NBA

2:40 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who has been out since March 20 with a high-ankle sprain, could return from the longest absence of his career against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. James plans to test his ankle and make a game-time decision, sources said. He

12:49 AM ET Steve Kerr believes there is a fundamental flaw plaguing this era’s NBA game. After watching his Golden State Warriors get outrebounded 57-34 in Thursday night’s 126-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kerr spoke matter-of-factly about the lack of boxing out he sees in today’s game. Brushing off the idea that his team

11:02 PM ET ESPN News Services HOUSTON — Kevin Porter Jr. scored a career-high 50 points to go along with 11 assists, becoming the youngest player ever to log a 50-point double-double with assists. The performance helped Houston snap a five-game losing streak as they beat the the Milwaukee Bucks 143-136 on Thursday night. Porter

12:26 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has apologized for his on-court tantrum Monday night, saying his behavior was out of line and out of character. “That wasn’t me,” Love said. The five-time All-Star spoke Wednesday following Cleveland’s shootaround practice before facing the Orlando Magic. Love did not take any questions

12:49 AM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Chris Paul scored 28 points, Devin Booker added 21 and the Phoenix Suns beat the LA Clippers 109-101 on Wednesday night to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The Suns finally figured out a way to beat the Clippers, who won

1:37 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson is second in the NBA in free throw attempts and fourth in the league in free throw attempts per game, but head coach Stan Van Gundy thinks he should be shooting even more. On Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets, Williamson had a chance

7:00 AM ET Anthony OlivieriESPN.com MONTHS AFTER THE 1998 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan sat on one side of a giant table inside a Manhattan conference room. It was the site of a bargaining session between NBA owners and players. The league was embroiled in a lockout. The season was in jeopardy. But Jordan had other

1:20 AM ET The Golden State Warriors were stuck on 12 points for nine minutes and 38 seconds, the NBA’s longest scoring drought in almost a dozen years, during a 133-103 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. The Mavs scored 28 points during that stretch, matching the second-biggest scoring run in the NBA over

12:10 AM ET The Brooklyn Nets clinched a playoff berth on Tuesday night, after defeating the Toronto Raptors 116-103. They are the first Eastern Conference team to confirm a spot in the postseason. Now, the Nets can slip no lower than sixth in the Eastern Conference standings. “It’s great,” Nets coach Steve Nash said of

7:07 PM ET Houston Rockets point guard John Wall is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain, sources told ESPN. The typical recovery time for such an injury is approximately three weeks, and the Rockets have no intention of rushing Wall back with the team

9:02 AM ET The Golden State Warriors launched a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection on the OpenSea platform Tuesday morning, becoming the first professional sports team to do so. “This is the wave of the future,” new Warriors president Brandon Schneider said. “So we’ve been studying what the best way for us to get involved and

7:00 AM ET If the NBA season ended today, Madison Square Garden would be hosting Game 1 of a first-round playoff series. The New York Knicks have won nine straight games for the first time since the 2012-13 season, the year they finished as the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed. While Julius Randle & Co.

3:18 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. broke his right thumb in Sunday’s loss at Washington and likely will miss the remainder of the season. Nance’s injury was one of several suffered by Cleveland players and will leave the Cavaliers short-handed for Monday night’s game against Toronto in Florida. Guard

3:01 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry‘s record-setting month of April rolled on Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings, as Curry hit seven 3-pointers in a 117-113 Warriors victory to set a new NBA record for most 3s in a calendar month with 85 and counting. The previous record was held by Brooklyn’s James

7:23 PM ET After missing the past three games because of a bruised thigh, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant returned on Sunday and erupted for 33 points in 28 minutes in a 128-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns. “It’s like riding a bike,” Durant said. “You get your footing right and just get your rhythm

10:34 AM ET Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is planning to return to the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarwoski. Durant missed three games with a left leg contusion. He injured himself early in the first quarter of the Nets game against the Miami Heat last weekend. Durant

2:07 AM ET There’s only a dozen games left in the regular season for the Los Angeles Lakers after Saturday’s 108-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. And even though the defending champions have been playing together for more than four months since the start of training camp, Lakers star Anthony Davis said the critical juncture

8:48 PM ET The already-depleted Denver Nuggets will be without starting guard Will Barton for “the foreseeable future,” according to head coach Michael Malone. Barton suffered a right hamstring strain early in Friday night’s 118-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco. The veteran guard pulled up awkwardly after driving to the basket,