Tag: nytimes.com

Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant has been ruled out for Game 3 of Houston’s first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers with a left ankle sprain, marking the second game he’s missed in this season’s playoffs. Durant missed Game 1 of the series with a right knee contusion, which he suffered during a practice leading…

Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Atlanta Hawks has been named the NBA’s Most Improved Player for the 2025-26 season. The 27-year-old guard beat out Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija and Detroit Pistons big man Jalen Duren. Alexander-Walker received 66 first-place votes from the 100-person media panel. Duren got 23 first-place votes, while Avdija received seven.…

PORTLAND, Ore. — Victor Wembanyama participated in the San Antonio Spurs shootaround on Friday, and he is listed as questionable (concussion protocol) for Friday night’s Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Spurs’ All-Star fell face-first on the floor in the second quarter of the team’s 106-103 loss in Game 2 on Tuesday evening,…

ATLANTA — New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown has doubled down on considering a starting lineup change ahead of Saturday’s Game 4 matchup against the Atlanta Hawks. “That’ll be a game-time decision,” Brown said Friday, a day after the Hawks took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series. “Like I said…

TORONTO — If the NBA’s first-round series seem chaotic to you, that’s because they are. Before the three games on Thursday, the NBA posted to social media the following snippet: Five first-round series were tied, 1-1, tied for the most series where both teams won one of two games dating back to 1984. Advertisement And…

The Bounce Newsletter  | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. Every year, there is some point at which we hear about the top draft prospect maybe wanting to stay in school. And now with NIL money, people think it’s even more possible. Well, once again,…

MINNEAPOLIS — Superstars stink it up sometimes. Legends lose. The best can get the business end of a bad matchup. It happens. To all of them. So let’s not make too much of Nikola Jokić looking like he left his game on the nightstand Thursday and had to borrow Chris Kaman’s. With that said, Game…

At this point in the season, there’s more than enough hyperbole to go around. And considering where the Houston Rockets are right now, the hot takes are probably at an all-time high in certain circles. After falling behind 2-0 in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, especially considering how ugly the two losses…

ATLANTA – The Hawks are right where they expected … in a way they never expected. Less than a year ago, the Atlanta Hawks traded for Kristaps Porziņģis with the idea that pairing him with Trae Young would be the perfect inside-outside combo to take them on a playoff run. After four straight seasons in…

MINNEAPOLIS — There is a coldness to Jaden McDaniels that borders on frightening. When he sat in front of his locker after Game 2, hoodie pulled over his head, and started reciting the names of Denver defenders for whom he has no respect, he did so with an icy, emotionless look in his eyes, like…