LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — First it was Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, unable to call upon what was one of the best defenses in the league.Then came LeBron James and the Lakers, clanging 3-pointers off the rim to provide a steady sound in a mostly empty gym.These NBA playoffs already promised to be the most challenging yet. They got a little tougher Tuesday for the NBA's top teams.Milwaukee and Los Angeles lost their playoff openers, the first time both conference No. 1 seeds have been beaten by the No. 8s to start their postseasons since 2003.So good for most of the season, the top seeds are having trouble in the bubble.There's no home-court advantage to lose in this postseason at Walt Disney World, making it easier not to panic in what would normally be a tougher predicament.“No frustration because the game is the game and we came in with a mindset to win. We didn’t take care of business, but we’ve got another opportunity on Thursday to even the series and that’s my only mindset,”... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Utah guard Mike Conley has returned to Walt Disney World after the birth of his son and will go through a four-day quarantine period before joining the Jazz for their playoff series against Denver.Conley is set to miss Game 2 on Wednesday but could be back on the court for Game 3 on Friday. He returned to the NBA campus Monday night.The league completed its review and in accordance with the NBA’s COVID-19 policies, Conley’s four-day quarantine is expected to end Friday. Conley missed Monday's first-round opener, which Utah lost 135-125 in overtime despite a Jazz playoff-record 57-point performance from Donovan Mitchell.The 32-year-old Conley announced the birth of his son, Elijah Michael Conley, on social media late Sunday. Conley is averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 assists in his first season with Utah.He was acquired as part of a deal with Memphis in July 2019.The sixth-seeded Jazz already are missing Bojan Bogdanovic, who underwent right wrist surgery in May. ___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The kids are having all kinds of fun at Walt Disney World.Donovan Mitchell, just 23 years old, opened the NBA playoffs with 57 points, third-most in history.Luka Doncic, only 21, scored 42, the best postseason debut the league had ever seen.They did everything but win.Numbers have been eye-popping all over the bubble, with individual players and sometimes entire teams pouring it on like never before. There’s no indication so far that’s going to change in the postseason. “In some ways I don’t know if it’s more competitive, but it’s competitive out there,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers, whose team withstood Doncic’s debut to beat Dallas in Game 1.“I think because everyone in the bubble has confidence right now because they put the work in, so that’s what’s going to make it hard.”The thought was always that defenses tightened up come playoff time, with the pace of the game slowing down and more adjustments being made as teams familiarize themselves with an opponent... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics say forward Gordon Hayward will be sidelined for around four weeks after suffering a severe right ankle sprain in Boston's Game 1 win over Philadelphia in their first-round playoff series.The injury occurred in the fourth quarter of the Celtics' 109-101 victory Monday night when he went up for a rebound and rolled his ankle as he landed on teammate Daniel Theis' foot. He limped to the locker room and didn’t return.Hayward played 34 minutes and scored 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting with four rebounds before the injury, which the team described as a Grade 3 sprain, the most severe type.The timeline for recovery means Hayward will miss the rest of the first round at a minimum and possibly some of the second if the Celtics advance. He already planned to leave the bubble for a time if the team was still playing in September. His wife is pregnant and is scheduled to deliver sometime next month.With Hayward out, it could mean a shift to a three-guard lineup and more minutes for Marcus Smart, who has been filling the role of Boston's sixth man. Smart played 32 minutes in Game 1. He started 40 games during the shortened regular season. The Celtics went 14-6 without Hayward this season. ___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Utah guard Mike Conley has returned to Walt Disney World after the birth of his son and will go through a quarantine period before joining the Jazz for their playoff series against Denver.The Jazz announced he was back at the NBA campus following the team's practice Tuesday. ESPN reported he arrived in the bubble Monday night.In accordance with the NBA’s COVID-19 policies, Conley is subject to a quarantine of at least four days. He is expected to miss Game 2 on Wednesday but possibly could be back for Game 3 on Friday.The league is reviewing his situation.Conley missed Monday's first-round opener, which Utah lost 135-125 in overtime despite a Jazz playoff-record 57-point performance from Donovan Mitchell.The 32-year-old Conley announced the birth of his son, Elijah Michael Conley, on social media late Sunday. Conley is averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 assists in his first season with Utah.He was acquired as part of a deal with Memphis in July 2019.The sixth-seeded Jazz already are missing Bojan Bogdanovic, who underwent right wrist surgery in May. ___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Nobody had ever scored as much as Luka Doncic in an NBA playoff debut.His evaluation of his historic performance?