4:08 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — “Determination over negativity” isn’t just a marketing slogan for Donovan Mitchell‘s Adidas signature shoe. It’s a mantra for the young Utah Jazz star. So Mitchell wasn’t thinking about how much he had struggled during this Western Conference playoff series when the fourth quarter of Game 4 began with

9:57 PM ET DENVER — Nikola Jokic remembers feeling helpless on that April night in 2016. The Denver Nuggets center was a rookie facing Tim Duncan, who was in his 19th and final NBA season. Duncan scored a season-high 21 points and left an unforgettable impression on the young Jokic. “He could not move that

2:45 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — With their starters heading to the bench with 40 seconds left, Game 4 in hand and a 3-1 series lead in their pocket on the way back home, the Portland Trail Blazers had an opportunity to bask in their 111-98 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder a little. But

9:51 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The text landed a little after 9 on Friday night. The Golden State Warriors players had decided — of their own volition — to move practice up from 11 a.m. to 9 a.m. the following morning. “I got the text at night, 9:15 or so, and it was like,

7:48 AM ET IN OKLAHOMA CITY’S locker room on April 5, Russell Westbrook took his usual place in front of a blank whiteboard for his postgame media availability. He had his new favorite postgame prop with him — a cup of ice water — and answered questions about the Thunder‘s much-needed win over the Detroit

4:06 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — James Harden claimed he had no clue that he missed his first 15 field goal attempts in Saturday’s Game 3, the most consecutive misses from the floor in any game of his career. It certainly didn’t impact the reigning MVP’s confidence. Harden scored 14 of his 22 points

1:13 AM ET Malika AndrewsESPN DETROIT — The sea of blue and red erupted each time Blake Griffin thundered toward the basket, stepped back for a 3-pointer or sprung upward to snatch a rebound. Detroit Pistons fans had yet to see their franchise power forward check in this postseason, and they knew he was their

8:25 PM ET SAN ANTONIO — Spurs star DeMar DeRozan was ejected with 5:01 remaining in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets for throwing the ball in the vicinity of official Scott Foster. With the Spurs down 110-92, DeRozan drove to the hoop and was called for a charge on Nuggets

9:45 AM ET What James Harden has done to the Utah Jazz through two blowouts goes back to his greatest humiliation — Harden’s meltdown, and Houston’s collective disintegration, against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2017 conference semifinals. Harden eviscerated the Spurs in Game 1 of that series — a 27-point Rockets win that seemed

2:40 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook vowed to be better in Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers, and with 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting and 11 assists in a 120-108 win Friday night, he followed through. “Man of his word,” Paul George said. “He came out, he led, we got behind him