Tag: nytimes.com

NEW YORK — Josh Hart, the astute and responsible pro that he is, wanted to make one thing clear after his New York Knicks took a 2-0 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. “This team just came back from 3-1, so you can’t sit here and be happy about (where we are) or…

DETROIT — James Harden, can’t miss him. With that hair monster swallowing up his face, Harden, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, has owned one of the most unmistakable looks in the NBA of the past generation. On Tuesday night, even a Detroit Pistons fan in the Little Caesars Arena upper deck wouldn’t have needed to…

NEW YORK — The Knicks winning the NBA championship is still more dream than reality, a New Yorker’s version of fantasy basketball. That’s what happens when you wait more than half a century for something. You refuse to believe it is actually possible, even in the face of mounting evidence suggesting that it is, you…

OKLAHOMA CITY — Deep into the night of Dec. 18, Ajay Mitchell’s boyish smile broke. His composure grew fragile. Grief gnawed at him. Once the point guard retired from running offense that night and the adrenaline of an Oklahoma City Thunder win waned, he plopped down in a film session beside his teammates. Mitchell imagined…

Does the NBA have an integrity problem? A strong majority of its players don’t think so, but they also see a troubling trend developing of issues that could damage the league’s reputation if they aren’t addressed. In our latest installment of The Athletic’s anonymous player poll, we asked more than 150 players if the league’s…

The San Antonio Spurs didn’t need Victor Wembanyama to block 12 shots Tuesday night to derail the Minnesota Timberwolves’ offense. Wembanyama had two blocks — 10 fewer than he had in Game 1 — and was one of seven Spurs players to score in double figures in a 133-95 Game 2 victory against the Timberwolves…

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been favored to win the NBA title all season, but as contenders struggle or get eliminated, it’s starting to look less and less likely that someone will take them down. The Thunder have had no trouble this postseason and are now favored against the field. OKC has minus odds (-165)…

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown once again had lingering thoughts to get off his chest. And once again, just as he did Sunday night, less than 24 hours after Boston blew a 3-1 lead to the Philadelphia 76ers in a Game 7 loss, Brown took to Twitch to air them out. Wednesday night, Brown returned…

The New York Knicks survived a back-and-forth thriller in Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers and hung on for a 108-102 home win to take a 2-0 series lead in this Eastern Conference semifinals series. Jalen Brunson scored a team-high 26 points, OG Anunoby, who wasn’t on the court or bench in the game’s final…

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Bucks introduced Taylor Jenkins as their 19th head coach Wednesday afternoon. Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam quickly made it clear they felt they were able to get exactly who they wanted to take over after Doc Rivers stepped away following the season. “We knew who we wanted to hire as our coach,”…