SEATTLE — I used to live in a four-bedroom house in Los Angeles with a friend who was tasked with finding potential roommates. One day a young man stopped by and seemed instantly smitten with the space.

He said he was in, and told my buddy he'd bring him the first month's rent the next day.

"Sounds like we got a new roomie," I said.

My ...Read more

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for answers when it comes to maximizing their star trio. For the star duo of LeBron James and Austin Reaves, things were a little less cluttered Thursday night as the pair took turns dragging the Lakers to a much-needed win after awful back-to-back losses.

James and Reaves made the biggest ...Read more

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Early in Maryland men’s basketball’s game against Southern California, Derik Queen had a chance for a fast-break dunk before banging the ball off the back rim and out.

That missed opportunity was one of few miscues made by the No. 20 Terps as they had too much firepower to be contained by the visiting Trojans in an 88-...Read more

DENVER — The genius of Nikola Jokic is not told by statistics. It lies in his mind.

As the Nuggets began the second half of their season Thursday night, it finally hit me. Jokic is an all-time great not because he operates like Larry Bird and Bill Walton, but rather Peyton Manning.

Think about the similarities.

Jokic is not an athletic ...Read more

DENVER — The Nuggets’ win streak survived the threat of an All-Star break hangover. Its next obstacle is Luka Doncic in purple and yellow.

Jamal Murray scored 34 points, and Denver held off the Hornets on Thursday night at Ball Arena, 129-115, in the team’s return from the league-wide break. Nikola Jokic added 29 points, 17 rebounds and ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Nets had the No. 1 defense in the NBA over their last 10 games entering the All-Star break and didn’t skip a beat at that end of the court on Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But offense remained a struggle throughout in their 110-97 loss against the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference at Barclays Center.

Cam Thomas...Read more

NEW YORK — A close overtime victory barely compensates for a glaring Knicks flaw on display at Madison Square Garden.

All-Stars Jalen Brunson (22 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (32) combined for 54 points, and Mikal Bridges came up with a massive block on Bulls center Nikola Vucevic to force overtime in New York’s 113-111 victory over the ...Read more

ATLANTA — When the Magic and Hawks met in the second-to-last game before the NBA All-Star break, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner combined for 68 points in a six-point loss at Kia Center.

Thursday night at State Farm Arena, however, the Magic took advantage of the scoring spree from their star duo in their first game coming out of the league. ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Fran Dunphy, the winningest coach in Big 5 history, will retire from coaching at the end of the 2024-25 basketball season, La Salle announced Thursday.

Dunphy, 76, will finish his third season leading La Salle, his alma mater, at next month’s Atlantic 10 men’s tournament. He will then assume the role of special assistant to...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — This Timberwolves team is disappointing, and promising.

Talented, and oddly fitted.

Deep, yet confusing.

Injured, but healing.

Capable of beating the beat team in the league — which happened last week — and of losing to lousy teams, which has happened far too frequently.

As the Timberwolves begin the post-All-Star ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — They are not Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars. Or Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Volunteers. Or Rick Pitino’s St. John’s Red Storm. But Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats are starting to show up a little more on the defensive end of the floor.

“We’ve got a lot of room for improvement because we aren’t great,” the ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — College coaches across the country might argue that UConn’s Dan Hurley wrote the book on innovative offense.

Now, he’s written a book about his life.

“Never Stop: Life, Leadership and What It Takes To Be Great,” written by Hurley and co-authored by sportswriter Ian O’Connor, is set to come out on Sept. 16. The ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For a guy who failed his physical, Mark Williams sure looked pretty healthy Wednesday night for the Charlotte Hornets.

Williams was in his first game back for the Hornets after being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, only for the Lakers to say “never mind” and rescind the trade once they took a good look at Williams at ...Read more

SEATTLE — Katie Lou Samuelson is on the move again, and this time the long-range sharpshooter is headed back to Seattle.

The Storm agreed to a one-year deal with Samuelson, her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Since being taken No. 4 overall in the 2019 WNBA draft by Chicago, the former Connecticut Huskies ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Deflating. Frustrating. Embarrassing.

What other words can be used to describe the Lakers' 100-97 defeat to the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night?

So what if Luka Doncic was playing for only the third time since Christmas? So what if Austin Reaves was ejected in the third quarter? So what if the Lakers' ...Read more

NEW YORK — Bobby Portis has been suspended 25 games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA anti-drug program by testing positive for the painkiller Tramadol, the league announced on Thursday.

The 30-year-old Milwaukee Bucks forward has averaged 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists across 46 games this season while shooting 46.3% from ...Read more

ATLANTA — Hawks guard Dyson Daniels has strung together a remarkable season since the team acquired him during the offseason. With the news that Spurs center Victor Wembanyama will miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder condition, specifically deep-vein thrombosis, a path for the Hawks guard to win Defensive Player of the Year ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Liam McNeeley had promised there would be a different result when the UConn men played Villanova. He called for his team to “play angry,” play “desperate.”

It’s a big check for a freshman to write, but McNeeley was willing to step into a void and provide the words, and once again had the will and the wherewithal ...Read more

JJ Redick, renewed by the All-Star break, bounded through the halls of the Lakers’ arena like a rested golden retriever. His team had a week off and a clean injury report, a 30-game sprint to the finish with a chance to have their best regular-season finish since their 2020 title run.

There were reasons everywhere to be excited. The 48 ...Read more

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The tag team of Mark Mitchell and Caleb Grill powered a triple-digit offensive showing as No. 15 Missouri toppled No. 4 Alabama in a shootout.

The Tigers (20-6, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) beat the Crimson Tide (21-5, 10-3) 110-98 Wednesday in front of a sold-out crowd, gaining ground in the race for a top-four finish in the ...Read more