As long as Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are playing, the Lakers always stand a good chance of winning — even if LeBron James is out.

That proved to be the case yet again Sunday night, as the Lakers rolled over the injury-depleted New Orleans Pelicans 133-121 with James out managing a left foot injury.

The Lakers (15-4) won their seventh ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid was motivated in his first game in 22 days.

Just when you think the 76ers need more from Tyrese Maxey, the point guard shows why he’s been one of the NBA’s best players of the early season. But his missed free throws in overtime and his team’s lack of rebounding in double overtime were costly.

Yet, 10 days of...Read more

NEW YORK — Forty-point quarters are supposed to leave a team feeling invincible. They’re the kind of offensive avalanches that make opponents crack under the weight of inevitability.

The New York Knicks entered Sunday leading the NBA with eight such outbursts. They made it nine after hanging a 41-point opening period on the Toronto Raptors ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves took a double-digit lead on Saturday against the Boston Celtics and had to hang on for dear life at the finish line. They took another double-digit lead Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs, and for a change, they were able to win comfortably, securing a 125-112 victory at Target Center.

The Wolves ...Read more

Playing without two starters for the first time this season, the Boston Celtics improved to 2-0 against the team many pegged as the favorite in the Eastern Conference.

Boston defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-115 on Sunday at Rocket Arena, spearheaded by Jaylen Brown’s fourth career triple-double and a season-high 42 points from Payton ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will miss Sunday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans as he manages a right foot injury, the team announced.

The Lakers (14-4) host the Phoenix Suns on Monday, which will be the team's third game in four days after a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.

In just his fourth game of the ...Read more

MIAMI — December is not necessarily a month of movement in the NBA, but it does stand as a set-up period, with most players signed in the offseason eligible to be dealt on Dec. 15.

For the Heat, December also will be the first time they will have the wherewithal to add a 15th player to fill out their standard roster and remain below the ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors with Stephen Curry have hardly put the fear into the eyes of NBA defenses this season. Without him, they have been the league’s least-threatening offensive group and did little to shirk that reputation Saturday against the Western Conference’s lowliest team.

It required nearly every possession of regulation, ...Read more

Early in the Nets‘ 116-99 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, the best scorer inside Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee wasn’t Giannis Antetokounmpo, Myles Turner or Nic Claxton. With Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. sidelined by injuries, and Egor Demin out after his breakout performance the night before, it was fellow rookie Danny Wolf who ...Read more

MIAMI — These are the spots in the schedule you circle: at home after a two-day break against an opponent playing on the second night of a back-to-back set after a down-to-the-wire home loss 1,400 miles away the night before.

And, still, the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons were too good for the scheduling to make a difference.

...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Disaster almost struck the Minnesota Timberwolves again Saturday, as a 12-point lead disappeared in the final minutes against the Boston Celtics.

But with the score tied, and the Wolves having not scored in a while, the ball swung to Mike Conley. Conley hit an open 3 from the corner that felt like a pressure release in a 119-115...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — It’s been four years since college athletes have been able to legally profit from their name, image and likeness.

It’s been less than 10 years since those same athletes could enter the NCAA’s transfer portal without needing to redshirt an entire competitive season. Yet, it feels like so much of what transpires is still ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Al Biancani tells a story about Mike Bibby.

It dates back to the 2000s. Biancani was the strength and conditioning coach for the Sacramento Kings then with Bibby, the steady, never-rattled point-guard floor leader. Bibby could not throttle down after games or practices, Biancani recalled. He could not ease off the gas ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The familiar faces on the court at Crypto.com Arena, and what will be a long-lasting connection between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, didn’t take away from the spirit of competition.

Because even with Anthony Davis playing his first road game against his former team since the trade that sent him to Dallas and ...Read more

Before Friday’s matchup between the Magic and the Pistons inside Little Caesars Arena, Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley was asked whether or not the contest felt similar to a playoff setting due to the stakes of the NBA Cup.

“A little bit,” Mosley said at the time.

He wasn’t far off when the Magic and the Pistons battled back and forth all ...Read more

NEW YORK — With 3:58 left in a two-point game on Friday night, Madison Square Garden watched its Knicks teeter on the edge.

They had just detonated a 13-point run to open the fourth quarter — a burst that blew the game wide open — only to give nearly all of it back in a matter of minutes. Now, clinging to a one-possession lead, the Knicks...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Kings fans have expressed their displeasure in a variety of ways this season while watching their team go 5-14 with an eight-game losing streak and several embarrassing blowout losses.

They’ve booed the Kings off the court and shouted “sell the team” at Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, but their frustrations ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers will not use their special NBA Cup court during a group stage game Friday against the Dallas Mavericks after the team flagged concerns that it was too slippery.

After the Lakers debuted the special yellow court on Tuesday in a win over the Clippers, Lakers superstar Luka Doncic said during his postgame news conference...Read more

NEW YORK — The fifth-ranked UConn men’s basketball team rolled to a 74-61 win over No. 13 Illinois in a Black Friday rematch of the 2024 Elite Eight in the SentinelOne Showdown at Madison Square Garden.

There was no 30-0 run, but the Huskies built a double-figure lead about eight minutes in and never let it go, securing the wire-to-wire ...Read more

CHICAGO — There had not yet been a night when Duke had to lean on Cameron Boozer, to ask him to be the star he is supposed to be. Most games, he’s played fewer than 30 minutes, still scoring more than 20 points in three of those, but generally idling as the Blue Devils cruise.

Then came Thursday against Arkansas, when no one else seemed to ...Read more