“Terrible," he said.Doncic is out for wins, not stats, and the Dallas Mavericks weren't good enough to get one in the opener of their series against the Los Angeles Clippers. They climbed back from a dismal start caused in part by Doncic's carelessness, but ended up losing 118-110 on Monday night.So while his 42 points were the number that drew the most attention, Doncic was focused on another number in the box score.“I should never have 11 turnovers,” he said. "That’s 11 more possessions I can have. The thing about this game is I’ve got to be way better than that for sure.” Three of the turnovers came in the opening minutes, when the Clippers raced to a 10-0 lead. They seemed intent on banging the 21-year-old guard around whenever they could and it appeared early that Doncic might not be able to handle it.But he kept picking himself up and in the... [More]

The NBA playoff pool is deeper than ever this season.Playoff teams will split a record $23,287,266 for making the NBA postseason, a figure that's up about $1.6 million from last year.And the Milwaukee Bucks stand to grab the biggest share of a pool ever, if they win the NBA title. The Bucks would split $6,827,848 if they won the NBA championship, based on the formula worked out by the NBA.The Bucks have already secured $1,606,897 from the pool by having the best record in the NBA, the best record in the Eastern Conference and making the first round. The top six teams in each conference get a bonus for their finish in the regular season.From there, the breakdown is this:— First-round qualifiers make $347,545.— Conference semifinalists get another $413,534.— Conference finalists get another $683,363.The biggest slices, of course, go to the teams that make the NBA Finals. The losing team receives another $2,732,699, while the NBA champions get another $4,124,054.For winning the NBA title last... [More]

The NBA playoff pool is deeper than ever this season.Playoff teams will split a record $23,287,266 for making the NBA postseason, a figure that's up about $1.6 million from last year.And the Milwaukee Bucks stand to grab the biggest share of a pool ever, if they win the NBA title. The Bucks would split $6,827,848 if they won the NBA championship, based on the formula worked out by the NBA.The Bucks have already secured $1,606,897 from the pool by having the best record in the NBA, the best record in the Eastern Conference and making the first round. The top six teams in each conference get a bonus for their finish in the regular season.From there, the breakdown is this:— First-round qualifiers make $347,545.— Conference semifinalists get another $413,534.— Conference finalists get another $683,363.The biggest slices, of course, go to the teams that make the NBA Finals. The losing team receives another $2,732,699, while the NBA champions get another $4,124,054.For winning the NBA title last... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Utah Jazz said guard Mike Conley left Walt Disney World on Sunday to return to Columbus, Ohio, for the birth of his son.The sixth-seeded Jazz begin a first-round playoff series against No. 3 seed Denver on Monday. Players who leave the bubble are subject to a quarantine upon their return, though the length won't be determined until then. It's a blow to a Jazz team already missing Bojan Bogdanovic, who underwent right wrist surgery in May. Denver and Utah are also scheduled to play Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.The 32-year-old Conley is averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 assists in his first season with Utah. He was acquired as part of a deal with Memphis on July 6, 2019.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Ja Morant will have a painful memory from his rookie season to help remind him — and the rest of the NBA — just how far ahead of schedule the Memphis Grizzlies' rebuilding project is.“How close I was to the playoffs,” Morant said Saturday after the Grizzlies' playoff hopes ended in a 126-122 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference's play-in game.“Obviously, now I feel like I kind of know what it takes to make it. We're some games away. I learned a lot through the amount of games I played this whole season. I say people try to put a lot of pressure on me, but I'm a rookie. Just turned 21 a couple days ago. At this point, I'm still learning.”The likely NBA rookie of the year capped off his season by scoring a career-best 35 points despite playing with a broken thumb the final four games of the NBA's restart in Florida. Only three Grizzlies rookies previously scored 35 or more in a regular-season game: Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Dillon Brooks and Jaren Jackson Jr.Better yet,... