1 Celtics Boston mounted a late comeback to avoid a repeat of the NBA Finals in a narrow home win over Golden State on Thursday, also beat the Raptors and the Hornets twice for a perfect week that improved their overall winning streak to nine games. Jayson Tatum got a well-earned rest in the Toronto win, but averaged 39.3 points, …

Who’s Playing Prairie View A&M @ Alabama A&M Current Records: Prairie View A&M 7-13; Alabama A&M 6-13 What to Know The Prairie View A&M Panthers are 12-2 against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs since January of 2016, and they’ll have a chance to extend that success Monday. Prairie View A&M and Alabama A&M will face off in an SWAC battle at …

The Los Angeles Lakers traded Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks to the Washington Wizards for forward Rui Hachimura in a deal Monday that will certainly bolster the Lakers now, but also limit the franchise’s flexibility later, particularly any starry ideas for this upcoming free agency. The Lakers were exploring options for what Nunn and two second-rounders could have netted …

Who’s Playing Pennsylvania @ Hartford Current Records: Pennsylvania 9-11; Hartford 4-16 What to Know The Pennsylvania Quakers are staying on the road Monday to face off against the Hartford Hawks at 7 p.m. ET Jan. 23 at Chase Family Arena. The Quakers earned a 75-55 win in their most recent contest against Hartford in November of last year. UPenn came …

Getty Images The Washington Wizards will be without their second-leading scorer on the season for the foreseeable future. Forward Kristaps Porzingis is listed as week-to-week with a sprained left ankle, the team announced Monday. Porzingis suffered the injury in the third quarter of the contest between the Wizards and Orlando Magic in Washington on Saturday. Porzingis landed awkwardly on the ankle …

Who’s Playing Delaware State @ South Carolina State Current Records: Delaware State 1-16; South Carolina State 3-17 What to Know The Delaware State Hornets are 1-7 against the South Carolina State Bulldogs since January of 2016, but they’ll have a chance to close the gap a little bit Monday. Delaware State and South Carolina State will face off in an …

The Oklahoma City Thunder have not been great at shooting (24th in effective field-goal percentage), passing (25th in assist rate) or rebounding (26th in rebounding percentage) the basketball, and yet here they are, a shade below .500 after the NBA season’s midway mark and squarely in the play-in tournament mix. That is as ringing an endorsement as you will find …

Who’s Playing Norfolk State @ Morgan State Current Records: Norfolk State 13-6; Morgan State 10-9 What to Know The Morgan State Bears and the Norfolk State Spartans are set to square off in an MEAC matchup at 7:30 p.m. ET Jan. 23 at Hill Field House. The teams split their matchups last year, with Morgan State winning the first 85-74 …

USATSI Minnesota Timberwolves veteran guard Austin Rivers thinks that Golden State Warriors star guard Steph Curry is the hardest player to guard in the NBA, but not for the reason you might think. According to Rivers, Curry is the league’s toughest cover because he’s favored heavily by referees.  “Steph… It’s not even close,” Rivers said on a recent episode of …

Who’s Playing Bethune-Cookman @ Alcorn State Current Records: Bethune-Cookman 6-13; Alcorn State 8-10 What to Know The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats and the Alcorn State Braves will face off in an SWAC clash at 8:30 p.m. ET Jan. 23 at David L. Whitney Gymnasium. The teams split their matchups last year, with Alcorn State winning the first 70-67 on the road and …

Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton‘s contract (two years, $17.3 million) is considered the team’s best while guard Ben Simmons’ contract (three years, $113.7 million) is deemed the team’s worst, according to an article published by Bleacher Report earlier this season. The ironic thing about this article is that it seems prophetic given how this season has progressed for both of …

Getty Images Only a handful of schools have publicly offered a scholarship to top-40 recruit Bronny James, LeBron James’ oldest son. This week, his options were reportedly pared down to a final three of USC, Ohio State and Oregon. However, The King himself weighed in this weekend on his son’s options as he stares down the homestretch of his recruitment, …

