Karl-Anthony Towns had 44 points and 13 rebounds, Jalen Brunson scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and the New York Knicks rallied to beat the Miami Heat 116-107 on Wednesday night.

LeBron James knows there aren’t many moments like this left.

Kevin Durant stands alone in U.S. Olympic basketball scoring history.

Kevin Durant practiced with the U.S. Olympic basketball team on Friday, a major step toward getting him back on track for the Paris Games that open next week.

For USA Basketball, the road to the Paris Olympics has started with a win.

Kevin Durant is dealing with calf soreness that has kept him from being a full participant in USA Basketball’s training camp for the Paris Olympics, though he has assured team officials that he does not expect the issue to be a major one.

Victor Wembanyama had a career-high 40 points and added 20 rebounds and seven assists, and the San Antonio Spurs overcame Jalen Brunson’s career-high 61 points to beat the New York Knicks 130-126 in overtime on Friday night.

USA Basketball’s men’s team will see Serbia and South Sudan in two of its three group-stage games at the Paris Olympics, while the U.S. women will open their schedule in a gold-medal-game rematch against Japan in France.

Jalen Brunson scored 42 points, becoming the fourth player in franchise history with 40 or more in consecutive games, and the New York Knicks beat the Sacramento Kings 98-91 on Saturday night.

NBA teams currently have about $4.8 billion in salary committed to players for this season, meaning the average per team is around $160 million.

The World Cup is over.

Jung Kook of BTS will join the Global Citizen Festival lineup, making one of his first live solo appearances at the Sept. 23 benefit concert in New York’s Central Park.

Through two games of this FIBA World Cup, the players who lead USA Basketball team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocked shots all share something in common.

LeBron James is not only coming back for a 21st season, he’s coming back in his original uniform number.

LeBron James plans to play next season for the Los Angeles Lakers.

It took 3,787 regular-season games and 29 trips to the playoffs, countless ripoffs of rainbow uniforms and even more ‘yeah, buts’ than any city should have to stomach.

Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA, announced his retirement on Monday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is doing his best to fasttrack the re-building schedule for the Oklahoma City Thunder after the NBA franchise lost Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Chris Paul to trades in the past seven years.

Julius Randle scored 57 points, matching the third-highest total by a New York Knicks player, during a 140-134 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

USA Basketball put together different rosters for all six World Cup qualifying windows, and coach Jim Boylen noticed the same two things with each of those groups.

A documentary on the 2008 U.S. men’s basketball team known as the “Redeem Team,” with executive producers including LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, will premiere on Netflix this fall.

The Los Angeles Lakers have fired Frank Vogel.

Two of the NBA’s most significant dynasties emerged in the second decade of the 2000s.

Devin Booker scored 32 points and the Phoenix Suns won their franchise-record 63rd game of the season, beating a Lakers team minus LeBron James 121-110 to eliminate Los Angeles from the playoff race.

Michael Jordan gave way to LeBron James in the NBA of the 2000s, just as traditional forms of communication began to yield to the birth and growth of new media.

Devin Booker scored 30 points, Deandre Ayton had 23 points and 16 rebounds and the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns routed the Los Angeles Lakers 140-111 on Sunday night.

LeBron James scored a season-high 56 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 124-116 on Saturday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Terance Mann had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Amir Coffey added 12 of his 14 in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers returned from the All-Star break with a 105-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

LeBron James scored 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied for a 14-point second half deficit to defeat the Utah Jazz 106-101 Wednesday night.

LeBron James returned from a five-game absence due to injury and had a triple-double of 29 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 21-point, second-quarter deficit, beating the New York Knicks 122-115 in overtime Saturday night.

Miles Bridges had 26 points, Ish Smith provided a huge boost off the bench with 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting and the Charlotte Hornets held off the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 117-114 on Friday night.

Joel Embiid had 26 points and nine rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 105-87.

LeBron James welcomed Anthony Davis back with a lob pass for the game’s first basket, then turned to this own offense to score 33 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 106-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

The Indiana Pacers increased the pressure on Lakers coach Frank Vogel with a 111-104 victory over Los Angeles.

