MINNEAPOLIS — After a midseason loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Lakers coach JJ Redick and LeBron James sounded a bit of an alarm, both coach and leader saying the Lakers didn’t have the luxury to just be pretty good.

The Lakers, if they wanted to win tough games, needed to be great.

“It’s just, we don’t have a huge margin for ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic wanted to turn their first-round playoff series against the supremely talented Boston Celtics into a drag-out slugfest.

On Friday, they landed their first punch.

After taking Games 1 and 2 at TD Garden, Boston succumbed to Orlando’s physicality in Game 3, losing 95-93 at the Kia Center. Game 4 is Sunday ...Read more

MIAMI — The trash talk on the court, that’s cool, part of the playoffs, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro said Friday.

But making it personal on camera, that, Herro said, crosses a line.

In the wake of his Cleveland Cavaliers moving to a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series, Cavaliers guard Darius ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Alijah Arenas, a top USC recruit and Chatsworth High basketball star, awoke from his coma after a serious Cybertruck crash early Thursday morning and has “shown significant signs of progress,” according to a statement from his family shared with The Los Angeles Times.

Alijah remains intubated, but the son of former NBA ...Read more

NEW YORK — Cam Thomas, selected 27th overall by the Nets in the 2021 NBA draft, is set to enter restricted free agency. He’s shown consistent growth over his first four seasons but has yet to fully realize his NBA potential.

Will the young scoring guard peak with Brooklyn or find his stride with another team?

“I look forward to the ...Read more

DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made himself available to the rest of us lovable lame stream media scum on Monday, April 21, and there were four questions I asked about his decision to trade Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis.

Question: “Did the anger and outrage from the fan base exceed what you were planning for?”

...Read more

CHICAGO — The time is finally here for the most controversial stretch of the NBA season: the announcement of end-of-year awards.

This year’s voting had a mix of contentious decisions — Nikola Jokić versus Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP, Draymond Green’s late push for Defensive Player of the Year — and relatively straightforward ones...Read more

LOS ANGELES — He insisted that his group could play better and had to play better even though the Los Angeles Clippers snatched home-court advantage away from the Denver Nuggets by winning Game 2 in Denver.

That didn’t matter to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.

What mattered to Lue was his team pushing itself to a higher level against the ...Read more

DETROIT — The atmosphere inside Little Caesars Arena was electric as soon as the Detroit Pistons stepped onto the court for warmups Thursday night. Even when they started the game by missing their first seven shots, the fans continued to electrify the arena, particularly with their chants directed at Jalen Brunson, which included expletives.

...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — All the Orlando Magic can do is keep fighting, keep swinging, keep elbowing, keep pushing, keep prodding, keep trying to do anything possible to turn this series against the Boston Celtics into a basketball bar fight instead of a basketball ballet.

The Magic simply don’t have the firepower, the experience, the depth or the ...Read more

HOUSTON — Draymond Green came up short in his bid to win a second Defensive Player of the Year award when results were announced on Thursday afternoon after the Warriors’ Game 2 loss to Houston.

Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, a 6-foot-10 center from Riverside County in Southern California, took home the prestigious honor. Atlanta’s Dyson ...Read more

Welcome to the playoff series of mutually assured destruction.

The Warriors and the Rockets might be tied at 1-1 in their first-round matchup, but no one has really won anything.

Because the damage to both teams will be so catastrophic by the time this series is over, in as few as three more games or as many as five, there will be little ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Alijah Arenas, the Chatsworth High star and crown jewel of USC’s incoming recruiting class, was involved in a serious Cybertruck accident on Thursday morning, a person familiar with the situation not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Los Angeles Times.

The crash occurred at 4:56 a.m. when the Cybertruck struck a fire ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The NBA draft lottery is about three weeks away, and the Sixers have a reasonable chance at landing a top-six pick, which means it’s time to remind ourselves of a little conventional wisdom. I like to call it the Durant-Curry Hypothesis.

If a player is good enough to be selected at or near the top of the NBA draft, he should ...Read more

HOUSTON – The Warriors entered Wednesday night’s first round playoff game at Toyota Center with a 2-0 series lead a realistic possibility.

After a disastrous first quarter, the Warriors were left hoping their championship hopes weren’t dashed when star Jimmy Butler was ruled out with a pelvic contusion in a 109-94 loss that evened up the ...Read more

The Miami Heat will not be an easy out. Wednesday night proved that, and not a lot more.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won at home again to take a 2-0 lead in this first round best-of-seven playoff series, which NBA history says gives them an 88% likelihood of advancing.

Few outside of hardcore fans or the delusional believe that the Heat, play-in ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Paige Bueckers is most familiar with winter weather after growing up in Minnesota and spending her college career in Connecticut, but the former UConn women’s basketball star is quickly making herself at home in Texas as the newest member of the Dallas Wings.

From city officials to veteran players to fans, hundreds crowded...Read more

CLEVELAND — For weeks, as their play-in fate became as much of a reality as that of the Cavaliers being the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, all the Miami Heat wanted was an opportunity to get to Cleveland.

Now the question is whether they can get back.

Far more competitive than in Sunday night’s opener of this best-of-seven Eastern ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — By now, you’ve had time to sleep this one off.

I hope you woke up with one pacifying thought.

Hey, the Twins actually won a game. No, not that.

What a win by the Wild. Not that either.

You should believe the Wolves can win this series more than you did four days ago.

The Lakers did not outclass the Wolves in Game 2. When ...Read more