8:47 PM ET Miami Heat All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler acknowledged what anyone watching his team’s 118-115 Game 4 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks could see in the moment. The Heat let their foot off the gas when reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo reinjured his right ankle early in the second quarter of Sunday’s game.
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7:17 AM ET The Milwaukee Bucks of fall and winter were a thing of basketball beauty. Giannis Antetokounmpo was once again building his MVP résumé, while Khris Middleton was continuing to establish himself as one of the NBA’s most versatile scorers, reliable from anywhere on the floor. Watching a fast break conducted by Antetokounmpo was
1:07 AM ET Throughout the course of this long season, the LA Clippers were darlings of sharp bettors and league intelligentsia, even as so many fans and even a healthy percentage of the Clippers’ peers sometimes wondered why. They encouraged injured players to take plenty of time to recover, harped on the long view as
2:17 AM ET After a 23-point loss in Game 1, Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone said his team had a completely new look and energy on Saturday as it bounced back to win Game 2 110-101 to even the series with the LA Clippers. “I thought tonight we were a noticeably different team than we
11:05 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — After the Boston Celtics shot the Toronto Raptors back into their Eastern Conference semifinal series Saturday night, Celtics star Kemba Walker placed the blame on his shoulders. “I got to be more aggressive,” Walker said after finishing with 15 points on 4-for-9 shooting with eight
6:33 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat with a right ankle sprain. The reigning MVP rolled the ankle during the first half of Game 3, but continued to push through it despite grimacing on some plays throughout the contest. Antetokounmpo refused to make
6:46 AM ET NBA Insiders The NBA playoffs move in cycles. Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down. And sometimes it’s tough to tell what’s real and what’s not. On Friday night, the Houston Rockets walloped the Los Angeles Lakers, and might have exposed a bigger issue for LeBron James‘ team. And the Miami Heat continued
2:39 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Following a six-day layoff after the Los Angeles Lakers made quick work of their first-round opponent, LeBron James said the Houston Rockets’ speed caught his team flat-footed in Friday’s 112-97 Game 1 loss to open up the Western Conference semifinals. “I think it’s the speed,” James said.
2:07 AM ET Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook instinctively closed out on Danny Green as the Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard began to line up a corner 3-pointer. It didn’t matter that it was during a break in play early in the fourth quarter of Friday’s Game 1. Green, as players often do, wanted to
11:07 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN No team in NBA history has ever been able to recover from an 0-3 hole in a best-of-seven playoff series. And that’s exactly what the Milwaukee Bucks now face after losing Friday to the Miami Heat 115-100 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo