Tag: nytimes.com

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The Athletic has live coverage of 76ers vs. Celtics Game 7. The Boston Celtics added Jayson Tatum to the injury report as questionable with left knee stiffness, hours before Game 7 of the team’s first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Tatum had previously not been listed on the report. Advertisement Though Tatum could…

How Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart helped Lakers oust Rockets: ‘Playoffs (are) where it counts’

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HOUSTON — The two castoffs were triumphant in the Toyota Center visiting locker room. On Friday, they helped the Los Angeles Lakers close the door on their first-round series with the Houston Rockets. But 10 months ago, they were unemployed. The Portland Trail Blazers had bought out center Deandre Ayton’s contract; the Wizards had bought…

LeBron James owned the moment, and in the end, the Houston Rockets

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HOUSTON — There were a lot of things that could’ve credibly been going through LeBron James’ mind in the final minutes of Game 6 Friday night. He sat alone on the end of the Lakers’ bench while players from both teams went through the final minute of pregame warmups and took a deep breath. He…

Resilient Pistons set sights on Game 7 after digging out of 3-1 series hole

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ORLANDO, Fla. — The Kia Center crowd couldn’t fathom what was unfolding Friday night. With their Orlando Magic leading by 24 in the third quarter, the home crowd was confident their team would end the series against the Detroit Pistons. But as the missed shots — 23 consecutive — piled up, the confidence in the…

Celtics’ best remedy: Stop looking past the 76ers and start looking in the mirror

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If the Boston Celtics were as consistent with their shooting as they are with their postgame oratory, their opening-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers would have been over days ago. Take, for instance, an observation Jaylen Brown made about the 76ers late Thursday night, after Boston’s 106-93 loss in Game 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena…

The Magic have fallen apart in big moments before, but not like Game 6 vs. Pistons

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ORLANDO, Fla. — The faces on the Orlando Magic’s bench with 1:40 remaining in the fourth quarter Friday told the story almost as much as the scoreboard did. Jett Howard, Franz Wagner, Jamal Cain, Moe Wagner, Noah Penda, Goga Bitadze and Wendell Carter Jr. all sat stone-faced, in seeming disbelief about what they and their…

RJ Barrett’s epic shot echoes another legendary Raptors moment

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TORONTO — As RJ Barrett walked from the Toronto Raptors’ locker room to the playoffs-only interview room after his team’s dramatic Game 6 win, he repeated the same phrase to himself. “Kawhi bounce,” Barrett said, putting on an unidentifiable accent. “Kawhi bounce.” Well, not precisely. Kawhi Leonard’s mythic shot that sent the Raptors to the…

The Cavaliers had no business losing Game 6. Now comes a nerve-wracking Game 7

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TORONTO — Just thinking out loud here: Is it even possible to force a Game 7 the way the Raptors did, and then lose? That is only one of the existential questions facing the Cavaliers this morning after RJ Barrett’s 3-point prayer clanged off the back of the rim, sailed toward the heavens like it…

Kevin Durant was supposed to lift the young Rockets. After playoff wipeout, what now?

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LOS ANGELES — Long before these Houston Rockets’ once-promising season came to a petering end with a Game 6 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, people around the NBA wondered aloud why a team that looked so good on paper visibly lacked cohesion and chemistry on the court. On March 20, barely a…

2026 NBA playoffs odds: Celtics, Pistons, Cavaliers favored at home in Game 7s

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