LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be the underdog against the Golden State Warriors as the NBA Finals get underway next week.The 2016 champion Cavs will battle the 2015 champion Warriors for the third straight year.James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA's all-time playoff scoring leader as the Cavaliers routed the Boston Celtics 135-102 on Thursday night to claim their third straight Eastern Conference title.Both teams dominated throughout the playoffs -- the Warriors making history by going an unprecedented 12-0 through three rounds in the Western Conference with the Cavs losing just a single game to the Celtics.The league will showcase the two best teams again when the NBA Finals tip off on Thursday night (ABC, 9 p.m. ET).The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook installed Golden State as a minus-260 favorite, with Cleveland at plus-220, meaning a $100 bet on the Warriors would win $38.46 and the same bet on the Cavaliers would win $220, according to ESPN.The... [More]

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be the underdog against the Golden State Warriors as the NBA Finals get underway next week.The 2016 champion Cavs will battle the 2015 champion Warriors for the third straight year.James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA's all-time playoff scoring leader as the Cavaliers routed the Boston Celtics 135-102 on Thursday night to claim their third straight Eastern Conference title.Both teams dominated throughout the playoffs -- the Warriors making history by going an unprecedented 12-0 through three rounds in the Western Conference with the Cavs losing just a single game to the Celtics.The league will showcase the two best teams again when the NBA Finals tip off on Thursday night (ABC, 9 p.m. ET).The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook installed Golden State as a minus-260 favorite, with Cleveland at plus-220, meaning a $100 bet on the Warriors would win $38.46 and the same bet on the Cavaliers would win $220, according to ESPN.The... [More]

F Amir Johnson (sprained right shoulder) was able to play Thursday in the Celtics' season-ending loss to the Cavaliers. He scored one point in six minutes.

F James Jones is going to his seventh straight NBA Finals, all with LeBron James. Bill Russell holds the record of appearing in 10 consecutive Finals. Jones scored two points in eight minutes Thursday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals vs. Boston.

G Deron Williams contributed 14 points in 17 minutes off the bench as the Cavaliers rolled to a 135-102 blowout of the Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

F Kevin Love had 15 points and 11 rebounds and was a game-high plus-43 as the Cavaliers rolled to a 135-102 blowout of the Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

F LeBron James scored 35 points to become the all-time playoff points leader while clinching his seventh consecutive NBA Finals appearance.James also had eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and a blocked shot in a 135-102 blowout of the Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.James, who shot 13 of 18 from the floor and 4 of 7 from 3-point range, hit a 3-pointer with 2:41 left in the third quarter to pass Michael Jordan and move to the top of all playoff scorers. James finished the night with 5,995 playoff points, topping Jordan's mark of 5,987. Jordan appeared in 179 postseason games; James played his 212th.

F Chris Bosh and the Heat agreed to part ways. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald reported the sides were in talks Tuesday, and sources told ESPN on Wednesday that the Heat, Bosh and the players' union tentatively agreed to a resolution.Bosh, 33, was sidelined this past season when he failed a preseason physical -- Heat team doctors declined to clear him to take part in training camp -- after he missed the second half of the previous two seasons due to blood clots. Bosh last played in a game on Feb. 9, 2016, remaining on the Heat's roster and taking up salary cap space as the sides worked through medical and legal issues. His five-year, $118 million contract runs through the 2018-19 campaign.

The Miami Heat and 11-time All-Star forward Chris Bosh have agreed to part ways.The South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald reported the sides were in talks Tuesday, and sources told ESPN on Wednesday that the Heat, Bosh and the players' union tentatively agreed to a resolution.Bosh, 33, was sidelined this past season when he failed a preseason physical -- Heat team doctors declined to clear him to take part in training camp -- after he missed the second half of the previous two seasons due to blood clots.Bosh last played in a game on Feb. 9, 2016, remaining on the Heat's roster and taking up salary cap space as the sides worked through medical and legal issues. His five-year, $118 million contract runs through the 2018-19 campaign.The agreement has not been finalized as Bosh and his family, agents and lawyers are still reviewing documents, according to ESPN.--The Atlanta Hawks are in the process of finalizing a deal that would make Travis Schlenk, the Golden State Warriors' vice president... [More]

The Miami Heat and 11-time All-Star forward Chris Bosh have agreed to part ways.The South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald reported the sides were in talks Tuesday, and sources told ESPN on Wednesday that the Heat, Bosh and the players' union tentatively agreed to a resolution.Bosh, 33, was sidelined this past season when he failed a preseason physical -- Heat team doctors declined to clear him to take part in training camp -- after he missed the second half of the previous two seasons due to blood clots.Bosh last played in a game on Feb. 9, 2016, remaining on the Heat's roster and taking up salary cap space as the sides worked through medical and legal issues. His five-year, $118 million contract runs through the 2018-19 campaign.The agreement has not been finalized as Bosh and his family, agents and lawyers are still reviewing documents, according to ESPN.Bosh is guaranteed his remaining $25.3 million salary for 2017-18 and $26.8 million salary for 2018-19, but a significant portion... [More]

F Amir Johnson (sprained shoulder) did not play in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday.

