Tag: nytimes.com

HOUSTON — LeBron James sat down, but he wouldn’t sit out. LeBron James grabbed his shorts and folded his body at the waist as he grabbed for air, but he made sure the Lakers would live to their last breath. LeBron James succeeded and failed, made and missed plays, but he never faded, never wavered.…

PHILADELPHIA — Jaylen Brown could have conceded a pass to the wing. It would have been understandable to allow Paul George to catch the ball more than 30 feet away from the basket. The Boston Celtics, ahead by one point midway through the fourth quarter, would still have been in solid defensive position against the…

HOUSTON – Ime Udoka didn’t waste time with excuses, silver linings or nurturing words after his team suffered its worst loss of the season. He stepped to the microphone after the Rockets’ stunning 112-108 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, which pushed Houston to the brink of elimination in this shocking first-round series, and…

PHOENIX — Once Jordan Goodwin sees his Phoenix Suns teammates square up to shoot, he starts making his way to the rim, watching the ball, reading angles. Rebounding is a Goodwin specialty, as is all the dirty work. It stems from his earliest days on a basketball court. Twenty or so years ago, in the…

PHILADELPHIA — With each dagger 3-pointer the Boston Celtics hit, the angst in Xfinity Mobile Arena got louder. An electric, sellout crowd in Philadelphia had seen a Sixers team fight for almost 48 minutes. The echoes of the past walked through the building, only fitting in a Philly-Boston postseason rivalry. There was Allen Iverson. There…

ATLANTA — Less than a year ago, the New York Knicks changed head coaches because, right or wrong, they deemed Tom Thibodeau, the man at the helm, too slow to react. He maintained the same starting lineup all season, despite its consistent struggles, until finally adjusting the first unit when it was too late, down…

The road teams won all three games in Friday’s Game 3s. The San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics regained home-court advantage and the Los Angeles Lakers are now up 3-0 without their two leading scorers. Saturday’s quadruple-header starts with the two No. 1 seeds, the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder, on the road before…

The San Antonio Spurs shrugged off the absence of Victor Wembanyama. They ignored the hostile crowd in Portland. And they dug deep after facing an early 15-point deficit. The result was a 120-108 victory over the Trail Blazers on Friday night and a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series. Advertisement Stephon Castle and…

The Los Angeles Lakers are one win away from a sweep after taking a 3-0 series lead with a 112-108 victory over the Houston Rockets. Close games have been a theme for much of the season for Los Angeles, and it showed again in Game 3. The Lakers finished the regular season 22-8 in clutch…

A revived Boston Celtics squad won a physical Game 3 on the road, 108-100, against the Philadelphia 76ers to extend their best-of-seven series lead to 2-1 on Friday. After a sputtering offensive showing in Game 2, the Celtics regained their shooting form to put the Sixers in catch-up mode for most of the contest. Jayson…