against the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves came away blaming themselves more than feeling overmatched in their 125-113 loss in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Monday.

The Wolves committed 25 turnovers, an eyesore amount that they equaled only once during the regular season, and it ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Former Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Damon Jones became the first among 34 defendants to plead guilty Tuesday in an expansive gambling indictment that also ensnared Hall of Fame player Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat star Terry Rozier and organized crime figures.

Jones was a Lakers coach in 2022 and 2023, long after he retired...Read more

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The wait is finally over.

After a long recruitment filled with twists and turns, Tyran Stokes announced his commitment to the Jayhawks on ESPN’s “NBA Tip-off” show Tuesday night.

Stokes, the consensus No. 1 player in the high school recruiting class of 2026, picked Kansas over finalists Kentucky and Oregon.

This is a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Less than four weeks after suffering a Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain, Austin Reaves is closing in on a return with the Lakers in position to clinch a spot in the Western Conference semifinals.

Reaves will officially be a game-time decision before Wednesday's potentially series-clinching Game 5 against the Houston Rockets at...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Franz Wagner‘s status for Wednesday’s Game 5 against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons is uncertain after the Orlando Magic forward exited Monday’s Game 4 late in the third quarter and did not return due to right calf soreness.

An MRI on Tuesday showed that Wagner suffered a right calf strain, and he’s considered ...Read more