F Al Horford contributed 16 points and seven assists in Boston's Game 4 loss at Cleveland on Tuesday.

F Kevin Love contributed 17 points and a career playoff-high 17 rebounds in the Cavs' Game 4 win over the Celtics on Tuesday.

G Manu Ginobili will take three to four weeks to mull retirement after the Spurs were swept by the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Ginobili, 39, left Monday night's Game 4 loss with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation from the San Antonio crowd and chants of "Manu! Manu!" and "One more year!" "Very hard to find the words to describe my feelings after yesterday's game. Still overwhelmed. Thank you SO very much!," Ginobili tweeted Tuesday. The four-time NBA champion and two-time All-Star got the honorary start and finished with 15 points, seven assists and three steals.

F LeBron James scored 34 points to go with six assists in Game 4 vs. Boston, even though he left the game with 6:46 remaining in the second quarter after picking up his fourth foul. He never previously had that many fouls in the first half in his 14-year career, and Cleveland trailed 46-33.James recovered from an 11-point, 4-of-13 shooting night he endured in Cleveland's stunning Game 3 loss. He shot 15 of 27 from the field Tuesday and closed the game with 15 points in the fourth, including a 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining for a 106-97 lead.James trails Michael Jordan (5,987 points) by just 28 points for first place in NBA playoff history in scoring.

Boston Celtics forward Amir Johnson will not start in Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night due to a right shoulder sprain, coach Brad Stevens said prior to the game.Kelly Olynyk will start in Johnson's place.Stevens said he is not sure whether Johnson will play at all Tuesday.Johnson injured his shoulder early in Sunday's Game 3 after getting tangled with up Cleveland's Tristan Thompson. Johnson later returned to that game but did not practice on Monday.Johnson is averaging 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 13 postseason appearances, including nine starts.This will be Olynyk's first playoff start of his career. He started six regular-season games this season. He is averaging 8.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in the postseason.The Celtics, who trail in the series 2-1, are also without guard Isaiah Thomas due to a hip injury.

The Orlando Magic revamped their organization by hiring Jeff Weltman as president of basketball operations and John Hammond as general manager, the club announced Tuesday.Weltman spent the past four seasons as the right-hand man to Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri. Hammond spent the past nine seasons as general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks.Weltman served as Milwaukee's assistant general manager under Hammond from 2008-13. The two also previously worked together in the Los Angeles Clippers and Detroit Pistons' organizations.Orlando's interim general manager Matt Lloyd is expected to remain in the organization. He filled the role after Rob Hennigan was fired in April.--Steve Kerr's status for the NBA Finals remains an uncertainty. The third-year Golden State Warriors coach has missed his team's last 10 playoff games as he deals with complications from back surgery two years ago entering the team's third straight Finals appearance."Just day-by-day," Kerr told ESPN website The Undefeated... [More]

Manu Ginobili's storied NBA career hangs in limbo after the San Antonio Spurs were swept by the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals on Monday night.Ginobili, 39, left Monday night's Game 4 with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation from the San Antonio crowd and chants of "Manu! Manu!" and "One more year!"The four-time NBA champion and two-time All-Star thanked fans for the gesture on his Twitter account Tuesday morning."Very hard to find the words to describe my feelings after yesterday's game. Still overwhelmed. Thank you SO very much!," Ginobili tweeted.Ginobili said he has not yet made up his mind about retirement."I'm getting closer and closer (to the end of my playing career)," Ginobili told reporters after the game. "There is no secret, for sure. It's getting harder and harder. But I always said that I wanted to let it sink in for three weeks, four weeks, whatever, and then I will sit with my wife and see how it feels.The Argentinean has spent... [More]

F LaMarcus Aldridge, arguably the Spurs' most important player after F Kawhi Leonard, scored just eight points and did not play in the fourth quarter of San Antonio's season-ending loss to Golden State on Monday.

G Manu Ginobili scored 15 points Monday in a loss to the Warriors, a game that might have been the finale of his 15-year NBA career.Ginobili left the game in the final minutes to chants of "Manu, Manu" and "one more year." He has said he will take three or four weeks off before deciding whether he wants to return to the league next season, when he will be 40 years old.Ginobili is the only player in NBA history besides LeBron James to record at least 800 rebounds, 800 assists and 300 3-pointers in the postseason.