Basketball

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Damian Lillard took a small step forward Wednesday in his bid to be ready for the start of the Milwaukee Bucks' Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers.

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets met coach Michael Malone's challenge not to let up after winning the franchise's first NBA title.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kawhi Leonard has yet to practice five-on-five with the Los Angeles Clippers as they prepare to face the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs.

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics know that no one cares about everything they’ve accomplished during the regular season. Being the only team to win 60 games? That’s cool.

TORONTO — A year ago, Masai Ujiri declared that the Toronto Raptors had to change their culture. But after a challenging and disappointing 2023-24 season, the team's president said that their culture is just fine.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Zion Williamson has been ruled out of the New Orleans Pelicans' Western Conference play-in game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night because of a left hamstring injury — and is expected to miss up to two weeks should New Or

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Clemson guard Chase Hunter said he's entering the NBA draft, but maintaining his eligibility should he want to return for a sixth year in college.

USA Basketball studied every men's basketball game it has played for about two decades and a clear trend eventually appeared. When the defense isn't good enough, the Americans tend to get themselves into trouble.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Klay Thompson has provided so many memorable moments during his decade-plus run as Stephen Curry's Splash Brother running mate for the Golden State Warriors dynasty. The Game 6 heroics. The scores of 3-pointers.

Golden State guard Stephen Curry knew he was running out of chances to play in what would be his first Olympics , so he and his wife Ayesha started planning many months ago about how to make the Paris Games work for their family.