7:10 AM ET NBA Insiders Thursday is the biggest day of the NBA restart, as we reach the conclusion of the red-hot Western Conference play-in battle. The Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns will all be in action, and only two will advance to face off on Saturday. We asked
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1:48 AM ET The race for eighth in the Western Conference remains up for grabs, but the rest of the NBA playoff picture became clear Wednesday. All the postseason matchups in both conferences were set following Wednesday’s games with the exception of who will face the West’s top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.
9:14 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid left after being hit in the right wrist in the first half of the Sixers’ 125-121 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday and didn’t return. The Sixers said Embiid got an X-ray at halftime that came back negative. Embiid,
11:53 PM ET Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort left in the first quarter against the Miami Heat on Wednesday with a knee injury and did not return, though coach Billy Donovan said after the game he didn’t know the extent of the injury. “I don’t know the full extent, other than it was his
5:25 PM ET The 1984 NBA All-Star Game MVP trophy stolen from Isiah Thomas is being returned after it was listed for auction. Thomas, who spent his career with the Detroit Pistons, tweeted Monday that the trophy was stolen from St. Joseph High School the day his high school coach, Gene Pingatore, died on June
6:24 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN Cinderella Castle sits in the middle of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. That’s about a 15-minute ride from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex where the NBA is playing, but one coach might want to try to sneak in a visit before midnight hits. “For one
11:30 PM ET Before the NBA season restarted, the league decided that the 88 seeding games at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex would not count toward season-long awards voting this year. Then on Tuesday the league announced that it would name an MVP and All-NBA teams for the restart games before the playoffs begin.
10:44 PM ET Nick DePaulaESPN To celebrate Kobe Bryant’s Hall of Fame basketball career, along with their successful longtime partnership and impact on the athletic industry, Nike will launch “Mamba Week” on Sunday, Aug. 23, which would have been the Los Angeles Lakers icon’s 42nd birthday. The following day, 8/24, will celebrate both of the
5:28 PM ET ESPN News Services LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Giannis Antetokounmpo has been suspended for Milwaukee‘s final game of the regular season, handed a one-game penalty Wednesday for headbutting Washington‘s Moe Wagner. It’s unknown if Antetokounmpo would have played in Thursday’s game against Memphis anyway, given that the Bucks have already secured the
4:21 PM ET Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook‘s availability for the beginning of the NBA playoffs is uncertain after an MRI revealed a strained muscle in his right quadriceps, the team announced Wednesday. Westbrook will not play in the remainder of the seeding schedule and will be reevaluated before the playoffs begin next week. The