Tag: nytimes.com

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers four times in the regular season. Four more wins, and the defending champions are back in the Western Conference finals. Both teams survived and advanced in the first round. But as the second round looms, each is missing an All-NBA-level player, with Jalen Wiliams and Luka…

After wasting two chances to close out their first-round series against the Houston Rockets earlier this week, the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t waste another on Friday. Behind 28 points from LeBron James and 21 from Rui Hachimura, the No. 4-seeded Lakers defeated the No. 5-seeded Rockets 98-78 in Game 6 at Toyota Center to clinch…

We’ve seen playoff collapses in many sports before. We’ve also seen memorable stretches of offensive futility before, in basketball and in other sports. But we’ve never seen anything quite like what we saw in Orlando, Fla., on Friday night. After taking a 24-point lead in the third quarter of Game 6 of their first-round series…

The Detroit Pistons are headed to a Game 7 after storming back from a 24-point deficit to beat the Orlando Magic 93-79 on the road at the Kia Center. Orlando controlled the game early, but everything flipped in the third quarter when Detroit outscored the Magic by 13. From that point on, momentum fully shifted.…

TORONTO — Brandon Ingram will miss Friday’s Game 6 of the Toronto Raptors’ first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, an elimination game, with a heel injury. The Cavaliers lead the series 3-2. “His heel is pretty sore,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said Friday afternoon. “He is not able to go tonight.” Advertisement Ingram aggravated…

Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant has officially been ruled out for Game 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, marking the fifth game he’s missed due to injury during Houston’s first-round playoff series. After making his only appearance of the series in a 101-94 loss to the Lakers in Game 2 on April…

The NBA asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal body that oversees predictions markets, to bar athletes and league and team personnel from trading on its league as the CFTC considers what regulations to set for the emerging industry. The CFTC had sought comments for new rules before it took action. Advertisement Dan…

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MINNEAPOLIS — This series will be remembered for the noise. From a deafening Target Center crowd, that would not let four injuries and 40 years of Minnesota sports fatalism dull their urge to see their Timberwolves send those dastardly Denver Nuggets packing for the summer, and maybe for good. From a long-quiet wingman who dispensed…

LOS ANGELES — When Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick met with the media after Tuesday’s practice, he looked like he would rather fast-forward to Game 5. He didn’t so much take questions so much as absorb them, watching the flight of jump shots as he gave concise answers to a variety of questions…