PHILADELPHIA — For either the 14th or 15th consecutive game, depending on your reconciliation, the 76ers have fielded a makeshift roster built to lose.

The latest quest ended Sunday night with a much-needed 127-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors at the Wells Fargo Center.

The setback dropped the Sixers to 23-52, extending their losing streak to...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — With 8:36 left in the first half of the Timberwolves’ game with Detroit on Sunday night at Target Center, in a game that was a physical battle from the opening tip, all heck broke loose.

Down 10, Wolves forward Naz Reid was fouled by Ron Holland II. Holland and Reid started talking. Perhaps due to lingering feelings from a ...Read more

NEW YORK — With Jalen Brunson still rehabbing from a sprained right ankle, the Knicks have had to find new ways to fuel the offense.

The answer in Sunday’s victory over the Portland Trail Blazers?

A heavier dose of wings.

OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges each scored 28 points, as the pair of Knicks forwards affectionately referred to as “...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard has left the program to become the next coach at Villanova, which announced the hire Sunday morning.

In a statement published a few hours after Villanova’s announcement, University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines credited Willard and the players for a thrilling march to the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Final Four will feature four No. 1 seeds for the first time since 2008 and only the second time since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Duke is a consensus 4 1/2-point favorite over Houston in the national semifinals Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The consensus total is 137 and the Cougars are ...Read more

The Golden State Warriors got off to a torrid start Sunday, as they evened their road trip record at 2-2 and moved back into the No. 6 playoff position in the Western Conference.

After starting slowly in their first three games of the the trip, the Warriors exploded out of the gate for 44 points in the first quarter and kept it up throughout a ...Read more

ATLANTA — More than a year ago, Tom Izzo vowed a resurrection. He’d take his Michigan State team deeper in the NCAA Tournament. A blueblood whose March pulse had cooled set course for a return to lofty expectations. The Big Ten throne. A shot at the Final Four.

Do it or die trying.

Michigan State's season ended in the Elite Eight with a 70...Read more

There are those who say the National Invitation Tournament, that venerable college basketball institution that dates to 1938 – one year before the NCAA Tournament was founded – is on its last legs.

Too much competition in the postseason basketball sector, you see. Too many big schools who aren’t interested, and too much talk about ...Read more

NEW YORK — The biggest question mark for St. John’s this offseason was the future of RJ Luis Jr.

If he returned for his senior season, the Johnnies would maintain a level of continuity superior to what they had going into their first two years under head coach Rick Pitino.

But with Luis’ decision over the weekend to declare for the NBA ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Eric Olen is a New Mexico Lobo.

The architect of UC San Diego’s magical men’s basketball season that came within a rimmed-out 3-pointer from taking mighty Michigan to overtime in the NCAA Tournament has been hired by New Mexico. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday that he was a finalist for the job; UNM announced the...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — So how exactly did we get here, the Miami Heat spending these final two weeks of the season not only having to accept the reality of a third consecutive trip to the play-in round, but for the first time likely having to start that trip from the bottom of the play-in round?

As with almost any NBA season, even with one now mired ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Chris Finch pulled up a chair at one of his favorite establishments in the North Loop section of Minneapolis, fresh off an eventful 48 hours as Timberwolves coach.

One night he collected his 200th win in a dominating performance, the next night his team lost to a depleted Indiana team in frustrating fashion.

“There’s no ...Read more

The Golden State Warriors changed the course of NBA history in a game they lost.

Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph were giving the Warriors the business, and Memphis controlled the game. The Grizzlies scored 20 straight points in the first half and were cruising toward a win.

Then the Warriors tried something new.

For most of the fourth quarter on...Read more

NEWARK, N.J. — Playing the game they were built to win, the Duke Blue Devils led from start to finish Saturday night to subdue Alabama and earn a trip to the Final Four.

Kon Knueppel scored 20 points and Cooper Flagg tallied 16 more with nine rebounds as top-seeded Duke shut down second-seeded Alabama’s potent offense to post a convincing ...Read more

NEWARK, N.J. — Before the handshake line, before the cutting of the nets, before the hats and T-shirts, Cooper Flagg found his way to Jon Scheyer at the bench. The final seconds ticked off as they embraced, the player and coach who first envisioned this journey together.

Anything less than a Final Four would have been a failure. The bar was ...Read more

MEMPHIS — If Saturday felt like a big game, the crowd booming while the music thumped in the fourth quarter, it’s because the teams treated it like one with the final two weeks of the season on their doorstep.

Pushing to the finish line, both the Lakers and the Grizzlies needed some momentum. The Lakers were coming off a heartbreaking loss ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA – The reality is that with one loss over their remaining eight games, the Miami Heat will have the team’s first losing record since 2018-19.

For now, though, for the first time in a long time, they are feeling like winners, with Saturday night’s 118-95 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center extending the ...Read more

The Nets finally figured out the Washington Wizards. They won, 115-112, inside Capital One Arena on Saturday, avoided a season sweep and snapped a six-game losing streak. Their record improved to 24-51 with seven games left.

Brooklyn trailed by as many as 17 points.

Drew Timme, who signed a two-year deal with the Nets on Friday, finished with ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — When the Magic saw their 3-game winning streak come to an end against the Mavericks on Thursday, a key third quarter was what shifted the contest in favor of Dallas.

But Saturday night at Kia Center, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley‘s squad was not only able to weather the third quarter storm brought on by the Kings but actually ...Read more