NBA

10:12 PM ET NEW ORLEANS — With the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in some danger with one star hurt and an ascendant Pelicans team giving them problems, future Hall of Famer Chris Paul delivered a signature series performance, including the best shooting game of his career to finish the close out. Riding his favorite play, Paul

5:47 PM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Brian Windhorst Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books NEW ORLEANS — Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker will return for his team’s Game 6 against

10:11 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN MILWAUKEE — The Bucks lost forward Khris Middleton to a sprained MCL and responded with three consecutive victories over the Chicago Bulls, advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 116-100 win in Game 5 on Wednesday. The Bucks will play the Celtics in the second round;

12:45 AM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry dribbled through nearly the entire Denver Nuggets team before putting up the perfect tear-drop layup to put the Warriors up with 30 seconds left in the game Wednesday night. As he came down the court, he looked at the audience and clasped his hands under

7:08 PM ET Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker is progressing on a return soon, possibly for Game 6 on Thursday or a potential Game 7 on Saturday in the franchise’s Western Conference first-round playoff series against the New Orleans Pelicans, sources told ESPN. Booker has made significant progress with his strained right hamstring in

10:35 AM ET Jamal CollierESPN Chicago Bulls guards Zach LaVine (health and safety protocols) and Alex Caruso (concussion protocol) will both miss Game 5 on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bulls were hoping either player’s health would approve ahead of their win-or-go-home game in Milwaukee, but they downgraded both guards on their injury

10:20 PM ET MIAMI — The Heat were missing two of their starters yet hardly missed a beat in Tuesday’s 97-94 Game 5 win over the Atlanta Hawks to advance to the second round. With Kyle Lowry sidelined since late in the third quarter of Game 3 with a left hamstring strain and Jimmy Butler

4:00 PM ET MIAMI — Heat star Jimmy Butler has been ruled out of Game 5 of Miami’s first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks because of right knee inflammation, the team announced on Tuesday afternoon about three hours before tipoff. Butler had been dominant in the series thus far, averaging 30.5 points on 54.3% shooting

8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The first round of the playoffs is barely a week old and has already packed in plenty of intrigue. The Boston Celtics became the first team to advance to the second round when they completed a sweep of the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. If the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks win

2:10 AM ET Mike D’Antoni was watching the Brooklyn Nets‘ season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics Monday night from his living room in Austin, Texas, a world away from the drama his protégé, Nets coach Steve Nash, had just lived through. A year ago, D’Antoni had been on the Nets bench alongside Nash as the

6:44 PM ET Ja Morant has been named the NBA’s most improved player after a season in which the Memphis Grizzlies point guard went from future star to superstar. In his third year, Morant was named an All-Star starter and averaged career bests of 27.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game to go along with

8:00 AM ET AN EIGHT- OR nine-figure subplot hovers over Jalen Brunson‘s star rise during these NBA playoffs. Brunson, the other guard the Dallas Mavericks landed in the 2018 draft, is poised to enter unrestricted free agency this summer. Suffice it to say that the price to retain his services, a priority for the Mavs,

2:16 AM ET NEW ORLEANS — Normally low-key by design, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams had cutting remarks about the officiating after the New Orleans Pelicans took Game 4 on Sunday to even the first-round series at 2-2. The Pelicans shot 42 free throws to the Suns’ 15 and it was a 17-2 disparity in

5:06 PM ET Within hours of his planned season debut, Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons reported a return of back soreness on Sunday and has been ruled out for Monday’s Game 4 against the Boston Celtics, sources told ESPN. After approximately 10 days of pain-free ramp up following recovery from a herniated disc, Simmons’ admission

8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN WHILE THE NBA world waited on the offseason’s biggest drama, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers pondered the future of a point guard not named Ben Simmons. When Rivers met with his coaches ahead of the 2021-22 season to discuss lineups, he made a bold declaration: No matter what happened with

1:14 AM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets star forward Kevin Durant admitted Saturday night that he has been “thinking too much” throughout the first-round series against the Boston Celtics and that it has been a factor in his poor play. After being held to 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting in a 109-103 loss the

1:45 PM ET Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes has been named the 2021-2022 NBA Rookie of the Year, the league announced Saturday. Barnes received 378 points (48 first-place votes). Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley finished in second place with 363 points (43 first-place votes). The 15-point difference between the first- and second-place finishers is the

2:19 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — The Point God was at it again. Just five days after Chris Paul scored 19 fourth-quarter points to will the Phoenix Suns to a Game 1 victory, Paul scored 19 fourth-quarter points again on Friday night to lead the top-seeded Suns to a 114-111 win over the