Jaylen Brown in street clothes? Payton Pritchard slogging through one of his worst shooting nights of the season?

Didn’t matter for the Celtics on Tuesday night in Phoenix.

Playing without Brown, who sat out with a knee contusion, Boston battered the shorthanded Suns 97-81 at the Mortgage Matchup Center to remain perfect on their West Coast ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Nets didn’t plan on spending their off day in Atlanta at an aquarium, but once Winter Storm Hernando turned into a full-blown nor’easter, normal stopped being an option.

Veteran forward Terance Mann helped rally the group for a trip to the Georgia Aquarium, a detour that turned a travel headache into something closer to a ...Read more

Welcome to the roller-coaster ride that is the 2025-26 Knicks season, a ride beginning with a free-fall from all-time highs: the post-Eastern Conference finals firing of head coach Tom Thibodeau, coinciding with the hiring of Mike Brown.

The Knicks haven’t quite been the same ever since, and even though eight players from last year’s roster...Read more

The Miami Heat had all their weapons; the Milwaukee Bucks were lacking their leading man.

No, this should not have been this difficult, but for a team desperately attempting to climb from the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference, consistency remains an abstract for the Heat.

So no four-game winning streak for Erik Spoelstra’s team. ...Read more

NEW ORLEANS – Tuesday night’s theme at Smoothie King Center was “Y2K,” where Usher blasted through the speakers and the half-empty crowd were given 2000s-style bird hats to wear.

On the court, the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans decided to also pay homage to that low-scoring era of hoops by throwing up copious amounts of...Read more

LOS ANGELES — During a 20-minute interview with the media Tuesday, new Lakers president of business operations Lon Rosen said Magic Johnson won’t be involved in any “day-to-day” involvement with the team and that hopes season-ticket holders will “renew” them despite the enormous increase for next season.

Rosen, who has been an ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Gotta hurry. This story is moving quickly.

Turns out, after all these years, the secret to success for USF basketball was impatience. And maybe a little audacity.

Head coach Bryan Hodgson has been on the job for less than a year, and already the Bulls are steering toward unprecedented heights.

The roster? Torn apart and put ...Read more

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — When you’re No. 1, in any sport, you get the other team’s best shot.

No. 1 teams know it, expect it. Duke knew it coming into its road game Tuesday against Notre Dame.

But sometimes, the other team’s best shot isn’t enough against No. 1. The Blue Devils, who took over the top spot in the AP poll on Monday, cruised ...Read more

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In the first meeting with Virginia, N.C. State knew it wasn’t going to win after getting down double figures 12 minutes into the first half. The Cavaliers outplayed the Wolfpack in virtually every way.

Will Wade said UVA “whipped” his team that December day. He really wanted to see a better outcome on Tuesday in ...Read more

Former NBA star Patrick Beverley will no longer face a felony assault charge connected to allegations made by his teenage sister late last year that he grabbed her by the neck and punched her in the eye during an altercation at their mother's home.

On Monday, a grand jury in the 240th District Court of Fort Bend County, Texas, returned a "no ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope has been fined $25,000 by the Southeastern Conference for comments he made after the Wildcats’ loss to Auburn on Saturday.

The SEC announced the fine Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before UK was set to take on South Carolina in another road game amid the first three-game losing ...Read more

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Tre White is a creature of habit.

Before each home game, White is the first one on the Allen Fieldhouse court. His focus? Shooting all sorts of 3-pointers all around the arc, in multiple different scenarios.

This time, the shooting exhibition continued well past the opening tip.

With the Kansas offense struggling for ...Read more

DETROIT— The Detroit Pistons had one of their poorest shooting performances of the season in their game against the San Antonio Spurs. They made only 7 of 36 3-point attempts, which was a major contributor to their 114-103 loss on Monday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Led by Devin Vassell, who scored a game-high 28 points, accounted for seven...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards is the reigning All-Star Most Valuable Player and at least a fringe candidate to win the NBA’s MVP award this season.

He has dramatically improved his clutch-time efficiency, his 3-point shooting and his midrange shooting. He is an explosive athlete with precocious skills who has been the best player on a team ...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — In a game that, just weeks ago, would’ve been headlined by the battle between two star freshmen — Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and UNC’s Caleb Wilson — it was a senior who made all the difference.

No. 18 North Carolina defeated No. 24 Louisville, 77-74 behind a career-high 30 points from captain Seth Trimble, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Kara Braxton, who won two WNBA championships during a 10-year career, has died at age 43.

"It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of 2x WNBA Champion Kara Braxton," the WNBA said in a statement Sunday. "Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time."

No cause of death has been given...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — The UConn men’s basketball team didn’t take much damage in Monday’s AP Top 25 rankings, dropping one spot to No. 6 after a 1-1 week that included a poor showing in a Quad 3 loss to Creighton.

After falling to the Bluejays in one of, if not the worst defensive performances of the season, UConn recovered in convincing ...Read more

AUBURN, Ala. — This was the worst week to date of the Mark Pope coaching era at Kentucky.

At a time in the men’s college basketball season when a team needs to be building momentum toward March, Kentucky dropped games to a foe that had previously lost five of six and to an opponent that had lost five in a row.

UK’s wild 75-74 loss at ...Read more

The Orlando Magic were already facing an uphill battle when they entered Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers inside Intuit Dome.

Not only was Orlando at a rest disadvantage playing on the second night of a back-to-back at Los Angeles, but Jamahl Mosley‘s squad was also without Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain injury ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Minnesota Timberwolves came into their matchup Sundayat Target Center down one frontcourt player because of injury (Joel Embiid, Naz Reid) and one because of suspension (Paul George, Rudy Gobert).

Philadelphia also came in having lost four in a row; the Wolves had won three in a row. But it ...Read more