LeBron James scored 25 points and Stanley Johnson had 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-95 win over the Utah Jazz.

De’Aaron Fox scored 29 points, Chimezie Metu made a clutch 3-pointer with 46.7 seconds remaining and the Sacramento Kings ended their longest losing streak of the season by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 125-116.

LeBron James scored a season-high 43 points and extended his streak of 30-point games to seven in the Los Angeles Lakers' 139-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook both had triple-doubles as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a season-high,five-game skid with a 132-123 win over the Houston Rockets.

DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points after missing two weeks in the NBA’s health and safety protocols to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 115-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves blew out the depleted Los Angeles Lakers for a second time this season with a 110-92 victory.

The Los Angeles Lakers rolled past the Orlando Magic 106-94 for their fifth victory in seven games.

LeBron James scored 30 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 117-102 in the latest chapter of the NBA’s most storied rivalry.

De’Aaron Fox scored 34 points, Buddy Hield had 13 of his 25 points after regulation and the Sacramento Kings defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 141-137 in triple overtime Friday night.

LeBron James made the tiebreaking 3-pointer in overtime and followed with a back-breaking 3 in his return from the first suspension of his career to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat Indiana 124-116 on Wednesday night.

Evan Fournier scored 26 points, Immanuel Quickley had 12 of his 14 in the fourth quarter after New York had blown a 25-point lead, and the Knicks beat a Los Angeles Lakers team missing suspended star LeBron James 106-100.

LeBron James was ejected early in the third quarter after drawing blood by hitting Isaiah Stewart in the face, leaving Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook to rally the Los Angeles Lakers to a 121-116 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 47 points and Khris Middleton tied Milwaukee’s franchise record for career 3-pointers in the Bucks’ 109-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

Anthony Davis had 34 points and 15 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-106 on Sunday.

Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points, Anthony Davis had 22 points and four blocks and LeBron James scored 19 points as the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Ja Morant’s 40-point game and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 121-118 Sunday night for their first win of the season.

Chris Paul scored his 20,000th career point on the way to 23 points and 14 assists, and Devin Booker added 22 points in the Phoenix Suns’ 115-105 victory over the winless Los Angeles Lakers.

Stephen Curry had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Golden State Warriors, who rallied from 10 points down to stun Lebron James, Anthony Davis and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers 121-114 in a season opener.

The Western Conference has the best regular season team from last year in Utah.

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook were on one side.

LeBron James has heard the basketball world talking about how the Los Angeles Lakers are too old, and he is laughing.

Carmelo Anthony realized the time was finally right to join forces with his friend LeBron James.

Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James have long wanted to be on the same team.

The U.S. men's Olympic basketball team is off to the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games.

Brooklyn's James Harden has committed to playing for U.S. men's national basketball team that will play in the Olympics that begin next month, says a person familiar with the situation.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic was the runaway MVP this season, which made it a virtual certainty that he would also be an All-NBA first-team selection.

The Portland Trail Blazers and coach Terry Stotts are parting ways after nine seasons.

Nikola Jokic had 36 points and the Denver Nuggets eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games with a 126-115 victory Thursday night.

Norman Powell matched his career playoff high with 29 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 115-95 on Saturday in Game 4 to even the first-round series.

Nikola Jokic had 36 points and 11 rebounds, the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-115 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Nikola Jokic scored 38 points to overcome a 3-point shooting barrage from Damian Lillard and the Denver Nuggets evened the first-round series by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 128-109 in a chippy Game 2.

Damian Lillard scored 34 points and led Portland’s 3-point barrage that sparked the Trail Blazers’ 123-109 win over the Denver Nuggets in the opener of their first-round playoff series Saturday night.

Teenage twins from Florida are skipping college basketball to become the first to sign with a new hoops league created for standout high school players.

LeBron James may be one game away from the playoffs.

Devin Booker hit two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining to give the Phoenix Suns a 118-117 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Carmelo Anthony looked like he was done just a couple of seasons ago.

