TNT After a thorough investigation into irregularities involving sports betting, the NBA announced its final conclusion involving Jontay Porter on Wednesday. It was swift and decisive from the league, banning Porter from the NBA for life and laying out significant details as to what led to that conclusion. In the aftermath, the decision and the investigation have been discussed in myriad ways and from every possible angle, though most seem to at least understand why Adam Silver and the NBA dropped the hammer in this instance. On Thursday, Charles Barkley joined Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson ..read more

The Miami Heat will host the Chicago Bulls for the second consecutive year in a battle for the 8-seed in the Play-In Tournament, but this year’s edition will require Miami to get a win without their star, Jimmy Butler. Butler suffered a knee injury late in the first quarter of their 105-104 loss to the Sixers on Tuesday night, and while he stayed in the game and played through the finish, he was clearly not 100 percent and had a considerable limp afterwards. An MRI on Wednesday confirmed Butler had suffered an MCL sprain, and he will be out “several weeks,” meaning he will not be available fo ..read more

Getty Image The Philadelphia 76ers eked out a 105-104 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night to earn the 7-seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs and secure a first round series with the New York Knicks. That figures to be one of the most entertaining series of the first round, as we’ll see Jalen Brunson look to continue his incredible season against a Sixers team that had top-3 aspirations in the East derailed by injury but are now getting healthy at the right time. The series is a coin flip for many (including at the sportsbooks) and will be a really interesting test for both teams. Add ..read more

Getty Image/Merle Cooper The 2024 NBA Playoffs will get underway on Saturday afternoon with a quadruple-header of Game 1s (followed by another on Sunday). After a regular season that saw very little separation in the standings (with the notable exception of the Boston Celtics in the East), this looks to be, on paper, one of the most entertaining opening rounds we’ve seen in some time. We’ll see if that holds true once the ball is tipped, but there are some truly fascinating series in each conference and an awful lot at stake considering many of these teams will view the season as a failure if ..read more

Getty Image The San Antonio Spurs finished the season with the NBA’s fifth-worst record at 22-60, but while the teams around them at the bottom of the league are searching for their identity for the future, the Spurs have little doubt about how to proceed. That’s because the Spurs have Victor Wembanyama and other teams do not. The presumptive Rookie of the Year had a spectacular first season in the league, averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game on 46.5/32.5/79.6 shooting splits. What’s terrifying is Wembanyama is just scratching the surface (he s ..read more

Getty Image Wednesday’s Play-In games in the East followed a similar script to those in the West, with a thrilling opener in the 7-8 game before an absolute rout in the 9-10 matchup. After the Sixers escaped with a win over the Heat in the opener, the Chicago Bulls lit up the extremely porous Atlanta Hawks defense en route to a 131-116 win to extend their season and send Atlanta into an offseason of uncertainty. The Bulls jumped out to a massive lead in the early going, taking a 40-22 lead after the first quarter. They met almost no resistance from Atlanta, with DeMar DeRozan setting the tone ..read more

Getty Image Jimmy Butler did not look like himself for much of the Miami Heat’s Play-In Tournament loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. While Butler played 40 minutes, he never looked like he was able to shake a knee injury that he suffered in the waning moments of the first quarter when Kelly Oubre accidentally collided with his leg while trying to contest a shot. Jimmy Butler went down hard on this play and grabbed his knee. Hope he's okay pic.twitter.com/L0MTdWIDb0 — ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 17, 2024 Butler was on the ground in serious pain, but managed to gut it ..read more

Getty Image Caitlin Clark has yet to play in a WNBA game and she’s already set to earn some major cash. According to Shams Charania and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, Clark is nearing an 8-figure endorsement deal with Nike, which previously had a deal with the former University of Iowa star during her collegiate career in Iowa City. Additionally, Clark is slated to get a signature shoe from the company, which beat out Under Armour and Adidas to secure Clark’s signature. In fact, The Athletic reports that Under Armour had the face of its basketball brand as part of its pitch to bring Clark on b ..read more

Getty Image The Philadelphia 76ers are heading to the NBA playoffs. While it wasn’t the prettiest win in franchise history, Philadelphia played host to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night and overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to pick up a 105-104 win in the 7-8 game of the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament. Now, the Sixers will enter the postseason as the 7-seed, while the Heat still need to get their future all sorted out. The story of the first half was Philly’s inability to figure out Miami’s zone. The Heat decided to play a 2-3 that totally flummoxed the Sixers, even as Bam ..read more

ESPN/TNT Kendrick Perkins decided to engage in a little cross-network smack talk the other day when he called out Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal of TNT. During an appearance on The Michael Kay Show, Perkins was asked why the Hall of Fame inductees and longtime television commentators don’t believe in the Knicks, and said that the pair “don’t watch basketball” and “can’t watch basketball on a consistent basis.” This, unsurprisingly, did not go over especially well with the two Inside the NBA stars. At the end of Tuesday night’s broadcast, a tweet got both of them going on Perkins, with Sh ..read more