DENVER — It wasn’t hard to hear the noise coming from the Portland Trail Blazers locker room. Even with the door closed and a couple thousand pounds of concrete and cinder blocks in between, the celebration pierced through a few different walls to be heard in the podium room down the hall of the Pepsi
NBA
9:13 PM ET Doug KezirianESPN Close SportsCenter anchor Behind The Bets podcast host The Golden State Warriors provided a potential sneak peek into next season with an impressive Game 6 closeout win over the Houston Rockets — without injured superstar Kevin Durant. The two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP is expected to opt out of his
8:26 PM ET DENVER — Portland Trail Blazers guard Rodney Hood exited their 100-96 series-clinching Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets midway through the third quarter with what the team termed a hyperextended left knee. Hood went down awkwardly after taking a back screen from Nuggets guard Torrey Craig. Hood immediately grabbed at his
1:32 AM ET TORONTO — Over six months, Kawhi Leonard endured “82 practices,” then another 11 in the postseason. But there’s no preparation for the individual burden he placed on his broad shoulders Sunday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Leonard launched more field goals through three quarters than either Kobe Bryant or LeBron James have
4:36 PM ET Dallas Mavericks power forward Kristaps Porzingis was involved in a bloody altercation over the weekend at a club in his hometown of Liepaja, Latvia. “It is our understanding that Kristaps was jumped and assaulted outside of a club in Latvia. We will provide an update when one is available,” the team said
9:54 AM ET WHEN JAMAL MURRAY is asked about playing the two-man game with Nikola Jokic, he replies, “The best part is we don’t really don’t know what is going to happen.” “And the beauty of that,” Paul Millsap adds, “is if we don’t know, then [the defense] can’t possibly know.” The pick-and-roll partners are
10:14 PM ET DENVER — Nuggets coach Michael Malone dismissed the notion that a shoving match between Denver’s Will Barton and Portland’s Seth Curry in Game 6 might carry over into Game 7 on Sunday at Pepsi Center, especially after the Trail Blazers guard called the Nuggets “sassy.” “To me, that’s weak,” Malone said Saturday,
10:32 PM ET NBA coaching hires typically fit into two categories of power profile: strong or weak. There are also generally two kinds of general managers working in the league: those who make decisions aimed at keeping their jobs and those who are determined to do things their way, even if it comes with the
6:37 PM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN The Cleveland Cavaliers moved closer Saturday to completing a first round of candidate interviews for the franchise’s head-coaching job, league sources told ESPN. Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman and members of his front office met separately with several assistant coaches in Denver on the eve of Game 7 between the
5:51 PM ET Malika AndrewsESPN MILWAUKEE — Despite having a week between the end of the semifinals and the beginning of the NBA Eastern Conference finals, there is no guarantee that Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon will be ready to return to the starting lineup by the beginning of the next series as he recovers