3:01 AM ET LOS ANGELES — For most of the fourth quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers prioritized forcing the ball out of Luka Doncic‘s hands, sending a steady diet of double-teams at the MVP candidate and daring his Dallas Mavericks teammates to beat him. The strategy worked, allowing the Lakers to rally from a deficit
NBA
3:23 AM ET LOS ANGELES — A no-call on the Dallas Mavericks‘ Tim Hardaway Jr.’s defense on Troy Brown Jr.’s 3-point attempt at the end of regulation left L.A. in a foul mood Thursday night in the Lakers’ eventual 119-115 double-overtime loss to the Mavs. The Lakers stormed back from a 19-point first-quarter deficit to
12:55 AM ET PORTLAND — More than a year after an ACL tear in December 2021 ended his previous season, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio returned to the court Thursday, helping the Cavaliers to a 119-113 come-from-behind win over the host Portland Trail Blazers. Playing on a minutes limit, Rubio saw 10 minutes of action
11:09 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Upon hearing that the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors will have an NBA-record crowd of about 68,000 fans at their game Friday night, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra set a new goal. He’d like to see 100,000 at a game. “One of these days we’ve got
1:21 AM ET NEW YORK — Ben Simmons knows he’s got to be more aggressive offensively. The Brooklyn Nets big man has never doubted that he would get his offensive game back in order as he continues to shake off the rust from missing all of last season, but that particular point about needing to
5:27 PM ET Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton was diagnosed with a left elbow sprain and a mild left knee bone contusion and will be reevaluated in around two weeks, the team announced on Thursday. Haliburton suffered the injuries in Wednesday night’s 119-113 loss to the New York Knicks after losing a shoe and falling
6:32 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown will miss Thursday night’s game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn against the Nets with a right adductor strain, and he could miss “a week or two,” per Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. “I anticipate it being pretty short,” Mazzulla said before Thursday night’s
1:34 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is well on his way to catching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on more than the NBA’s career scoring list. James is on pace to be an All-Star for the 19th time, after the NBA said Thursday that he remains the overall leading
3:11 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal has been cleared to resume full basketball activities for the Washington Wizards. The team said Thursday that Beal had his left hamstring strain reevaluated, and his return will depend on his progress. The Wizards host the New York Knicks on Friday night. Beal was hurt during
7:22 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — The home of the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins will be known as the TD Garden through 2045. TD Bank and the building’s owner, Delaware North, announced a 20-year extension for the arena naming rights on Thursday. The agreement, which began in 2005, had been set to expire