NBA

12:43 PM ET Associated Press Khris Middleton ordinarily wouldn’t be thinking about anything right now other than what the Milwaukee Bucks are trying to accomplish in the NBA playoffs. An invitation to play in the Olympics, that’s not ordinary. Milwaukee starting guards Middleton and Jrue Holiday plan to play for the U.S. in the Tokyo

1:51 AM ET MILWAUKEE — If there was one play to summarize the futility of the Atlanta Hawks‘ offense in Game 2 against the Milwaukee Bucks‘ swarming defense on Friday, it was probably the first possession of the second half. Trailing by 32 points at the half, the Hawks opened the third quarter unable to

9:47 PM ET Brianna Williams Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images From tipoff to halftime the Milwaukee Bucks started Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals with their foot on the gas. They jumped out to a 77-45 lead over the Atlanta Hawks and never looked back. In the first half Jrue Holiday guarded Trae Young

1:43 PM ET The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to terms with Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd to be their head coach and longtime Nike executive Nico Harrison to be their general manager and run the franchise’s basketball operations, sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon on Friday. Kidd, who had two stints with the Mavericks

2:28 AM ET This year’s edition of the LA Clippers has cobbled together comebacks off scrappy defense, tactical adjustments and unlikely heroes. But most of all, with Kawhi Leonard sidelined for the past five games, they have leaned on Paul George. The former MVP candidate, one of the few active Clippers with significant conference finals

7:06 PM ET Jason Kidd has emerged as a strong front-runner to be hired as the next head coach of the Dallas Mavericks and the team is closing in on hiring a new general manager, sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the soon-to-be hired general manager

7:00 AM ET AFTER DELIVERING A triple-double in the series opener, Luka Doncic put down 39 points in Game 2 to silence a half-capacity Staples Center crowd and hammer a refrain: The LA Clippers had no answer. As the Dallas Mavericks packed a 2-0 lead into their bags to return home, Clippers players lingered in

1:31 AM ET Seventeen days ago, an NBA title contender enlisted a guard with an All-NBA Defense honor to his name to take on the challenge of defending Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young in a Game 1. On Wednesday night in the opening tilt of the Eastern Conference finals, another NBA title contender handed

2:50 PM ET The Boston Celtics are finalizing an agreement to hire Brooklyn Nets assistant Ime Udoka as their new coach, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Udoka spent the 2020-21 season on Steve Nash’s staff with the Nets. Prior to that, he spent one season with the Philadelphia 76ers and seven years under coach Gregg

3:18 AM ET PHOENIX — Deandre Ayton couldn’t stop smiling after the Phoenix Suns‘ 104-103 win on Tuesday gave them a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals over the LA Clippers. The big man wore a permagrin as he basked in the joy that came from dunking home the go-ahead bucket in the game’s

2:39 AM ET With the play drawn up and ready to go, right before they broke their huddle, Monty Williams’ last message to his team was simple. “Execute it,” he said. “If he throws it, DA, you’ve got to, like, try to dunk it. OK?” Williams was talking to Deandre Ayton, telling his third-year big

8:58 PM ET The Detroit Pistons won Tuesday night’s NBA draft lottery and the right to pick No. 1 in the 2021 draft. The Pistons will be followed by the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic rounding out the top five. The Rockets (17-55), Pistons (20-52) and Magic (21-51)

7:00 AM ET The 2021 NBA draft lottery drawing will be unveiled Tuesday night at 8:30 ET on ESPN. The ultimate prize is believed to be the right to select Oklahoma State star Cade Cunningham at No. 1, but inclusion in what NBA evaluators believe could be a historically strong top-5 is a much-coveted circumstance

3:40 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The idea that Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons will spend the offseason improving his shooting stroke has become an annual discussion in Philadelphia. That certainly will be the case again this offseason, after Simmons melted down at the foul line — and disappeared from Philadelphia’s offense — as the 76ers

10:56 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN For only the second time in 50 years, the Atlanta Hawks are heading to the conference finals. The fifth-seeded Hawks knocked off the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia 103-96 in Game 7 to advance. In a back-and-forth affair, the Hawks ultimately came out on top. The game featured 20 lead

7:00 AM ET The NBA’s conference semifinals had a bit of everything. We were treated to two thrilling Game 7s, with the Milwaukee Bucks outlasting the Brooklyn Nets in overtime and the Atlanta Hawks stunning the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers at home to advance. We got another historic comeback from the LA Clippers, who were down

1:46 AM ET For most of Game 7, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young‘s patented “shiver” gesture — the one he unleashes to let onlookers know he has transformed into Ice Trae — had a different connotation. Ice Trae had been ice cold all night, missing 19 of his first 21 shots attempts from the field.

4:54 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN On the day the Phoenix Suns played their first Western Conference finals game in more than a decade, Suns general manager James Jones was honored as the league’s Executive of the Year. In a tight vote, which is conducted by the league’s executives themselves, Jones got nine first place votes