Carmelo Anthony’s life story includes a great deal besides basketball.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)INDIANAPOLIS – Cade Cunningham vowed to lead Oklahoma State to a strong run through the NCAA Tournament. 4 seed Oklahoma State to its first NCAA Tournament win since 2009. Elijah Cuffee had 16 points and Darius McGhee 12 for Atlantic Sun champion Liberty, which had won its previous 12 games. Liberty was seeking another NCAA upset two years after bouncing Mississippi State in the first round. McGhee's long-range shooting gave teammates the confidence to contribute and keep Oklahoma State honest defensively.

(AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)Devin Booker returned from the knee injury that kept him out of the All-Star Game to score 35 points and the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers 127-121 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory. Chris Paul added 19 points for Phoenix, and Mikal Bridges scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half. “I think we had some good energy going into the fourth quarter,” Booker said. The Blazers won 127-117. AdTrail Blazers: The Blazers wore their gray and black Nike “earned” jerseys for the first time.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard shoots a 3-point basket over Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)PORTLAND, Ore. – Played tough by the Warriors all game, Damian Lillard needed to make something happen. Lillard hit a deep 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left to give the Portland Trail Blazers a hard-fought 108-106 victory over Golden State on Wednesday night. His 3-pointer gave Golden State a 101-96 lead with 3:57 remaining. He took a charge from Green, which prompted an unsuccessful challenge by Golden State, and Portland won its second straight after a four-game losing streak.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) goes for a layup in front of Dallas Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis (6) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. Lillard hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute after a big Dallas rally, and the Trail Blazers held off Doncic and the Mavericks for a 121-118 victory Sunday night. Lillard connected on the go-ahead 3 after Doncic assisted on a tying 3-pointer from Dorian Finney-Smith after the Mavericks trailed by 13 midway through the fourth quarter. Mavericks: Doncic shared the previous club record of 13 straight games with at least 25 points with Mark Aguirre (1983-84) and Dirk Nowitzki (2005-06). The Mavericks and Pistons met just once during the coronavirus-interrupted season, with Dallas winning in Mexico City behind 41 points from Doncic.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, left, is fouled by Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes)PORTLAND, Ore. – Damian Lillard had 30 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 118-114 on Thursday night. The Eastern Conference-leading Sixers had won six of seven, with the only defeat during that span coming a week ago to the Trail Blazers, 121-105. Lillard was third in the league, averaging 29.4 points a game with 13 of 30 or more points this season. The Trail Blazers host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

This combination photo shows, from left, Carmelo Anthony, Nick Cannon, David Alan Grier, John Ridley and Danny Glover who will be featured on "Soul of a Nation," an ABC newsmagazine focused on Black life in America. (AP Photo)NEW YORK – ABC News says that next month it will begin airing “Soul of a Nation,” which the network believes is the first prime-time broadcast newsmagazine focused on Black life in America. The network has committed to six episodes that will air on consecutive Tuesday nights. It illustrates the opportunity to both speak to a Black audience and educate others about what is going on in the community. ___This story has been corrected to show that the name of the series creator is Marie Nelson, not Marie Roberts.

Portland Trail Blazers' Rodney Hood, left, tries to dribble past Philadelphia 76ers' Seth Curry during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, in Philadelphia. Gary Trent Jr. scored 24 points and Enes Kanter had 17 points and 18 rebounds to lead the undermanned Trail Blazers to a 121-105 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. Carmelo Anthony had 22 points and a Trail Blazers team with four starters missing led by as many as 29 points against the top team in the East. “But on both ends of the floor, the other guys did an amazing job today.”Joel Embiid scored 37 points for the Sixers. Throw in four players already out with injuries -- including Jusuf Nurkic (wrist) and McCollum (left foot) -- and the Trail Blazers were down to nine players.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, right, fouls Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroeder (17) during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)LOS ANGELES – Damian Lillard scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half, and CJ McCollum had 20 points and 11 assists in the Portland Trail Blazers' 115-107 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. Gary Trent Jr. matched his career high with seven 3-pointers while scoring 28 points in the Blazers' second straight win over the Lakers at Staples Center. Dennis Schröder added 24 points, but the Lakers' streak of 59 straight victories when taking a lead into the fourth quarter was snapped. ... Los Angeles got just 23 bench points, led by Montrezl Harrell's nine.

