11:35 AM ET After running and shooting without back pain for over a week, Brooklyn Nets star Ben Simmons is expected to take the next step on the floor in the coming week and begin practicing against teammates on the court, sources told ESPN on Saturday. His continued progress is fostering hope that Simmons could
NBA
8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The NBA playoffs are here with four first-round games taking place on Saturday and Sunday. In the East, all eyes will be on the Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets series as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving look to upset the No. 2 seed Celtics, who are without injured center Robert
1:07 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN For the New Orleans Pelicans, all seemed lost in the third quarter Friday night in Los Angeles. The team that started the season 1-12 and was 14-32 at its lowest point had fought its way back to 36-46 and grabbed the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
1:05 AM ET The NBA postseason is here, and it’s shaping up to be a wide-open chase to the 2022 title. The Phoenix Suns ran away with the league’s best regular-season record — eight games clear of the second-best Memphis Grizzlies. Devin Booker, Chris Paul and the reigning Western Conference champs are on a mission
10:20 PM ET Despite losing starting center Clint Capela to a first-half injury in Friday’s play-in game, the Atlanta Hawks rallied behind Trae Young’s season-saving second half to beat the Cavaliers, 107-101, in Cleveland. The Hawks advance to face the Miami Heat, the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded team, in a first-round playoff series that begins Sunday
9:00 PM ET Atlanta Hawks starting center Clint Capela left in the first half of Friday’s play-in game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a hyperextended right knee and will not return, according to the team. The injury occurred late in the first half when Cavaliers center Evan Mobley fell against Capela’s leg as Mobley was
7:59 PM ET Phoenix Suns majority owner Robert Sarver will be retiring as executive chairman from Western Alliance Bancorporation in June, ending a two-decade tenure with the nearly $56 billion asset company. The company’s recent announcement of Sarver’s impending departure comes amid the NBA’s investigation into the Suns and Sarver, which the league launched in
5:40 PM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Phoenix Suns guard Landry Shamet didn’t practice Friday because of a left foot injury. The Suns have the NBA’s best overall record and are preparing for the first round of the playoffs against either the Clippers or the Pelicans. Shamet has been one of the team’s top players
12:37 PM ET LA Clippers star Paul George has entered health and safety protocols after testing positive for COVID-19 and will miss Friday night’s play-in game against the New Orleans Pelicans, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps. The winner of Friday’s game earns the No. 8 seed and a first-round meeting with the
4:38 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors are listing star Stephen Curry as “probable” heading into the first game of their series against the Denver Nuggets. “We expect him to play,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We’ll see how he’s feeling tomorrow.” Whether Curry comes back on Saturday or later