ORLANDO, Fla. — Donovan Mitchell looked down at the stat sheet, slowly shook his head in amazement and then chose his words carefully. The Cleveland star seemed less surprised that he scored 50 points in a 103-96 playoff loss to Orlando on Friday night than the fact the Cavaliers scored 66 points in the paint … Read more
DENVER — The futures of LeBron James and Darvin Ham with the Los Angeles Lakers are murky after their first-round playoff exit. One might choose to leave and the other might not have a choice. For James, the decision is his — whether he wants to wear purple and gold again in his 22nd NBA … Read more
PHOENIX — Minnesota star Anthony Edwards noticed early in the third quarter that the Phoenix Suns switched up their defense, playing him one-on-one most of the time instead of using the double teams from the first half. The budding superstar took that as a challenge. “It was like — you’ve got to beat us,” Edwards … Read more
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers finally cracked the Denver Nuggets’ mastery of this rivalry and extended their playoff lives for at least another game. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, LeBron James led the way. James scored 30 points, Anthony Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds, and the Lakers avoided postseason elimination with a … Read more
MIAMI — For two days, the Boston Celtics lamented getting beaten on their home floor. And when they finally got to play again, they let out all the frustration. The result: a defensive masterpiece. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points to lead a balanced approach, and the Celtics soundly beat the Miami … Read more
DALLAS — Luka Doncic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and the suddenly defensive-minded Dallas Mavericks took a chippy 101-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the first-round series. The Mavs rode the same defense that gave them home-court advantage with a Game 2 victory … Read more
LOS ANGELES — Aaron Gordon had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Nikola Jokic added 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets moved to the brink of the second round with a 112-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their first-round series Thursday night. Jamal Murray scored 22 … Read more
MILWAUKEE — Pascal Siakam scored 37 points and the Indiana Pacers overcame another fantastic first-half performance from Damian Lillard to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 125-108 on Tuesday night and tie their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece. Indiana snapped a 10-game playoff losing streak that began with a Game 7 loss to … Read more
The Boston Celtics had almost no trouble at all with the 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs this season, going 35-4 against those squads. Against the teams that actually made the postseason, the Celtics were really good as well. Taking into account only the 16 playoff teams — and their games against one another … Read more
PHILADELPHIA — Miami guard Jimmy Butler will have an MRI on his right knee Thursday, with the Heat bracing for the strong possibility that he may miss Friday’s elimination play-in game against the Chicago Bulls, a person with knowledge of the situation said. No final determination will be made until after the MRI is read … Read more
