LOS ANGELES — They all realize what’s at stake and that having a healthy Kawhi Leonard gives the Los Angeles Clippers their best chance to win right now when it matters so much in the jumbled Western Conference.

So, when Leonard played on the second night of back-to-back games this season and his first in more than a year against the Dallas...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — For all of Cooper Flagg’s talents and production, the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils failed time and time again on the offensive end late Saturday night and were shockingly bounced from the NCAA Tournament.

Even with Flagg scoring 27 points, Duke made just one field goal in the game’s final 10 minutes, allowing Houston to erase a 14...Read more

MIAMI — At a time when more is needed than good job and good effort, that is what the Heat wound up with Saturday night for a second consecutive game at Kaseya Center.

A game after falling to the Memphis Grizzlies on a Ja Morant buzzer-beating jumper, the Miami Heat this time blew a seven-point lead late in regulation and fell, 121-115, in ...Read more

DETROIT — After missing the last six games because of a calf injury, Cade Cunningham returned to the lineup for the Detroit Pistons, who began a four-game homestand against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

The All-Star point guard led Detroit with 25 points (9 of 24 field goals, 2 of 6 3-pointers), eight rebounds and three assists. ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — After a 15-point victory against Brooklyn on Thursday, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch knew his team didn’t have a full tank of gas, and he sounded this warning for the next few games:

“We’re gonna need to regroup here and find a second wind,” Finch said. “Because we still have a lot of basketball that means a lot to ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. has a chance to add something rare to his growing NCAA Tournament legacy: a national championship.

A Gators’ career-high 34-point night pushed them past Auburn, 79-73, and into Monday night’s national title game while cementing his status as one of the best shotmakers in recent memory on ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr.’s star continues to rise as he carried Todd Golden’s Gators to new heights — this time all the way to the national-title game.

Clayton’s driving layup while falling to the floor and getting fouled with 1:33 to go was the dagger Saturday night at the Alamodome, culminated a UF career-high 34...Read more

ATLANTA — State Farm Arena must have run out of chicken. The only menu item was barbecued hawk.

The Knicks jumped out to a 25-point halftime lead in a 121-105 victory for win No. 49 of the season. They will have an opportunity to secure win No. 50 for the second season in a row in the second leg of a back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns on ...Read more

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