LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have picked up their second commitment from the NCAA transfer portal.

On Saturday morning, UK got a pledge from former Pittsburgh sophomore guard Jaland Lowe to come to Lexington for the 2025-26 season.

Lowe — a 6-foot-3 guard who is originally from Texas — previously played two ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — In the impatient, impetuous world of college athletics where wisdom and judiciousness are in short supply, University of Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin’s patience and prudence are a major reason the Gators are in the Final Four this weekend.

Not only did Stricklin pull off one of the most astute collegiate hires in ...Read more

SEATTLE — Sue Bird’s place among the basketball greats was never in doubt, and when she retired in 2022 after an illustrious 21-year career with the Storm, it was just a matter of time before the WNBA star received the call that would cement her legacy.

On Saturday morning, Bird, a first-time nominee, became one of nine new inductees who ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Before Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, with only six games left in the regular season and playoff positioning still unsettled, every night feels like a postseason game.

If that is the case, then Golden State made the case that it was ready for a possible playoff series ...Read more

LOS ANGELES —Jaxson Hayes tapped Luka Doncic on the leg. Maxi Kleber walked by and quietly did the same. And Markieff Morris plopped down on the bench next to the star and put his right arm on the back of Doncic’s chair.

The entire time, the Lakers star guard just looked blankly ahead. The joy he brought to the Lakers since getting ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Simply put, the Los Angeles Clippers’ goal is to “make the playoffs,” coach Tyronn Lue said, and not be a play-in team.

The Clippers moved closer to that goal Friday in a 114-91 rout of the Dallas Mavericks at the Intuit Dome.

Having won 10 of their last 12 games, the Clippers are putting themselves in position to ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Cooper Flagg is in the baggage claim at the San Antonio airport, on a video board hawking New Balance. He’s larger than life on the walls of AT&T’s interactive court at Fan Fest, shooting, screaming, flexing. For a month, he’s popped up as often as Charles Barkley during nearly every basketball-adjacent commercial break —...Read more

DALLAS — Between the few thousand empty seats and the $7 tickets on a Wednesday night inside the American Airlines Center, there ain’t much about the Dallas Mavericks to captivate a national, or local, audience.

That includes the return of All-Star Anthony Davis, who this week proved, again, when right, there are few who can guard the man. ...Read more

BOSTON — Before this season, no team in NBA history had made more 3-pointers than Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the 2022-23 Golden State Warriors.

The Mazzulla Ball Celtics broke that record Friday night — with five games to spare.

Payton Pritchard’s pull-up 3 at the 8:19 mark of the second quarter made Boston the all-time 3-point ...Read more

TORONTO — The Detroit Pistons ended their three-game road trip with a 117-105 win over the Toronto Raptors Friday night at Scotiabank Arena.

With the win, the Pistons improved to 43-34 overall and clinched a playoff spot for the first time in six years. Detroit will finish the season no worse than the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Within an hour of Duke’s 2024 NCAA Tournament loss to N.C. State, leaving the Blue Devils frustratingly short of the Final Four, attention immediately turned to what’s next.

Cooper Flagg’s name became a trending topic online shortly after the Wolfpack’s miracle run to the Final Four ended Duke’s season and had fans ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Maliq Brown’s emergency return to Duke’s playing rotation last weekend in Newark, N.J., went off without the feared hitch, and he’s on track to possibly play more in the Final Four.

The 6-9 junior forward missed Duke’s first two NCAA Tournament games in Raleigh after dislocating his shoulder during the ACC Tournament on ...Read more

The Pat Beverley clip went viral last month, and quickly. He may be better known as a podcaster and former NBA player now, but at one point Beverley was a rival of Jon Scheyer on the Chicago basketball scene, and Beverley had a lot to say about the Duke basketball coach’s willingness to play anyone, anywhere.

Beverley grew up on the West Side...Read more

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An early breakfast the day of the Sweet 16 in San Francisco gave Florida’s Alijah Martin something more to chew on.

The main course was another glimpse into the beautiful basketball mind of Todd Golden.

While he quietly ate, the veteran guard received a rare peek behind the curtain as his coach broke it down with ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t miss. And then they couldn’t make anything.

Eleven times in a row, they got a mismatch they liked and found themselves in spots on the court they wanted only to see their shots fail.

For the first four minutes, the Lakers’ offense was perfect. For the next eight, it was problematic.

For ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — For a while, the 76ers look capable of messing up the tank.

Adem Bona was unstoppable while he and his teammates were in the midst of spanking the Milwaukee Bucks. But Milwaukee built a 13-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, and all was good in the Sixers’ must-lose game.

The Bucks ultimately prevailed, 126-113, ...Read more

Although the Magic had won their first three meetings against the Wizards by an average margin of 20.6 points, younger teams such as Washington can search for momentum to carry them into the offseason by defeating stronger competition in the final stretch of the year.

The Wizards accomplished exactly that type of win against the Kings on ...Read more

MIAMI — Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 110-108 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night at Kaseya Center to begin a three-game homestand on the back end of a back-to-back set. The Heat continue this stretch at home on Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks:

With both teams battling for postseason position in the final days of the...Read more

NEW YORK — Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has said one of the things he admires about Rudy Gobert is Gobert’s approach to each game. How his professionalism and approach doesn’t wax or wane depending on the opponent. It’s a quality not every Wolves player shares, and that has resulted in multiple losses in games the Wolves should have ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Unfortunately for Joel Embiid, the 76ers center knows a thing or two about left knee surgeries.

Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers even revealed on Thursday that Embiid informed him during their teams’ Feb. 9 game that he would probably have to undergo another one.

At the time, Rivers, the former Sixers coach, didn’t believe...Read more