NEW YORK — Not all games against losing teams are created equal. Because some losing teams are better than the sum of their win-loss records, some losing teams are a turn of events away from competing for a playoff spot, if not something greater.

There may not be a team embodying the discrepancy between record and reality more than the New ...Read more

The Orlando Magic were always facing an uphill battle entering Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.

For starters, Cleveland had two days of rest while Orlando was playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

In addition, Jamahl Mosley‘s squad was without Jalen Suggs (illness), Anthony Black (left lateral ...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Hubert Davis will not return for a sixth season as North Carolina’s head coach, the program announced Tuesday night, marking the end of a five-year tenure defined by both historic highs and mounting inconsistency.

Details of the separation were not immediately released, though Davis has roughly $5.3 million in guaranteed...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hubert Davis is a nice guy. Let’s stipulate that, first and foremost.

But Davis was ultimately not the right guy to lead the UNC basketball program. He didn’t meet UNC’s standard of success — which is incredibly high, yes, but also means that you get just about all the resources you could ever need or want.

UNC men�...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Paul George will officially return to the Philadelphia 76ers lineup on Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls in his first game back after serving a 25-game suspension for taking “improper medication.”

Ahead of his return to the floor, George answered questions about what happened and what comes next. Here are five takeaways: ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — They had to know it was going to go down like this, right?

Not only would Jared McCain return to Philadelphia as a martyr, but he would do so in the midst of a heater, and on a night when the Sixers were forced to trot out a one-guard starting lineup that featured luminaries like MarJon Beauchamp, Justin Edwards and Dominick ...Read more

GREENVILLE, S.C. — On the night Illinois lost to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament, coach Brad Underwood lamented that his team didn’t show the requisite toughness to advance beyond the quarterfinal.

The Illini weren’t nasty enough, didn’t give a s−−− enough, he said.

He no longer had those complaints Saturday night after ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — John Middleton flew home Sunday afternoon from spring training just as the March Madness doubleheader neared tipoff in South Philly. He has a season to get back for as the Phillies’ campaign starts on Thursday. But two days of college hoops also means that the team’s managing partner is nearly in the batter’s box for a ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — With less than a month remaining in the NBA regular season, it’s not uncommon for team’s fighting for playoff positioning to face off against teams battling instead for a better draft spot.

Such was the case Monday night at Kia Center when the Orlando Magic hosted the Indiana Pacers, a team that had lost more games in the ...Read more

MIAMI — Jai Lucas kept his emotions in check all season as he rebuilt a University of Miami men’s basketball program that had fallen to the ACC basement a few years after its historic Final Four run.

But Sunday afternoon, in the bowels of the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, his players in tears after a hard-fought loss to Purdue in the ...Read more

MIAMI – Whole, and still not wholly good enough.

With a fully healthy roster for only the sixth time this season, the Miami Heat still were made soberingly aware Monday night of the deficit against the league’s elite.

So make it five consecutive losses for Erik Spoelstra’s team with the 136-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at Kaseya ...Read more

DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons were leading the Los Angeles Lakers 105-100 with 3:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. For the Lakers, being only five points behind was reassuring, especially considering they came into Detroit with the league's best record in clutch moments with a 22-6 record.

The Lakers mounted a rally in the final three ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — It ended Sunday night, not with a net being cut down, but with a locker room that was way too somber, a season that was over way too soon, and a group of Florida Gators who walked off the floor in tears.

The run is over.

And what a run it was.

The No. 1-seeded Florida Gators won’t repeat as national champions. Iowa made sure...Read more

There have been so many great moments for Jai Lucas this season, so many surprise comebacks to create a surprise season that his Miami team figured Sunday would become just another one in the final minutes against Purdue.

Shelton Henderson, who doesn’t look or play like a freshman, drove the ball hard to the basket looking to cut Purdue’s ...Read more

SEATTLE — October 25, 2006. April 18, 2008. May 15, 2013.

March 25, 2026?

Those dates on the calendar — three in the past, one still yet to come — represent four seminal moments in the history of NBA franchise stability as it relates to Seattle.

The first three are dates fans of the green and gold would rather forget.

The first was the...Read more

PHILADELPHIA – Alex Karaban played like a man trying to keep his career alive on Sunday night.

UConn’s all-time winningest player scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Huskies back to the Sweet 16 for the third time in his career with a 73-57 win over fellow blue-blood UCLA at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Karaban made nine of...Read more

SAN DIEGO — All high drama requires a setting.

Sunday, that setting was San Diego.

Forever searing our city into the pleasure synapses of many thousands of New Yorkers, a driving layup at San Diego State’s Viejas Arena sent St. John’s University to its first Sweet 16 since 1999.

The basketball banked off the glass as the clock hit 0.00....Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s hopes for a rare repeat came to a stunning conclusion as ninth-seeded Iowa bounced the Gators from the NCAA Tournament.

A 3-pointer with 4.5 second by 6-foot-10 Spaniard Alvaro Folgueriras ended Florida’s national championship bid during a 73-72 loss to Iowa Sunday night at Benchmark International Arena.

Point ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — If the lack of an upset on Friday in Philadelphia’s NCAA Tournament games left fans disappointed, the consolation prize was a high-level contest to start Sunday’s doubleheader.

No. 6 seed Tennessee and No. 3 Virginia treated a full and loud arena to a terrific game that came right down to the end, with the Volunteers ...Read more

BOSTON — A season-worst fourth quarter doomed the Boston Celtics on Sunday in a home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Boston went 5 for 27 in the final period — with two of its makes coming by deep reserves in garbage time — as it fell 102-92 at TD Garden to a Minnesota team that was playing without injured All-Star Anthony Edwards.

...Read more