Basketball

LOS ANGELES -- LeBron James began the final game of his 20th NBA season with the highest-scoring postseason half of his matchless NBA career.He ended the night by questioning how much longer he plans to chase history after his Los Angeles…

The Boston Celtics have done a horrible job over the past two games. They hosted the Miami Heat twice, yet they went down to a 0-2 hole. To advance to the NBA Finals, they will have to win four of their next five games, which may be…

DENVER -- After Nikola Jokic's monster game in the opener, his pick-and-roll partner Jamal Murray took the spotlight in the Western Conference finals Thursday night. Murray scored 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, propelling the…

BOSTON -- The Miami Heat were in need of a calming presence following a sluggish start to their latest conference finals showdown with the Boston Celtics.Jimmy Butler provided that and a lot more. Butler scored 35 points, including 20 after…

PHOENIX -- Brittney Griner's life and career path have taken a sharp turn over the past 18 months following a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges that ended with a prisoner swap in December.To say the Phoenix…

The Phoenix Suns have fired Monty Williams, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and just a year after he was the overwhelming choice as the coach of the year.Williams had great success in his four regular seasons in Phoenix, winning 63…

DENVER -- Nikola Jokic is anything but flashy and never seems to be in a hurry to get where he is going.After leading the Denver Nuggets to a series-clinching shellacking of the Phoenix Suns, Jokic planned to unwind this weekend by watching…

PHOENIX -- Brittney Griner strolled down the sideline about 1 1/2 hours before the Phoenix Mercury played Friday night, giving hugs and high-fiving her teammates, coaches and opposing players.Then it was a little stretching, a little…

LOS ANGELES -- Six months and a day after the Los Angeles Lakers fell to 2-10 to start the regular season, they emphatically eliminated the defending NBA champions to reach the Western Conference finals.Although the Lakers' transformation…

The Milwaukee Bucks fired Mike Budenholzer after their shocking first-round exit to the No. 8 seed Miami Heat. The Bucks had the best record in the NBA this season. Budenholzer won the 2021 title with the Bucks. He was named 2019 NBA…