8:02 AM ET DENVER — NIKOLA JOKIC is sitting on a leather couch in the Denver Nuggets‘ player lounge, an ice pack attached to his right side. There’s a five-inch scar that runs across the top of his left arm near his shoulder and several other claw marks that come in all different sizes and

3:02 AM ET HOUSTON — One of the enigmas that demonstrates the historic greatness of the Golden State Warriors is when their star players have a slump. It is both concerning for the Warriors and frightening for opponents. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have not been themselves in the high-stakes Western Conference semifinal series with

7:29 PM ET The New York Knicks are back in the championship mix heading into a summer that could shake up the NBA. The SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas on Sunday opened the Knicks at 16-1 to win the 2020 NBA championship. New York is behind only the Milwaukee Bucks (9-2), Boston Celtics (7-1) and

10:44 AM ET OAKLAND, Calif. — Before they were champions, before Kevin Durant came to town and before they built a billion-dollar arena across the bay, the Golden State Warriors changed the NBA with the “death lineup.” It was five guys who could dribble, pass and score, applying a level of pressure to opponents that

3:01 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — As the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks convened at TD Garden for Game 3 of this Eastern Conference semifinal, all eyes were on the stars on both sides. On this night, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo who played like the seasoned vet, repeatedly plowing through Boston’s defense en route

5:32 PM ET The NBA has fined Ben Simmons $20,000 and assessed the Philadelphia 76ers guard a flagrant foul 1 upon league office review for an elbow to the groin of Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry in the second quarter of the Sixers’ win Thursday night. Lowry said after the game that Simmons had approached

7:41 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN All season, the top four teams in the NBA’s Eastern Conference seemed to be on a high-stakes playoff collision course. Now those long-awaited postseason meetings have finally arrived, and after four total games in series between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks and between the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers,

2:41 AM ET PHILADELPHIA — With his Philadelphia 76ers taking a 2-1 series lead over a Toronto Raptors team led by Kawhi Leonard and his 37.7 points per game so far in the Eastern Conference semifinals, coach Brett Brown was asked a simple question. When Joel Embiid is healthy, does Brown believe he has the