6:46 AM ET TAJ GIBSON HAS heard all the questions before. When Tom Thibodeau takes a job, Gibson knows what’s coming. And when Thibodeau was named coach of the New York Knicks last year, Gibson fielded all those regular questions — including those from Knicks forward Julius Randle. There’s an internal script that plays out
NBA
3:22 AM ET LOS ANGELES — After Tim Hardaway Jr. delivered a 3-point dagger for the Dallas Mavericks that took the air out of Staples Center, Luka Doncic waved to the road crowd asking to hear some noise before letting out a scream. For the second straight game, the LA Clippers could not stop Doncic
4:38 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers is “pretty confident” he’ll be able to sign Stephen Curry to an extension this summer after the 33-year-old star guard led the league in scoring by averaging 32 points a game and was a top-three finalist for the MVP award. “I don’t
8:00 AM ET BOBAN MARJANOVIC is singing. Just a minute ago, Boban was talking about growing up in Serbia and being 7-foot-4 and playing for the Dallas Mavericks, but now, he is warbling, in thickly accented English, a Vanessa Carlton song with the joy and energy of a devoted tween. “I’d walk a thousand MILES
2:54 AM ET The Denver Nuggets walked into the locker room at halftime of Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers with a lead — but also had the inescapable presence of Damian Lillard‘s supernova first half simmering in the air. Lillard had the flamethrower set to maximum heat,
3:21 PM ET AS Salé guard Terrell Stoglin has decried the presence of rapper J. Cole at the Basketball Africa League, telling ESPN that the musician’s time on the court is “disrespectful” to those who worked hard for years to get this chance. Despite the commercial value and media attention that Cole has brought to
10:10 PM ET Anthony Davis sounded the alarm after the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 99-90 Game 1 loss to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA playoffs on Sunday: It’s time for him to step up. “There’s no way we’re winning a game, let alone a series, with me playing the way that
2:40 AM ET Memphis Grizzlies small forward Dillon Brooks oozed confidence before, during and after scoring 31 points in Sunday’s 112-109 upset win over the top-seeded Utah Jazz in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series. The 25-year-old set the tone for the rest of his teammates while repeatedly silencing a loud Salt
10:11 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — There are few people in the NBA today who know what it’s like, and what it means, to truly make Madison Square Garden shake. Tom Thibodeau, however, is one of them. In 1999, Thibodeau was an assistant on Jeff Van Gundy’s coaching staff with the New York
2:53 AM ET Facing the presumptive MVP of the league, the Portland Trail Blazers approached Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets with a bold strategy: Let Nikola Jokic score. “We want him to score and not get his teammates involved,” Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic said. “When he scores, I think we have a better chance.