LAS VEGAS — A bettor is one leg away from turning a $5 futures parlay into $168,300.

The gambler at Hard Rock Bet, which doesn’t operate in Nevada, needs Duke to win the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to cash the five-team parlay, a 33,660-to-1 long shot.

Duke was 11-1 to win the title when the wager was placed last year. The Blue ...Read more

STORRS, Conn. – Dan Hurley turned the corner into the lobby of the Werth Basketball Center and saw a large gathering of reporters and news cameras huddled around the spot near the wall where he was meant to stand and speak. He was going to wrap up the 2024-25 UConn men’s basketball season and give a look into what’s ahead.

“Oh wow, I’...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The LeBron James-Stephen A. Smith feud doesn’t look like it will be ending anytime soon, as the Lakers superstar trashed Smith on the network that employs the “First Take” host.

Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” James talked about his confrontation with Smith during a timeout at a ...Read more

CHICAGO — Lonzo Ball will not make his return against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night at the United Center — but the Chicago Bulls guard is hopeful he will be available before the end of the regular season.

Ball missed the last 12 games with a sprained right wrist, an injury that occurred in an October game against the Memphis ...Read more

Duke forward Maliq Brown returned to practice Wednesday and is progressing toward a return to game action after a shoulder injury caused him to miss the past four games, including the Blue Devils’ first two NCAA Tournament games.

“It’s day-to-day with Maliq,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Wednesday, “and there’s a chance he could be ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Doc Rivers is one of the winningest coaches in NBA history.

The current Milwaukee Bucks coach has 1,154 career regular-season wins and can tie former Lakers and Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson for seventh on the all-time list with a victory Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets.

He also led the Boston Celtics to an NBA title in...Read more

MIAMI — Tuesday night was like having an encounter with your ex at a family or friend’s function.

The world knows the couple didn’t survive a rough patch, and subsequently broke up. Everyone’s watching to see how the former partners act around each other.

Mature people never want to see an ex doing bad, but pride dictates that you don�...Read more

The Florida Gators, it seems, have been trudging through the desert of irrelevance for years.

Each step has been a battle — boots sinking into the endless sand, muscles burning, throat parched and skin scorched.

You can almost envision a beleaguered UF athletic director Scott Stricklin squinting into the relentless sun, scanning the horizon ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — The past few years, it has become a familiar routine to point at the ACC’s last team standing, three times a No. 5 seed or worse that reached the Final Four, as testimony to the strength of the league.

Surely, a league capable of sending a team from that far down the standings all the way to the third weekend of the NCAA ...Read more

After the Magic handed the Lakers their third straight loss Monday on the night Orlando inducted Dwight Howard into its Hall of Fame at Kia Center, Paolo Banchero had a clear message.

Orlando’s impressive 12-point win against LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Los Angeles wouldn’t matter if it lost to the Hornets less than 24 hours later at ...Read more

MIAMI — Erik Spoelstra began the night by insisting the night had to be about his team, not the sideshow of a former disgruntled player being back in town.

So the Miami Heat made it about both.

Combining stifling defense with stout 3-point shooting, the Heat further distanced themselves from the 10-game losing streak that was snapped Sunday,...Read more

NEW YORK — The Knicks are becoming a third quarter team. It’s a good thing because it shows they are capable of responding to adversity with the appropriate level of desperation.

It’s a hindrance, however, because this team has become comfortable with sleepwalking through opening quarters and halves, because — well — because they can ...Read more

DENVER — Ali Farokhmanesh brought Nique Clifford to Fort Collins, Colo., then made him a millionaire.

When Clifford hit the transfer portal after leaving Colorado, Farokmanesh, the Colorado State Rams assistant who’d recruited Nique when the kid was a springy teen out of the Springs, reached out instantly for a second chance.

After Nique ...Read more

DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons' resurgence has been one of the most compelling stories this season. They came into Tuesday’s interconference contest against the San Antonio Spurs with a firm hold on the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, and with 10 games left, it would be easy for the players to get complacent and start focusing on their ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — An emotional Dwight Howard, the greatest basketball player in Orlando Magic history, actually wanted to talk some baseball Monday.

That’s right, on the day he was inducted into Magic’s Hall of Fame, Dwight wanted to tell a heartfelt, faith-based story about our national pastime.

“God likes to play baseball,” Dwight ...Read more

NEW YORK — Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau says there’s “no right or wrong” way to distribute minutes over the course of a season — only what works best for a team given its specific circumstances.

“I think each team is different. I think everybody has to run their own race,” Thibodeau said ahead of tipoff against the Dallas ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Saint Francis University was one of the Cinderella stories of the NCAA Tournament.

The Red Flash had a losing record but got hot at the right time to win the Northeast Conference Tournament championship and clinch the conference’s automatic bid into the Big Dance.

Then, in its First Four game, Saint Francis played valiantly ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Four days after playing the best NBA game of his young career, Bronny James repeated the feat in the G League.

Starting for the Lakers' South Bay affiliate Monday night, the rookie scored a career-high 39 points in a 122-118 win over the Santa Cruz Warriors at UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo.

James made 14 of 21 shots...Read more