8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN WHILE THE NBA world waited on the offseason’s biggest drama, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers pondered the future of a point guard not named Ben Simmons. When Rivers met with his coaches ahead of the 2021-22 season to discuss lineups, he made a bold declaration: No matter what happened with
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7:00 AM ET Jump ahead: Game of the night | Picks and props | Analytics edge All odds are provided by Caesars Sportsbook. What you need to know for Saturday’s playoff games Crouching Nets, Betting Dragon: With the Nets in a pivotal spot, it’d be easy to blindly back their stars and let the chips
2:19 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — The Point God was at it again. Just five days after Chris Paul scored 19 fourth-quarter points to will the Phoenix Suns to a Game 1 victory, Paul scored 19 fourth-quarter points again on Friday night to lead the top-seeded Suns to a 114-111 win over the
12:14 AM ET ATLANTA — Miami Heat point guard Kyle Lowry suffered a left hamstring injury in the third quarter of the Hawks’ 111-110 Game 3 victory on Friday night. He could only watch from the bench as Atlanta, the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed, erased a double-digit deficit to draw within 2-1 of the
1:17 AM ET ATLANTA — Trae Young got his last shot to bounce in, Jimmy Butler missed his final heave and the Hawks beat the Miami Heat 111-110 to draw within 2-1 in their first-round playoff series with the East’s top-seeded team. “I didn’t have any doubt that if I shot it, I wasn’t going
1:43 AM ET Jamal CollierESPN CHICAGO — After knocking down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter, extending an already substantial Milwaukee Bucks lead in what was shaping up to be a dominant victory in Game 3 on Friday night, Bucks forward Bobby Portis stopped and shimmed, savoring the basket for a
11:18 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans forward Jaxson Hayes was ejected from Friday night’s Game 2 in the second quarter after he was assessed a flagrant foul 2 for shoving Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder. After a made CJ McCollum jumper with 5:15 left in the first half, Hayes was crashing the boards
7:06 PM ET SALT LAKE CITY — Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, who has yet to play in the Western Conference first-round series against the Utah Jazz due to a strained left calf, is listed as questionable for Saturday’s Game 4. Doncic has been doing full-speed basketball activity since Tuesday and played 5-on-5 on Thursday
7:33 PM ET ATLANTA — A suspicious package found outside of State Farm Arena on Friday night caused the NBA to delay the tip-off of Game 3 of the Hawks’ first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat by about 55 minutes. The package was found outside Gate 2 of the arena, across from CNN Center,
7:08 PM ET A white, game-worn Bill Russell Boston Celtics jersey sold for $1,022,250, including buyer’s premium, Hunt Auctions announced Friday. The jersey was autographed, with letters of authenticity from Hunt Auctions and James Spence Authentication (JSA), as well as a signed letter of provenance from Russell. Friday’s online-only auction was the second of two