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The first team to advance is the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder finished off a sweep of Phoenix on Monday, the third first-round sweep in a row for OKC. On Tuesday, two more teams are heavily favored to join the Thunder in the second round. Boston and San Antonio return home after winning…

The Denver Nuggets stayed alive Monday night, and the Minnesota Timberwolves almost lost another key player in the first round of the playoffs. Nikola Jokić and the No. 3-seeded Nuggets took advantage of the undermanned No. 6 Timberwolves, winning 125-113 in Game 5 at Ball Arena to cut it to a 3-2 series deficit. Advertisement…

The Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a series-clinching 131-122 road win in Game 4 against the Phoenix Suns on Monday. It was the Thunder’s third consecutive sweep postseason of a first-round opponent. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led six Thunder players in double-figure scoring with a game-high 31 points. Chet Holmgren added 24…

The Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons 94-88 to take a 3-1 series lead and move one win away from becoming the seventh No. 8 seed in NBA history to beat a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Orlando rode a balanced scoring effort from Desmond Bane (22 points), Franz Wagner (19), Paolo Banchero (18)…

The NBA announced fines for the Los Angeles Lakers’ Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard. Smart was fined $35,000 for questioning the integrity of game officials, and Kennard was fined $25,000 for using inappropriate language toward game officials. After the Lakers’ Game 4 loss to the Houston Rockets, Smart walked toward several Lakers teammates and referee…

For the third time in franchise history, the Dallas Mavericks have an NBA Rookie of the Year. Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft, on Monday joined Jason Kidd (1995) and Luka Dončić (2019) as the only Mavericks players to earn the honor. Flagg narrowly beat out Kon Knueppel, his former college teammate…

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors intend to bring new charges against Terry Rozier related to their sports gambling case against the NBA player and others. A lawyer in the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York said Monday that it intends to file a superseding indictment against Rozier, alleging that he “solicited…

The Minnesota Timberwolves are not ruling out a return in the playoffs for Anthony Edwards, who suffered a hyperextension and bone bruise in his left knee during the team’s Game 4 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Edwards is listed as “week to week” while he receives treatment, the Timberwolves announced Monday morning,…

The Bounce Newsletter  | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. Today we’re getting the news of who won Rookie of the Year between Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. It has been one of the hotly debated NBA topics in the last two months, and it’s…

The next step toward NBA Draft reform will take place on Tuesday, when league officials are hosting a general managers’ meeting on Zoom that was added to the schedule as a way for all 30 front offices to continue taking part in this pivotal process. Yet according to league and team sources, a heavy frontrunner…