Behind Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 2009. They will face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers starting Friday in Game 1. The Nuggets fell behind 3-1 in their first-round series against Utah before bouncing back with three straight victories. “We love it.”The last time the Nuggets were in the conference finals they faced the Lakers as well, losing in six games. The Lakers were led by the late Kobe Bryant and would go on to win the NBA title over Orlando.

We got better throughout the course of the series, James said. The Lakers hadn't won a playoff series since 2012. James has never lost a first-round playoff series, going 14-0. CJ McCollum had 36 points for the surprisingly scrappy Trail Blazers, who played without injured All-Star guard Damian Lillard. His personality and energy were unmatched, and his contributions on the court were unmistakable, helping the Trail Blazers into the playoffs each of his eight seasons with the team, the Blazers said in a statement.

Portland finished eighth in the West, Memphis was ninth, and the Grizzlies needed to sweep a two-game matchup to advance. They had a chance, up eight in the final quarter, before Portland did what Portland does in the bubble find a way at the end. The Grizzlies' 42-point third quarter matched the second-highest scoring period of the season for Memphis and was the second-highest scoring third quarter in franchise history. LOOKING AHEADThe Lakers went 2-1 against the Blazers this season, with the road team winning all three games. Anthony Davis (32.0 ppg) and LeBron James (24.7 ppg) led the Lakers; Lillard (36.0 ppg) and Whiteside (22.0 ppg) led the Blazers.

The Trail Blazers secured the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference only after Brooklyn's Caris LeVert, who scored 37 points, missed a jumper just before time expired. The winner of the play-in series gets the final spot in the West and a first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Had the Blazers lost, the Suns would have inched ahead of them into ninth. LeVert came back with a three-point play and had a chance to win it after Carmelo Anthony missed a 3-pointer, but his jumper was off.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 36 points and Luka Doncic had 25 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who will finish No. Lillard then drew a double-team and dished to Haasan Whiteside for a dunk to put the Blazers up by two. The game featured the two leading scorers since the NBA restart, with Doncic entering averaging 33.4 points and Lillard 33. Lillard was hot from the start, scoring 25 in the first half as the Blazers took a 66-58 lead. Mavericks: Play Suns on Thursday.

On Saturday, he missed a pair of free throws with 18.6 seconds to go and a 3-pointer with 9.5 seconds left in a 122-117 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Trail Blazers increased their chances of qualifying for the play-in series, which will start Saturday. Richardson missed a 3-pointer for Philadelphia, and the 76ers couldn't get another shot off after a scramble for the rebound. Trail Blazers: Lillard scored a basket in the first quarter when he drove to the hoop and his pass bounced off Philadelphia's Tobias Harris, off the backboard and into the basket. Trail Blazers: Play the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

Portland led by as much as 10 in the first quarter and was up 37-34 at the end of the quarter. They also outshot the Trail Blazers outside the arc hitting 15 of 34 (44.1%) compared to 17 of 43 (39.5%). Trail Blazers: Outscored Los Angeles 46-38 in the paint. HEY YOUThe Trail Blazers had some regional support with Blitz the Seahawk, mascot for the NFLs Seattle Seahawks, sitting in the virtual seats, for the early afternoon game. Trail Blazers: Play Philadelphia on Sunday.

That was a playoff-level energy that we had to play with at the end of the game, Boston coach Brad Stevens said. Jaylen was open and those were the right reads.Damian Lillard had 30 points and 16 assists for Portland. Jusuf Nurkic added 30 points in his second official game back after breaking his leg in March 2019. UP NEXTTrail Blazers: Play Houston on Tuesday night. Celtics: Play the Heat on Tuesday night.

Lillard finished with 29 points and nine assists as the Trail Blazers boosted their hopes for a seventh consecutive playoff appearance. Carmelo Anthony added 21 points as Portland moved within 2 1/2 games of the Grizzlies for the No. Everybody knew how important that game was," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 33 points and rookie Ja Morant added 22 points and 11 assists for Memphis. It was a weird game," McCollum said.