NBA

Atlanta just won't let go of its first trip to the postseason in nine years. The playoff team with the worst record did it again to the team with the best mark, forcing an improbable Game 7 with the Boston Celtics, as Joe Johnson hit a crucial 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining and the Hawks held on for a 103-100 victory Friday. More »

LeBron James compiled 27 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists for his third career playoff triple-double, all the while helping slow Caron Butler at the defensive end, and the Cavaliers beat the Wizards 105-88 on Friday night to end their contentious series in six games. It was the third consecutive season that the Cavaliers eliminated the Wizards. More »

Richard Hamilton hit his first five shots during Detroit's overpowering start, and the Pistons rolled into the second round of the playoffs by crushing the Philadelphia 76ers 100-77 on Thursday to win the series 4-2. The Pistons convincingly won the last two games of a series that wasn't expected to last this long. More »

Kevin Durant was so excited to learn he had just won the NBA Rookie of the Year award, he went back to sleep. That's what seven months and 82 games—more than double the amount the lanky 19-year-old had played in any previous season—can do to a teenager. More »

Caron Butler saved Washington's season. Butler made a layup with 3.9 seconds left and the Wizards held their breath as LeBron James missed a potential series-ending layup at the horn, giving Washington an 88-87 victory Wednesday night and adding at least one more game to this overheated NBA playoff series. More »

Takedowns and menacing gestures. Double technicals and flagrant fouls. And the Boston Celtics are heading to Atlanta to try to deliver the knockout punch. Paul Pierce scored a playoff-high 22 points and Ray Allen hit three 3-pointers in the middle of the third quarter Wednesday night to turn back the Hawks' last charge, leading Boston to a hard-fought 110-85 victory over Atlanta More »

From the start, Avery Johnson was a perfect fit as coach of the Dallas Mavericks. At the end, it was pretty obvious he wasn't. Johnson lost his job Wednesday, a move the team referred to as "relieving him of his duties." More »

Tony Parker scored 31 points, Tim Duncan added 29 points and 17 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a 92-87 Game 5 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. The third-seeded Spurs will meet the No. 2 seed Hornets in a second-round series that begins Saturday at New Orleans. More »

Tracy McGrady scored 29 points, Luis Scola added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets staved off elimination Tuesday night by routing the Utah Jazz 95-69 in Game 5 of their first-round series. Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 10 rebounds as the Rockets cut their series deficit to 3-2 and forced Game 6 in Utah on Friday night. More »

Byron Scott accepted his NBA coach of the year award, then guided his team to the second round of the playoffs. Chris Paul had 24 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, and the New Orleans Hornets held on for a 99-94 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night to win their first-round series in five games. More »

The Motor City's Big Three outscored Philadelphia's entire team when it mattered. Chauncey Billups scored 21 points, Richard Hamilton had 20 and Rasheed Wallace added 19 to lift the Pistons to a 98-81 victory over the 76ers on Tuesday night and a 3-2 lead in the first-round series. More »

No surrender on this night. No matter, the Los Angeles Lakers dispatched the tempestuous Denver Nuggets anyway. Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 31 points over the final 5 1/2 minutes Monday night, leading the Lakers to a 107-101 victory over the Nuggets and a sweep of their first-round series. More »

Well-traveled Larry Brown has reached an agreement to return to the NBA as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Monday. The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not been made, said Brown was expected to sign a contract on Tuesday. More »

Forget about a Boston sweep. The Hawks are headed back to Beantown all tied up with the mighty Celtics. Joe Johnson scored 35 points—20 in the fourth quarter—and Josh Smith added 28 points and seven blocks for Atlanta, which surprised the Celtics again 97-92 on Monday night to even the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. More »

Will Robinson, the first black basketball coach at a Division I school and a Detroit Pistons scout who discovered Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman, died Monday. He was 96. Robinson died at a Detroit hospital, Pistons spokesman Matt Dobek said. Robinson had been sick for 15 months and in a nursing home for more than a year, Dobek added. More »

Dwight Howard had 21 points and 21 rebounds and the Orlando Magic advanced to second round of the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, beating the Toronto Raptors 102-92 on Monday night to close out their series in five games. It was Howard's third game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in the series. More »

On the night of his last game as an NBA head coach, Pat Riley heard the final buzzer, looked straight ahead and briskly walked away. Deep down, he knew it was over. "I didn't have to look back," Riley said. "I know that's behind me." And now, Riley's past becomes Erik Spoelstra's future. More »

Boris Diaw had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in one of the best playoff performances of his career, and the Phoenix Suns stayed alive with a 105-86 rout of San Antonio on Sunday. Diaw, starting in place of injured Grant Hill, also led the Suns' vastly improved defense, guarding the Spurs’ Tony Parker much of the game. More »

David West let out his pent-up frustration over a poor Game 3 with a determined effort Sunday, scoring 10 of his 24 points in a quick stretch early in the second half to help the New Orleans Hornets pull away for a 97-84 victory and a 3-1 lead in the first-round series. Chris Paul added 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.  More »

The Pistons squashed the chatter about heading home with a series deficit. Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and made all but one shot from the field, and Detroit played with a purpose and dominated the second half to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 93-84 on Sunday night, tying the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series at two. Game 5 is Tuesday in Detroit. More »