Bulls’ plan to keep Caruso healthy pays dividends originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago Monday night marks Alex Caruso’s 40th game this season. Last season, he played in 41 overall. As far back as training camp, coach Billy Donovan prioritized doing everything he could to help keep such a vital cog to the Chicago Bulls’ fortunes healthy. Obviously, Donovan can’t …

The Virginia Tech Hokies look to snap a seven-game losing streak on Monday night when they face the Duke Blue Devils in Atlantic Coast Conference action. The teams who played in last season’s ACC Tournament Championship Game, find themselves in the middle of the pack or below in the ACC standings in 2022-2023. The Blue Devils (14-5, 5-3 ACC), who …

The Utah Jazz will try to get back to the .500 mark overall this season when they face the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night. Utah had its two-game winning streak snapped in a 117-106 loss to Brooklyn on Friday, despite being a 4.5-point favorite in that game. Charlotte is coming off consecutive wins against Houston and Atlanta to open a …

Hello, it’s Monday, and if it’s alright with you, I’d like to be insufferable for a bit before getting to tonight’s picks. The NFL’s Divisional Round games were played over the weekend, and the winners were the Chiefs, Bengals, 49ers and Eagles. That means the Chiefs will host the AFC Championship for the fifth straight year, and the 49ers will …

The Washington Wizards have reached a deal to send forward Rui Hachimura to the Los Angeles Lakers for guard Kendrick Nunn and three second-round draft picks, a person with direct knowledge of trade talks told USA TODAY Sports. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly until the trade is official. The Lakers have been searching …

The Northwestern Wildcats will try to bounce back from a rough patch when they host the Wisconsin Badgers on Monday night. Northwestern has suffered two losses and had two games postponed because of COVID-19 issues with its program. This game was originally scheduled for this past Saturday, but it was postponed.   Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. The …

Shannon Sharpe, a Fox Sports personality and Pro Football Hall of Famer, has apologized for his role in an altercation that took place on Friday night when the Memphis Grizzlies faced the Los Angeles Lakers. Sharpe, who heckled Dillon Brooks and had words with Ja Morant while at the game, used several minutes on “Undisputed” Monday morning to apologize for …

Getty Images In early October, Big 12 coaches cast their annual preseason ballots and pegged Kansas State as the No. 10 team in the conference. Reminder: The Big 12 only consists of 10 teams. As we sit here in late January, however, first-year coach Jerome Tang and Kansas State have proven to be at the extreme of one spectrum on …

The Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards have finalized a trade that will send fourth-year forward Rui Hachimura to Los Angeles in exchange for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks (in 2023, 2028 and 2029), according to The Athletic. Hachimura is averaging 13.0 points and 4.3 rebounds on 33.7 percent 3-point shooting this season and matched a season-high with 30 points …

MANHATTAN, Kan. – This is the job Jerome Tang wanted. More than the others. That much was clear last spring when the long-time Baylor assistant set up his Alexa to play “Wabash Cannonball” as the Kansas State search committee walked through the door. Tang knew exactly the statement he was making before the interview began. That K-State fight song has …

The top teams in the NBA continue to perform at a high level as there are several contenders in each conference that have each turned in some great runs of late. The Memphis Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets each saw their lengthy winning streaks snapped over the weekend. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics pushed their win streak to nine games after defeating …

Who’s Playing Coppin State @ Howard Current Records: Coppin State 6-15; Howard 11-10 What to Know After a four-game homestand, the Coppin State Eagles will be on the road. Coppin State and the Howard Bison will face off in an MEAC battle at 7:30 p.m. ET Monday at Burr Arena. The Eagles won both of their matches against Howard last …

NBA fans love the smell of trade season in the morning, and the odoriferous emanations are more pungent in some cities than others. While teams like the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies can look at their teams confidently heading into the Feb. 9 trade deadline, others are looking at their roster holes like LeBron James glaring at J.R. …