1:01 AM ET Their final moments weren’t elegant, and they might have been the beneficiary of some extenuating circumstances surrounding the health of Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, but the Atlanta Hawks are — improbably — only two games away from the 2021 Eastern Conference finals. On the first of March, the Hawks were 14-20
NBA
4:51 PM ET Nets star Kyrie Irving will miss Game 5 against the Bucks on Tuesday with a sprained right ankle, coach Steve Nash told reporters Monday. Irving, hurt in Game 4 on Sunday, had an MRI that showed the sprain. Nash added that he has “no idea” whether Irving will be able to return
6:25 PM ET The NBA’s Competition Committee met Monday to further explore rule changes to restrict the unnatural motions surrounding jump shots that players are using to draw fouls, sources told ESPN. The league wants to limit ability of players – including crafty stars like James Harden, Luka Doncic and Trae Young – to lean
7:35 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The three finalists for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award — Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green — were among the 10 players named to the NBA’s All-Defensive teams Monday night. Gobert, who claimed his third Defensive
4:29 PM ET Jazz guard Mike Conley will not play Monday in Game 4 of Utah’s postseason series against the Clippers because of a right hamstring strain. Conley has been sidelined since June 2 and hasn’t played yet in this best-of-seven series. The Jazz enter Monday’s road game with a 2-1 series lead. Conley, 33,
1:17 AM ET For a moment, as he broke into the open court all alone, it looked like Chris Paul was thinking about dunking it. It would’ve been an emphatic final statement on the series, the play to cap off the complete dominance his Phoenix Suns showed over the Denver Nuggets throughout. But there were
12:47 PM ET Brooklyn Nets assistant Mike D’Antoni will interview Monday for the Portland Trail Blazers‘ vacant head-coaching position, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Portland, seeking a replacement for Terry Stotts, also will interview Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups and Spurs assistant Becky Hammon this week, sources told Wojnarowski. Blazers general manager Neil Olshey said last
1:51 PM ET Injuries to Kyrie Irving and James Harden have flipped the odds on the Brooklyn Nets–Milwaukee Bucks‘ Eastern Conference playoff series, putting sportsbooks in a unique position where the current favorite to win the NBA title is now an underdog in the conference semifinal round. The Bucks tied the series 2-2 with a
10:40 PM ET Game 4 of the NBA playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns took a dramatic turn when Denver big man Nikola Jokic, the league’s newly crowned MVP, was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter and the Nuggets trailing the Suns by 8. Jokic
10:06 PM ET With the Denver Nuggets on the brink of playoff elimination, league MVP Nikola Jokic was ejected from Sunday night’s game with a Flagrant 2 foul after taking a wild swing in frustration at Phoenix Suns guard Cameron Payne. After a lengthy review, Jokic was handed the Flagrant 2 and ejected from Game