ORLANDO, Fla. — Regardless of who took the court for the Celtics on the second night of a road back-to-back, the Magic viewed defending-champion Boston as dangerous and treated the contest like a playoff game.

Orlando, which took the driver’s seat for the No. 7 spot in the East with a win against the Hawks less than 24 hours earlier, didn�...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic heard the story and barely could believe it.

Tim Marovt also was once a prodigy, identified early as one of the best athletes in Slovenia. Marovt had a goal to become a world-class skier along with the skills and passion to become one of the best to come out of his country. Doncic had lived that life too, moving from...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas’ soul, and a great portion of its identity, will forever be tied uncomfortably tight to football, but our real success is actually becoming in basketball.

Texas’ win over USC in the 2006 national title game is the only championship this state has produced in NCAA FBS football since the Longhorns won it in 1969; ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Fueled by its suffocating late-game defense, Florida edged Houston 65-63 in Monday night’s men’s basketball NCAA Tournament finals. The tense victory gave the Gators their third NCAA title of the 21st century.

Since calendars flipped to Jan. 1, 2000, only Connecticut, with five men’s NCAA championships in that time ...Read more

PHOENIX – With tricky layups, sky-scraping threes and even one improbable flip shot that wowed the home crowd with the clock stopped at PHX Arena in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday night, Steph Curry shook off his nightmare performance against Houston.

After shooting 1-for-10 and scoring only three points in Sunday’s streak-snapping loss to the...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Throughout the past five days, coach Jamahl Mosley and multiple members of the Magic continued to stress the importance of Tuesday’s matchup with the Hawks.

And, with postseason positioning on the line, Orlando played with a sense of urgency at Kia Center in their first of potentially three games with Atlanta over the next ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Nets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 119-114, on Tuesday, snapping a two-game losing streak at Barclays Center. They improved to 26-53 with three regular-season games left and retained the sixth-best NBA draft lottery odds.

Seven Nets finished in double figures, led by Trendon Watford, who had 22 points on 7-for-8 shooting ...Read more

NEW YORK – It wasn’t the rollicking beatdown that the first three installments were, but the Boston Celtics completed a season sweep of the rival New York Knicks on Tuesday.

After trailing for the entire first half, Boston rallied to win 119-117 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.

Kristaps Porzingis’ 3-pointer over Jalen Brunson with ...Read more

MILWAUKEE — The Timberwolves entered the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game against Milwaukee ahead by 20. All they had to do was not collapse to come away with a much-needed win in the logjammed playoff race in the Western Conference.

But disaster happened. The Wolves picked the worst time to have their worst fourth-quarter calamity of the ...Read more

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Lakers had equity, earning it in a dominant win Sunday afternoon against the best team in the West.

They had reasons to punt, a game on Wednesday in Dallas and a schedule that demanded they win just two more times to secure the third seed in their conference, putting them in strong position for a deep playoff run.

And, ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — It was only fitting that a classic SEC men’s basketball season should end with a classic game that crowned an SEC team as national champions.

And maybe it was fitting that the Florida Gators, the team known for its explosive offense, won the national championship with defense.

“We’ve gotten a lot of credit for offense,...Read more

NEW YORK — Few things qualify as a surprise in a post-Luka-Doncic-traded-to-the-Lakers world.

The Denver Nuggets’ decision to fire head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth is one of them.

Two seasons removed from delivering the franchise’s first NBA championship, Malone was dismissed on Tuesday, along with the executive...Read more

DENVER — Fitting for this season, the Nuggets can offer no defense for their actions.

They became the most embarrassing franchise in town Tuesday — which is saying something with the Rockies down the street — by firing coach Michael Malone. Yes, general manager Calvin Booth was also dismissed, but that should have happened the moment the ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Drink up, Gator Nation.

Gobble this up and gorge yourself on what you just experienced.

It’s been a long time, baby!

You deserve it.

For years, University of Florida faithful have been stranded on a deserted island of fandom, surviving on the bitter berries and hard-shelled nuts disguised as second-tier bowl games and early...Read more

DENVER — Less than two full seasons after winning their first NBA championship, the Denver Nuggets have cleaned house with three games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season, firing both head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth.

Both were informed of the decision by team president Josh Kroenke on Tuesday morning, a source ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — To watch the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday afternoon in their next-to-last home game of the season in the Spectrum Center, as I did, was to watch a struggling franchise in disarray. The Hornets gave up 46 points in the second quarter, lost as usual and are now a staggering 40 games — 40 games! — under .500 this season as of...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Florida’s comeback kids did it one more time, this time on the biggest stage and at the biggest moment of all.

The Gators’ 65-63 win against Houston Monday night marked their fourth second-half comeback in six NCAA Tournament wins. At one point UF trailed by 12 points and did not take its first second-half lead until 46.5 ...Read more

MIAMI – While you were watching college basketball, the Miami Heat were playing a game Monday night that no one should have had to watch.

No Bam Adebayo or Andrew Wiggins for the Heat, no anyone and everyone for the Philadelphia 76ers, with Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey out of the mix amid yet another tankathon from the City of ...Read more