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans are looking for a new coach to oversee the still nascent Zion Williamson era.The Pelicans fired 65-year-old coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday after the club missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.New Orleans went 30-42 this season, finishing with just two victories in its final eight games despite the presence of top overall draft choice Zion Williamson and first-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in the lineup until the club was eliminated from playoff contention with two games to play.But Griffin asserted during a video media conference that a coaching change might have been forthcoming even if New Orleans had rallied to capture one of the Western Conference's final playoff spots.“The wins and losses have very little to do with this," Griffin said. “This is really about the process. This is about the shared vision of how we’re going to go forward and what this looks like as we build.”While Griffin declined to answer specific questions... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday after the club missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.The Pelicans went 30-42 this season, finishing with just two victories in their final eight games despite the presence of top overall draft choice Zion Williamson and first-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in the lineup until the club was eliminated from playoff contention with two games to play.“These types of moves are often about fit and timing,” Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin said in announcing Gentry’s termination. “We believe now is the right time to make this change and bring in a new voice.”Gentry went 175-225 since his hiring by former Pelicans general manager Dell Demps after the club fired Monte Williams following the 2014-15 season, when Anthony Davis was the face of the franchise.The Pelicans made the playoffs in Gentry's third season, sweeping Portland in the first round before falling to eventual champion Golden... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Coach Monty Williams could sense a few eye rolls earlier this summer when the Phoenix Suns and their extremely mediocre 26-39 record were invited to the NBA's bubble.A few months later, the Suns are the talk of the league after winning all eight games in Florida and nearly making a run all the way to the playoffs.“I think we've gained the respect of the league and that's huge,” Williams said. “It's huge for us as an organization. It's huge for us as a team. There was some sentiment before this that we didn't belong. I think we changed that sentiment.”The Suns won't be in the playoffs for a 10th straight season after the Portland Trail Blazers edged the Brooklyn Nets 134-133 on Thursday night to clinch the final spot in the Western Conference play-in series. But for Phoenix, it's hard not to be encouraged by its 8-0 run in the bubble.“We took tremendous strides in so many different ways,” All-Star guard Devin Booker said. “Other than just basketball, too. We became closer... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday after the club missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.The Pelicans went 30-42 this season, finishing with just two victories in their final eight games despite the presence of top overall draft choice Zion Williamson and first-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in the lineup until the club was eliminated from playoff contention with two games to play.“These types of moves are often about fit and timing,” Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin said in announcing Gentry’s termination. “We believe now is the right time to make this change and bring in a new voice.”Gentry went 175-225 since his hiring by former Pelicans general manager Dell Demps after the club fired Monte Williams following the 2014-15 season, when Anthony Davis was the face of the franchise.The Pelicans made the playoffs in Gentry's third season, sweeping Portland in the first round before falling to eventual champion Golden... [More]

All the momentum the Sacramento Kings had when the NBA season shut down in March disappeared when they arrived in the bubble.The disappointing performance in Florida has left the Kings on the outside of the playoffs for the 14th straight season. That's the longest active drought in the NBA and led to change in the front office with Vlade Divac stepping down as general manager.“I feel like you’re always trying to play your best basketball late into March and April and I thought we were on our way to doing that,” first-year coach Luke Walton said. “So that part of it, I thought it was a success. We hit a bunch of lows this year too. Some came from injuries, some came from the way we were playing and that, we don’t want to see.”Those lows were evident in the bubble when the Kings lost five of their first six games to get eliminated from postseason contention. The team was hampered by Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker and Alex Len all positive for COVID-19 and missing practice time... