Category: Basketball

The Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in a Bucks 101-89 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Jrue Holiday posted 25 points and 10 rebounds and Bobby Portis added 15 points and 11 boards for the Bucks.

On the other hand, Jayson Tatum scored 21 and Jaylen Brown had 12 points, but the two Boston stars combined to shoot 10 for 31 in the game. Al Horford added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics.

Following the game, the Celtics star Jayson Tatum talked about his fellow teammate Jaylen Brown’s rough night: “Nobody should hang their heads down. We in this together, all that matters is if you win or lose.”

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid won’t travel for Games 1 and 2 in Miami, but there’s optimism he could return as soon as either Game 3 or 4 in Philadelphia.

Embiid, who suffered a right orbital fracture and mild concussion in the team’s 132-97 series-clinching Game 6 win over the Raptors on Thursday night, needs to clear concussion protocols and see a doctor mid-week on his orbital fracture.

Philadelphia will face Miami in the second round, with Game 1 Monday night in South Florida. The top-seeded Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks in five games.

LeBron James is getting a ton of blame for the Los Angeles Lakers’ failures this season, but forward Kent Bazemore is coming to his teammate’s defense … telling TMZ Sports LeBron did everything he could to help the Lakers win.

Bazemore was also asked if there’s still some appeal for him to return to the team, and he said there “for sure” is.

“What I’ll say is nothing ain’t much better than being a Laker, right?” Bazemore said. “So, getting to see Kob numbers on the wall every day I went to practice was good inspiration for me. … There’s nothing like it, man.”

This season, Bazemore played in 39 games and averaged merely 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds per contest while shooting 32.4 percent from the floor.

Gary Payton II is making a name for himself in the NBA. The 29-year-old shooting guard has already received praise from his three-time champion teammate Draymond Green for his performances in the first round series against the Nuggets.

Now his head coach Steve Kerr says the same thing — Payton II is built for the playoffs. He will be faced with a huge task in the second round of the playoffs as he will have to guard Memphis young superstar Ja Morant.

“Gary, I think, is a player built for the playoffs,” Kerr said, per Kendra Andrews.

The Phoenix Suns will have to pay a fine of $25,000 for violating NBA injury reporting rules. Specifically, the number one seed in the Western Conference, failed to disclose Devin Booker’s participation status in an accurate and timely manner prior to Game 6 of the first round series against the Pelicans.

Before this game Booker had missed three games of the series due to a sprain in his right hamstring. He did make a return in Game 6 and played 32 minutes during which he scored 13 points.

The Suns won the game and eliminated New Orleans. They will now face the Mavericks in the second round series.

A piece of history that is associated with the legendary Black Mamba will be up for a much-anticipated bidding.

A game-worn rookie year jersey of the late great Kobe Bryant is set to hit an online auction from May 8 to June 4.

The said No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers apparel was suited up by Bryant in back-to-back home occasions from the 1996-1997 regular season  – a game against the Utah Jazz way back April 13, 1997, and on April 17, 1997 versus the Sacramento Kings.

The basketball icon also donned the jersey in two postseason series games against the Jazz.

According to David Kohler of SCP Auctions, the gold gear of the hall of famer can range between $3 million and $5 million in the bidding war.

“We feel this could bring a record for any basketball jersey,” Kohler said, via Associated Press.

Kohler also noted that the anonymous seller of the jersey has kept the precious memorabilia for 25 years. He was approached by the said person after seeing an autographed rookie jersey of Bryant being sold for $3.69 million last year – the highest price that was ever recorded for a basketball jersey.

Kohler further provided that the item’s authenticity was verified by independent authenticators through photo-matching and comparing it to a 1997 trading card featuring Bryant wearing the jersey.

Bryant and eight other people including his daughter, Gianna, was announced dead in a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, California last Jan. 26, 2020. The five-time champion was recently named as a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team.

The Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry shared some of his thoughts on the Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and the Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant not being at this early stage of the playoffs:

“You’re still going to see those guys back, Bron, KD, all those guys you mentioned. It ain’t like they’re just going to ride off into the sunset either.”

The Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers details why the Sixers big man Joel Embiid, who suffered a right orbital fracture and a mild concussion, was playing with 4 minutes left in Game 6 against the Toronto Raptors: “The other team had all their guys in.”

The Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler blames Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra for his $15,000 fine, but says his fellow teammate PJ Tucker paid for it: “It’s Spo’s fault. He always says to celebrate everybody else’s success. Max [Strus] goes on a 10-0 run, I celebrate, I get fined.”

The NBA fined Jimmy Butler for making an obscene gesture. They also fined the Miami Heat organization $15K for making a GIF out of it.

Karl-Anthony Towns has just finished his seventh year with the Timberwolves. Former number one draft pick is satisfied with being in Minnesota where he is one of the leaders of the team.

This coming summer the 26-year-old power forward will be eligible to sing max extension with the T-Wolves. While not answering directly on if he plans to sign the extension, he made it clear that ‘things will happen’ in sumer.

“I love this city. So obviously things will happen this summer, when they happen they happen,” Towns said, per Dane Moore. “I’ve been here so long I don’t like making prophecies, I’ll let it come if it comes. And if it comes, it comes, then we’ll deal with it when it comes.”