1:32 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN MOBILE, Ala. — It was early Saturday morning when Mobile’s biggest active homegrown star athlete, Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins, welcomed 100 hand-picked students into an airline hangar, instantly recognizing the unmistakable surprise on each of the kids’ faces. The Warriors had just closed out a road win over
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3:00 AM ET LOS ANGELES — It came down to the final possession, and LeBron James switched onto his old friend Dwyane Wade, forcing the future Hall of Famer into an off-balance 3-pointer that caromed off the glass and assured the Los Angeles Lakers a 108-105 win over the Miami Heat on Monday in the
12:50 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — With about 90 seconds left in the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s 122-113 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday, Russell Westbrook walked to the baseline under his basket pulling his white shooting sleeves off both arms and wadded them into a ball. He tossed them on the baseline and shook
12:39 AM ET Malika AndrewsESPN CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls suffered another loss Monday night — this time a 108-89 defeat at the hands of the Sacramento Kings — and again were booed off their home floor for the second game in a row. Unlike their record 56-point loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday
12:48 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — The New Orleans Pelicans saw their seesaw season stay true to form Monday night, losing 113-100 to the Boston Celtics to fall two games out of a playoff spot in the jumbled-up Western Conference standings. But despite their uneven play, star forward Anthony Davis remains convinced that if
12:04 AM ET Orlando Magic rookie center Mo Bamba did not play against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday because he violated team rules, coach Steve Clifford said after the Magic’s 101-76 loss. “It’s just bad on my part, and I need to be better. I’ve got to be on time,” Bamba said. Clifford said that
8:19 PM ET Philadelphia 76ers guard Jimmy Butler left Monday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons with a groin strain and was declared out for the rest of the game. Butler has averaged 21.4 points a game since coming over to the Sixers in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves last month. Philadelphia has gone
6:54 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — The Boston Celtics will sit five players out of Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden — including Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Gordon Hayward. Anthony Davis, meanwhile, is set to start and have no restriction on his minutes for the Pelicans after being
6:00 PM ET SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Following his first full contact practice with the Golden State Warriors‘ G League affiliate, DeMarcus Cousins said he is not worried about how his surgically-repaired Achilles will hold up. Cousins is nearing a return to the court for the first time since rupturing his left Achilles tendon on
3:42 PM ET EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo suffered a setback in his recovery from surgery on his right hand according to coach Luke Walton. Rondo had fluid drained from his hand Sunday, 3½ weeks after Rondo underwent a procedure to fix the fractured third metacarpal in his right