CLEVELAND — For these Celtics, there’s no place like the road.

The road Monday started smooth, paved with pregame injury luck. Then it turned rocky, littered with turnovers and obstructed by a wounded dog.

But by the end of the night, the road led the Celtics exactly where they want to be: back home with a chance to clinch a spot in the ...Read more

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — When she was asked about rookie superstar Caitlin Clark’s highly anticipated arrival in Connecticut, DiJonai Carrington wore an expression like she was struggling internally to keep from rolling her eyes. Point guards Tyasha Harris and Moriah Jefferson exchanged knowing looks, giggling before they answered.

The veteran-...Read more

A key part of the schedule for Mark Pope’s first season as Kentucky basketball coach has been revealed.

On Monday afternoon, the SEC announced the conference opponents for each of the 16 teams in the league for the 2024-25 season, which will be the first with Oklahoma and Texas.

UK will play all 15 of its SEC opponents at least once next ...Read more

Great Osobor was always the top target for the Washington men’s basketball team after the Huskies hired coach Danny Sprinkle in March.

The Bradford, England, native began his collegiate career with Sprinkle at Montana State and after two years followed him to Utah State where he became the Mountain West player of the year last season.

When ...Read more

Many an NBA franchise has found their championships hopes built or dashed with the first overall draft pick. This year, the Hawks have that team-changing choice after winning the top pick in Sunday’s NBA Draft lottery.

Though draft experts have not held the 2024 draft class in high regard, the Hawks don’t buy into it too much. They embrace ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Hart is taking the blame for the Knicks’ poor performance in a blowout Game 4 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The lifeless Knicks took the floor against a Pacers team dreading the thought of returning to Madison Square Garden in a 3-1 series hole for Game 5 on Tuesday.

They responded by walloping the Knicks by 20 points in ...Read more

Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ Game 4 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in the Western Conference playoffs.

1. Ant-nother strong performance: There’s been one constant for the Timberwolves throughout this series. Anthony Edwards shows up. Every time. Ant-Man set the tone from the start, attacking the rim, pulling ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Jamal Murray and Kevin Harlan perform a beautiful duet together.

At the end of 20 series-shifting seconds, Murray planted his feet in front of the broadcast table and struck a pose while Harlan was leaning forward, enraptured by Murray’s swagger as he shouted into his microphone.

In those 20 seconds, the Nuggets had more than...Read more

CHICAGO — After posting the franchise’s worst season to date, the Pistons came to Chicago this weekend for the NBA draft lottery hoping to catch a break.

Detroit, for the second year in a row, was one of two teams who had the best odds at landing the top pick for the upcoming NBA draft. But on Sunday, the ping-pong balls ultimately didn't ...Read more

The Hawks won the NBA Draft Lottery Sunday and earned the first overall pick in the NBA Draft, set to take place on June 26 and June 27.

They had strong odds (65.9%) of landing the 10th pick after they finished the regular season 36-46, then lost their matchup against the Bulls in their first Play-In Tournament game. They had only a 3% chance ...Read more

MIAMI — As the Miami Heat face the possibilities of landing in the most punitive tier of the NBA’s new collective-bargaining agreement, there could have been an easy out for almost all of what now stand as impending concerns:

They simply could have retained Kyle Lowry to the end of the just-completed season, allowed his $29.7 million salary...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Complaining that Sixers coach Nick Nurse was eliminated in the first round is like complaining that Gordon Ramsay’s entrée tasted bad when all he had to use was last week’s leftovers.

Nurse did the best he could with what he had.

Joel Embiid, the reigning MVP, missed 32 of the last 40 games of the regular season after ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Looking for a word to describe what she sees when looking at the WNBA, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve chose "satisfaction."

Reeve has been in the WNBA since 2001. She worked as an assistant for two teams that no longer exist. She can still remember sitting down with her family, her parents concerned about her career path. You have two ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — In the second quarter of the Timberwolves' lopsided playoff loss to Denver on Friday night, Nuggets star Jamal Murray walked to the corner to guard Jaden McDaniels, then bent over to hold the seams of his shorts, conjuring the universal symbol of a tired basketball player.

He looked exhausted, and for good reason. Murray spent ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Aces star A’ja Wilson can finally talk about her signature shoe deal.

Nike introduced the two-time WNBA MVP as part of its signature athlete roster Saturday, a move that came ahead of the Aces’ preseason game against the Puerto Rico national team at South Carolina, Wilson’s alma mater.

The idea for the Wilson-centric ...Read more

SEATTLE — It's Jewell's team.

To avoid any awkwardness and to give their budding super team that might emerge in Seattle the best chance of success, Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith — without prompting or coordination — upon their arrival laid out the Storm's pecking order, which starts with Jewell Loyd.

"Sometimes that can become...Read more

CHICAGO — It’s an exciting time in the WNBA.

The much-anticipated 2024 season is mere days away, yet from an organizational standpoint, the league still looks as if it’s playing from behind.

To address player safety concerns, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced Tuesday that the league will launch a charter flight program “as ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Watching the 6-foot-2 Jalen Brunson and Kyrie Irving torch NBA defenders with a display of old-school basketball moves is now more captivating than ever because they are the ant men on a court full of Godzilla-like creations that don’t look real.

As the game has evolved we are watching giants exhibit skills that ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — From Joel Embiid’s first step down from a dais inside the Wells Fargo Center last week, the clock started ticking on the decision that could define his offseason and maybe his future in basketball.

He has little more than two months to weigh whether he will follow through on his desire and opportunity to play for the U.S. men...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Aaron Gordon made the Minnesota Timberwolves respect him, Jamal Murray made them fear him, and the Denver Nuggets made them realize mowing through the Western Conference isn’t meant to be easy.

The Nuggets have made this a series, for now at least. They still must win Sunday at Target Center to avoid facing three consecutive ...Read more