Nba Playoffs, Basketball | featured news

James Harden scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter as Oklahoma City rallied for a 103-97 victory Saturday night to sweep the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks out of the playoffs.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers looked at his aging team at the end of regulation, and he wasn't encouraged by what he saw. "They didn't look fresh," he said Friday night after Boston beat Atlanta 90-84 in overtime to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series. "And, honestly, I looked at the other team – they looked pretty bad, too. So that made me feel a little bit better."

Kevin Durant finally found his postseason shooting touch to get Oklahoma City off to a quick start, and the Thunder never trailed on the way to a 95-79 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night for a commanding 3-0 series lead over the defending NBA champs.

LeBron James scored 32 points, including eight straight to start the fourth quarter and break open the game, and the Miami Heat took a 3-0 lead, sending the New York Knicks to an NBA postseason-record 13th straight loss, 87-70 on Thursday night.

Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire did not break any bones or sustain any tendon or ligament damage in his left hand, a person with direct knowledge of his status said.

Memphis blows a 27-point lead as Clippers take home-court edge. They piled onto the court after it was all over, every Clipper looking for a teammate to hug, to rejoice with, to explain to the other the unexplainable, a historic 27-point comeback against a Memphis Grizzlies team that had its swagger snatched away.

A day before Andrew Bynum produced one of the most eye-popping defensive performances in NBA playoff history, he spoke up to his Lakers teammates about the importance of getting off to a good start in their championship quest.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, left, puts up a shot as Denver Nugget

Kevin Durant scored 25 points and hit the game-winning jumper from the foul line with 1.5 seconds left to lift the Thunder to a 99-98 victory over the Mavericks on Saturday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series..

The Orlando Magic entered Indiana's building as huge underdogs and walked out talking trash....

Sure, basketball is a team sport, but NBA games are often won and lost by individual matchups. Here are five to watch in the first round of the playoffs....