Basketball

A 76ers collapse, by the numbers: Hawks take Game 5 as Philadelphia melts down in second half
Basketball

The Bucks appeared to have this year’s award for “Biggest Playoff Fiasco” locked up after building a double-digit lead but still losing to an injury-plagued Nets team on Tuesday night. Well, it turns out Milwaukee may not have suffered the most embarrassing loss of the last 48 hours. Despite leading Wednesday’s Game 5 by as many as 26 points, the 76ers still fell to the Hawks 109-106, marking the third-largest blown lead in

LaMelo Ball named NBA Rookie of the Year
Basketball

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball was named NBA Rookie of the Year on Wednesday night, becoming the third player in franchise history to capture the honour, joining Larry Johnson (1991-92) and Emeka Okafor (2004-05). Ball, 19, received 84 first-place votes and earned 465 total points from a global panel of 99 sportswriters and broadcasters. Ball was among a group of three finalists for the award, along with Sacramento Kings guard

NBA Playoffs 2021:Without Kawhi Leonard, Paul George pledged to carry the LA Clippers through Game 5
Basketball

Senior writer for ESPN.com Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News Every person who lived, worked or played in the NBA Bubble in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, last summer was affected by the experience — some rather profoundly. Between the isolation, the separation from friends and family, the inability to escape from the game — or even the Disney campus — the challenges presented by the Bubble were

How the Hawks flipped the script on the Sixers, again
Basketball

NBA writer for ESPN.com since 2008 Former contributor and editor at NPR For 24 minutes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers appeared to be their best selves. A team that ranked near league average in offensive efficiency during the regular season popped the ball around the half-court and drove it down the Atlanta Hawks’ throats in transition. Joel Embiid, coming off

Sources: Wizards' Brooks out as talks fall apart
Basketball

Scott Brooks is out as Washington Wizards coach after the two sides failed to come to an agreement on a new deal, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Brooks had just led the Wizards to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. His contract expired after Washington’s first-round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said earlier this month that the team needed to evaluate

Clippers' Kawhi Leonard could miss Game 5 vs. Utah Jazz and beyond with knee injury
Basketball

Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss Game 5 against Utah on Wednesday night, ESPN reported. Leonard appeared to have injured in his right knee on a play with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter of the Clippers’ 118-104 victory in Game 4 on Monday. He grabbed his knee in discomfort. Leonard checked out of the game 45 seconds later and didn’t return. He finished with 31

KD's 49-point triple-double saves 'wounded' Nets
Basketball

The Brooklyn Nets signed Kevin Durant two years ago, fresh off the torn Achilles he suffered in the NBA finals, because they believed he could lead them there. Tuesday night, with Brooklyn’s season on the line in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks, Durant proved the Nets’ faith in him was well-placed. Durant had arguably the best performance of his career Tuesday night, finishing with

Bucks' second-half collapse vs. Nets went well beyond Kevin Durant's heroics
Basketball

Even with James Harden back in the Nets’ lineup for Tuesday’s Game 5, the Bucks looked just as dominant as they had in the previous two games of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.  By the time the first half was over, three Milwaukee players had double-digit points. Giannis Antetokounmpo was just three rebounds shy of a double-double. Milwaukee held a commanding 59-43 lead over Brooklyn, and Bucks fans were salivating over the

Sport including England vs Scotland dividing millions of families, study says
Basketball

Sport is dividing millions of families – with one in three football fans supporting a different team than their partner. And nearly three in 10 (28 per cent) even follow a different team to their own children As a result, 35 per cent have gone ‘several days’ without talking to a loved one after a clash between their sides. The study of 1,000 football fans found 31 per cent have

Improbably, the Hawks are two games away from the East finals
Basketball

NBA writer for ESPN.com since 2008 Former contributor and editor at NPR Their final moments weren’t elegant, and they might have been the beneficiary of some extenuating circumstances surrounding the health of Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, but the Atlanta Hawks are — improbably — only two games away from the 2021 Eastern Conference finals. On the first of March, the Hawks were 14-20 and buried in 11th place in