11:46 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving said Wednesday that a team meeting following a loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 21 was necessary for the Celtics to clear the air within their locker room, and helped lead to a stretch that has seen Boston win seven of its
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6:32 PM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN The Toronto Raptors are signing free-agent guard Patrick McCaw for the rest of the season, league sources told ESPN. McCaw cleared waivers on Wednesday afternoon, sources said. McCaw, 23, has been the subject of some intrigue in recent weeks — a Golden State restricted free agent who signed a non-guaranteed
9:05 AM ET It often feels like inexorable forces are driving the Philadelphia 76ers toward disharmony — and eventually to the breakup of their star core. Jimmy Butler, the newest star, popped off about the team’s idiosyncratic offense. The Sixers don’t run many pick-and-rolls because their best ball handler, Ben Simmons, practically refuses to shoot
4:33 PM ET Memphis Grizzlies swingman Dillon Brooks will have surgery this week to repair a ruptured ligament in his right big toe, the team announced. He is expected to miss the rest of the season, according to reports in The Athletic and the Commercial Appeal. Brooks, 22, had just returned to the Grizzlies rotation
4:23 PM ET EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Whenever the Los Angeles Lakers get LeBron James and Rajon Rondo back healthy, Kyle Kuzma wants to see the team implement a strategy it hasn’t yet used this season: a death lineup. “Honestly think our small-ball unit can be really good,” Kuzma said at shootaround Wednesday ahead of
3:32 PM ET The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Wednesday that center Nerlens Noel sustained a concussion after an elbow to the head in Tuesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Noel was struck by Andrew Wiggins‘ elbow and the team said he lost consciousness while being knocked to the floor at the 5:16 mark of
8:26 AM ET James Harden is having a moment, smack-dab inside one of the great individual stretches of professional basketball we’ve ever seen. After hitting one of the biggest shots of his life last Thursday, he finds himself at the center of the NBA universe. The impossible game-winning 29-footer over the Golden State Warriors sparked
3:11 AM ET Hours after he called Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder “gay,” Minnesota Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins sought to clarify his remark, saying early Wednesday morning that he wouldn’t use “any term to disrespect” the LGBT community. Wiggins made the remark about Schroder to reporters following the Wolves’ 119-117 win Tuesday over the
2:57 AM ET Marc J. Spears OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr confirmed that center DeMarcus Cousins‘ season debut will happen “somewhere in the neighborhood” of the Jan. 18 game at the LA Clippers. A source told The Undefeated’s Marc Spears earlier Tuesday that Cousins was targeting the date for his return.
2:33 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — Thunder center Nerlens Noel was taken off the court on a stretcher midway through the third quarter Tuesday night after his head hit the floor on a hard fall. Noel was taken to OU Medical Center and will be held there overnight to be evaluated. The team did not