DENVER — Life without Nikola Jokic has been trying for the Nuggets, or at least it has felt that way since coach Michael Malone demanded more of his players last Friday in Portland.

Denver is 2-3 in the last five games without the reigning MVP after a 129-119 loss Monday to the Chicago Bulls. It completed a split back-to-back that spanned two...Read more

MILWAUKEE — Bring it on, says Mark Pope.

Bring all the pressure. Bring all the critics. Bring all the controversies. Bring all the tough times and the tough matchups and the tough situations that are all part of what makes college athletics so special in the first place.

“Bring all the smoke” is the way the Kentucky basketball coach ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers team the Timberwolves played Monday night on the road was nothing like the team they faced at Target Center a week ago. The Pacers had their starting lineup out in that game, but they still managed to beat a disinterested Minnesota team.

The regulars were back for Indiana on Monday night, and the Wolves were ...Read more

SEATTLE — In case you didn’t know, Derik Queen is from Baltimore.

The 6-foot-10, 245-pound freshman for Maryland men’s basketball made that clear twice after banking home the game-winning fadeaway jumper at the buzzer that propelled the No. 4 seed Terps to a 72-71 victory over No. 12 seed Colorado State on Sunday in an NCAA Tournament ...Read more

CHICAGO — The turnaround for the Chicago Bulls offense can be tracked by one statistic: how many times Coby White and Josh Giddey have gotten to the free-throw line.

The Bulls are not good at getting to the line. They are dead last in the NBA in attempted free throws per game (19.3). But over the past five weeks, Giddey and White have tried ...Read more

MIAMI — After the Golden State Warriors’ practice at Barry University, a horde of about 100 students swarmed Jimmy Butler on his way out to the parking lot.

They must not have known Steph Curry was in the building.

Curry, 37, met the team in Miami and practiced at the unassuming private Catholic university outside downtown. He was re-...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS —The Minnesota Gophers named Colorado State’s Niko Medved as their new men’s basketball coach on Monday after his season ended Sunday night with a loss against Maryland in the NCAA Tournament.

Medved, a Minnesota graduate and former Gophers assistant, signed a six-year deal that is pending Board of Regents approval and a ...Read more

SEATTLE — What Maryland provided on Sunday:

— The only game-winning buzzer-beater of this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, brought to you by one Derik Queen in a 72-71 win over Colorado State.

— An all-time thrill to the crowd at Climate Pledge Arena, which continues to prove itself as a sublime host for basketball at all levels....Read more

NEW YORK — Rick Pitino is one step closer to college basketball’s top national coaching honor.

The St. John’s coach was named one of four finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year, joining Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Duke’s John Scheyer.

Monday’s announcement followed a year in which Pitino led St. John’s ...Read more

Facing the NBA’s top team and one of the league’s elite players, the Clippers needed to be at their best Sunday if they were to extend their winning streak to six games.

But they failed to deliver in the final seconds against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, losing 103-101 in a tense battle at the Intuit Dome.

Derrick...Read more

Nikola Jokic was on the road this week with the Denver Nuggets, but he sat out all four games of their critical Western Conference trip, confronting the team with its fair share of adversity.

But Denver managed to return home with a 2-2 split after beating the Rockets 116-111 on Sunday in Houston, bookending the trip with wins against red-hot ...Read more

CLEVELAND — Michigan State is headed to the Sweet 16.

Despite a slow start and an off-night from freshman guard Jase Richardson, No. 2 seed Michigan State rallied for a 71-63 win over No. 10 seed New Mexico in Sunday’s second round NCAA Tournament game at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena. The Spartans will face No. 6 seed Ole Miss on Friday in ...Read more

MILWAUKEE — Kentucky guard Koby Brea dribbled past teammate Brandon Garrison, losing Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis in the process. Suddenly, Brea’s view of the basket at Fiserv Forum was wide open, and one of the best 3-point shooters in the country made the swished 3 that followed look easy.

No. 6 seed Illinois already was having ...Read more

The depth of the Boston Celtics’ roster was on full display Sunday in Portland.

Even with Jaylen Brown nursing a bone bruise in his knee and fellow starters Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday both sitting out on the first night of a back-to-back, Boston convincingly defeated the Trail Blazers, rolling to a 129-116 win at the Moda Center.

...Read more

MIAMI – Finally, an exhale.

For the first time since March 3, the Miami Heat tasted success, with Sunday night’s 122-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at Kaseya Center.

The 10-game losing streak is over.

The seven-game home losing streak is over.

For at least one night, misery put on hold.

Yes, it came against an opponent that now ...Read more

ATLANTA – By now, a lot of NBA fans know the Philadelphia 76ers will lose their first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder if they don’t have a top-six selection in June’s NBA draft.

That’s why many have suggested it would be better if the Sixers tank, to make sure they add a nice, young prospect.

And the team continues to do a ...Read more

SEATTLE — Maryland men’s basketball’s return to College Park will be delayed for a little bit. And that’s a good sign.

Derik Queen’s running buzzer-beating bank shot allowed the No. 4 seed Terps to remain on the West Coast after edging No. 12 seed Colorado State, 72-71, in an NCAA Tournament second-round game Sunday evening at ...Read more

MILWAUKEE — After six long years, the Kentucky Wildcats are headed back to the Sweet 16. And it happened in Mark Pope’s first season on the job.

The Cats defeated Illinois 84-75 at the Fiserv Forum on Sunday night, silencing a Milwaukee crowd that consisted mostly of Illini fans and punching UK’s ticket to the second week of the NCAA ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Unusually for a player who makes being in the right place at the right time look unfathomably easy, Cooper Flagg’s face was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Norchad Omier was going to come down with the rebound, but his left arm flailed out and poked Flagg straight in the right eye.

Unintentional and accidental, to be ...Read more