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday after the club missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.The Pelicans went 30-42 this season, finishing with just two victories in their final eight games despite the presence of top overall draft choice Zion Williamson and first-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in the lineup.Gentry was hired by former Pelicans general manager Dell Demps after the club fired Monte Williams following the 2014-15 season, when Anthony Davis was the face of the franchise.The Pelicans made the playoffs in Gentry's third season, but were derailed last season by a combination of injuries and Davis' trade demand, which precipitated Demps' firing. Gentry was retained even after Demps was replaced by current basketball operations chief David Griffin and the coach's contract was extended through the end of next season.But the Pelicans faltered once again this season, starting 6-22 and laboring through a franchise record 13-game... [More]

Gregg Popovich brushed off a question about whether he will return as coach of the San Antonio Spurs after their attempt to set an NBA record for consecutive playoff appearances fell short in the bubble.DeMar DeRozan didn't even get a question about his future because the four-time All-Star guard acquired in the Kawhi Leonard trade had already made it clear he hasn't decided about the player option for the final year of his contract.Waiting back in San Antonio is LaMarcus Aldridge, who missed the restart to have shoulder surgery and will soon rejoin a young group of guards that helped keep alive faint hopes of a record 23rd straight trip to the playoffs longer than expected.“The future is bright,” said Dejounte Murray, one of those young guards. “You’ve got a bunch of young dudes who are willing to learn, willing to put the work in and willing to build the chemistry off the floor and on the floor.”San Antonio (32-39) finished with a losing record for the first time since 1996-97, the year... [More]

Rui Hachimura just wrapped up his rookie year -- and it was a rough one for his Washington Wizards, who yet again missed the playoffs -- but he knows enough to recognize the biggest two reasons to have at least a modicum of hope looking ahead.“When John and Brad return,” said the first Japanese player to be taken in the NBA draft’s first round, “it’s going to be a fun team.”That could be. Not really anywhere to go but up, after all, given that the Wizards went 25-47 overall this season without point guard John Wall, including just 1-7 during the league’s coronavirus pandemic restart in Florida without shooting guard Bradley Beal, who cited a bum shoulder in opting out. Only seven of the NBA’s 30 clubs finished the regular season with a worse winning percentage, so it is hard to know exactly what Washington is capable of becoming as it moves forward.Much will depend on how this offseason unfolds. “We have some decisions to make,” coach Scott Brooks said.Without their two All-Stars and far-and-away... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Luka Doncic would like to clear up a bit of a misconception: He has playoff experience.Then again, he also knows what awaits now is different.For the first time since 1990, the Dallas Mavericks are going to the playoffs without Dirk Nowitzki on the roster. The German great retired after last season, officially passing the torch as leader of the Mavs to Doncic — the Slovene who nearly averaged a 30-point triple-double in just his second NBA season.So, no, he hasn’t seen what the NBA playoffs are like.There’s also no reason to think Doncic isn’t ready for this stage.“Yes, it is the playoffs, but I have been in the playoffs before, just in Europe,” said the 21-year-old Doncic, who was still a teenager when he led Real Madrid to the EuroLeague title and was basically considered the best player in that league two years ago. “It is not the same level, but it is the same emotions. I am excited for sure.”He should be.Doncic finished the season averaging 28.8 points,... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. was carted off the court and fitted for a neck brace after colliding with Indiana Pacers center Goga Bitadze late in the third quarter Friday.Jones was trying to get around a screen when he ran into the 6-foot-11 Bitadze and fell to the floor. The Heat announced via Twitter after their 109-92 loss that Jones had a neck strain and had undergone an MRI, CT scan and concussion test. The Heat said Jones would be re-evaluated over the weekend.During his postgame press conference, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra urged caution before reacting one way or another until all tests have been completed. But the initial signs, including that Jones had movement and was not reporting numbness in his extremities, were considered positive.The Heat face the Pacers in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series beginning Tuesday.Players from both teams stood on the court in silence as Heat personnel and eventually emergency medical workers tended... [More]