12:57 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — Celtics guard Kemba Walker will return to the lineup Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks after missing three games with left knee soreness. “I feel pretty good,” Walker said Friday after the team’s morning shootaround. “It’s much improved. I’m going to try to give it a go tonight.”
NBA
11:37 AM ET LeBron James threw down a two-handed reverse windmill slam Thursday night, thrilling fans with another electrifying highlight in his 17th NBA season — one that has already seen him voted in as an All-Star captain, move into third place on the NBA’s career scoring list and lead his Los Angeles Lakers squad
12:50 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN After countless Midwest battles through the years, Cleveland Cavaliers general manger Koby Altman is excited to welcome two-time All-Star Andre Drummond to the squad. With Drummond’s player option looming, Altman said he has been in touch with Drummond but that there haven’t been detailed conversations about a long-term plan. Drummond
1:29 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Hours after the Los Angeles Lakers saw the NBA trade deadline pass without making a deal, the franchise might have tipped its hat as to its next move. Or, perhaps more appropriately, tipped its hood. Free-agent point guard Darren Collison settled into a second-row seat near Lakers owner Jeanie
1:41 AM ET MILWAUKEE — Road games continue to be the Mount Everest the Philadelphia 76ers cannot summit. Days after Ben Simmons called the 76ers “soft” and Joel Embiid cited the team’s spacing issues, Philadelphia suffered its fourth consecutive road loss Thursday night in Milwaukee. “I think it puts a lot of things in perspective,”
8:00 AM ET The morning began like any other at the Fort Bonifacio housing tenement in Taguig City, Philippines, just outside Manila. Caged roosters crowed on the rooftop. Seven floors below, bristles from an elderly resident’s broom swept away the remnants of the city festival that rocked the building the day before. Suspended behind the
9:55 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN CHICAGO — New Orleans Pelicans All-Star forward Brandon Ingram left Thursday night’s 125-119 win against the Chicago Bulls with a sprained right ankle. Ingram injured the ankle when he stepped on Bulls forward Chandler Hutchison‘s foot on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter, but he stayed
9:20 PM ET It was the story of the power-shifting NBA summer. It was the story of the trade deadline. There’s a good chance it will be the story of the Western Conference playoffs. Los Angeles Lakers vs. LA Clippers. In the hours leading up to Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline, both teams were engaged
8:31 PM ET NBA All-Star Weekend is Feb. 14-16 in Chicago, and this is the third consecutive year in which captains participated in a fantasy draft and selected their own teams, compared to the traditional East vs. West format. All-Star captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have made their draft picks. All-Star Saturday night participants
7:38 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James divvied up the remaining 22 All-Stars taking part in next weekend’s NBA All-Star Game on Thursday night. The two leading vote-getters from the Eastern and Western Conferences went back and forth in selecting which players would be on their respective teams. James, who was wearing