12:28 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN CHARLOTTE — Celtics guard Marcus Smart was furious with the referees for how he was being officiated during Thursday night’s 108-87 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, and it caused him to boil over during the third quarter and then after the game to reporters. “Really, just, I wish they would
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12:14 AM ET Associated Press SAN ANTONIO — Dejounte Murray had been making himself miserable in the film room. Watching turnover after turnover, he promised Spurs teammate LaMarcus Aldridge things were going to change against Oklahoma City on Thursday night. Aldridge was the benefactor of Murray’s improved play at point guard, scoring a season-high 39
7:10 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The NBA fined the LA Clippers $50,000 for comments made by Doc Rivers that “were inconsistent” with Kawhi Leonard’s health. Leonard sat out the first of a back-to-back set of games for the second time this season on Wednesday night when the Clippers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. The
2:26 PM ET Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin has been cleared to participate in all basketball-related activities, putting him on track for a return to game action, the team announced Thursday. Griffin has yet to play this season due to what the team is calling left hamstring and posterior knee soreness. The Pistons are calling
12:46 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When a star player returns to face his former team for the first time, the first question on everyone’s mind is an obvious one: How will he be received when he takes the court for the first time in a visiting team’s uniform? When Kemba Walker was
12:46 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kemba Walker knew the tribute video was coming. But that couldn’t prevent him from shedding some tears after the longtime Charlotte Hornets star was honored with the 90-second video prior to playing his first game here as an opposing player. “It was special,” Walker said after scoring
12:23 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown says he should be “ready to go” Thursday night against the Charlotte Hornets after sitting out the past three games due to an infection. Brown said he had to go to the hospital five times after initially falling ill prior to an
7:20 AM ET After an offseason of furious player movement — including eight 2019 All-Stars changing teams — one intriguing storyline of this NBA season will be how players are received by fans when they return to the cities they left. Some will be easier to predict than others. Kyrie Irving in Boston? Won’t be
7:00 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN Cody Zeller’s first rookie hazing experience came with a good-natured twist. “The vets put a costume in my locker, and they made me dress up for Halloween and visit a children’s hospital,” he told ESPN. The overalls, oversized hands and goofy mustache of the Mario & Luigi tandem costume he
3:04 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Eight games into the season, Doc Rivers is done with the newly implemented coach’s challenge rule. A frustrated Rivers vented about the rule after he lost a challenge in the fourth quarter of the LA Clippers‘ 129-124 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Staples Center on Wednesday night. The