12:49 PM ET Nick Friedell BOSTON — Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry will warm up “with the intention to play” in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, according to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Lowry has not played since re-injuring his left hamstring in Game 4 of the
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1:55 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Coach Jason Kidd blamed the Dallas Mavericks‘ one-dimensional offensive approach for blowing a 19-point lead in Friday’s 126-117 loss to the Golden State Warriors, criticizing his team for relying too heavily on the 3-point shot during Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. The Mavs made 21 of 45
8:38 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo highlighted the 2021-22 NBA All-Defensive teams, which were announced on Friday night. Smart, the league’s 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year, earned his third first-team nod. He was joined at the guard spot by
8:00 AM ET MIAMI — The Boston Celtics are a team of long-distance runners. For years, former Celtics president Danny Ainge employed a consultant that would identify draft picks and free agents’ “brain types” under the belief that certain personality traits made for better players. Ainge and that system are gone, but the Celtics —
1:04 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN MIAMI — For the first few minutes of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, it appeared the Boston Celtics could be in some trouble. They left Miami’s shooters open for three quick 3-pointers. They allowed the Heat to get multiple second-chance opportunities. Robert Williams looked uncomfortable defending in space,
12:35 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN MIAMI — The Boston Celtics say center Al Horford is available to play in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals after he missed the series-opening loss to the Miami Heat following his entry into the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Horford abruptly entered the protocols shortly before Tuesday’s Game
8:00 AM ET Mark Fainaru-Wada Close ESPN Staff Writer Investigative reporter for ESPN’s Enterprise and Investigative Unit since 2007 Co-author of New York Times best-selling books “League of Denial” and “Game of Shadows” Co-winner, 2004 George Polk Award Steve Fainaru Close ESPN Senior Writer Winner, 2008 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting Four-time first-place winner in
1:22 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Something has dawned on Stephen Curry as the Golden State Warriors stage their first legitimate title quest in nearly three years: He’s now the old guy. “When I look at some of those guys, you’re reminded of how young they are,” Curry said, contemplating the NBA’s starscape while the
8:45 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, the 2021-2022 NBA Rookie of the Year, highlights the league’s All-Rookie teams announced on Wednesday. Barnes was one of three players to receive the maximum of 100 first-place votes for the first team along with Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Cleveland’s Evan Mobley. The All-Rookie teams,
1:37 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN MIAMI — The Boston Celtics exited their locker room at halftime Tuesday night firmly in control of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. But then the third quarter happened. And, after the Miami Heat demolished the Celtics, outscoring them 39-14 and using their physicality to send Boston into a
2:00 AM ET MIAMI — Jimmy Butler is worth the drama. That isn’t exactly how Erik Spoelstra termed Butler’s game on Tuesday night, of course. The Miami Heat coach was his usual controlled self after guiding his team to a 118-107 victory over the Boston Celtics, fueled by Butler’s greatness, to take a 1-0 lead
8:36 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN For the fourth time in franchise history, the Orlando Magic have won the NBA lottery and will pick No. 1 in the 2022 NBA Draft. Orlando had a 14% chance to get the top pick along with the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons. It’s the Magic’s first chance to
8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN To understand the depths of animosity between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics entering this year’s NBA Eastern Conference finals, you have to go back to an otherwise nondescript regular-season night in March 2013. That night in New Orleans, a Heat public relations official approached the team’s traveling media contingent
9:24 PM ET The NBA on Monday said it’s in the process of gathering more information after veteran point guard Rajon Rondo allegedly threatened a woman with a gun at her house last week. The woman filed for an emergency protective order against Rondo on Friday in Louisville, Kentucky, a copy of which was obtained
3:26 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart is questionable for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat with a right midfoot sprain, coach Ime Udoka said Monday. Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Smart had an MRI on the foot Monday that came back clean, and that Smart
8:00 AM ET And then there were four teams left standing in the 2022 NBA playoffs. After the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns — last year’s NBA finalists — were knocked out in Game 7s on the same day, the 2021-22 season is one step closer to crowning a new champion. The Boston Celtics overcame
10:13 PM ET PHOENIX — The Western Conference Finals will have a surprise participant after Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks dismissed the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in completely dominant fashion. The Mavericks claimed the right to advance to face the Golden State Warriors by rolling to a 123-90 rout of the Suns in Sunday’s Game
6:25 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN BOSTON — For the fourth time in the last six seasons, the Boston Celtics are headed to the Eastern Conference finals. The hope is this time, they can take it one step further. To do that, they’ll have to do exactly what the TD Garden crowd started chanting late in