LOS ANGELES (AP) — Frank Vogel masterminded the 17th championship in the Los Angeles Lakers' remarkable history in his first season on their bench.
Exactly 18 months after that triumph, he also became part of the Lakers' past.
Joel Embiid is about to make a lot of history. And a half-dozen first-round or play-in game matchups are set to be decided.
The final day of the NBA season has no shortage of storylines.
A new scoring champion will be crowned and, barring something crazy, Embiid — who hails from Cameroon — will become the first international player to win that title.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stanley Johnson scored a season-high 21 points and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped their eight-game losing streak with a 120-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James will miss the final two games of the Los Angeles Lakers' season with a sprained left ankle, almost certainly preventing him from winning his second NBA scoring title.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Golden State coach Steve Kerr made a point to tell Klay Thompson he played his best game yet since returning in January from a 2 1/2-year absence following surgeries and long rehabs on his left knee and right Achilles.
PHOENIX (AP) — Russell Westbrook couldn't figure out a way to consistently mesh with his new teammates, Anthony Davis couldn't stay healthy and a 37-year-old LeBron James couldn't carry a team all by himself.
PHOENIX (AP) — The shots kept falling for Devin Booker, who appeared he was trying to prove a point.
The Phoenix Suns are the best team in the NBA this season and, according to the standings, it isn't particularly close.
PHOENIX (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers again will be without star LeBron James as they try to stave off playoff elimination.
James has been ruled out for Tuesday night's game against the Phoenix Suns because of a sprained left ankle.
Not since 1998 have the Cleveland Cavaliers made the playoffs without LeBron James.
This season, they're at least assured of a spot in the play-in tournament after an impressive turnaround.
The 10 teams in the Eastern Conference that will advance beyond the 82-game regular season are already set.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 38 points, 18 rebounds and six assists, and the Denver Nuggets moved into fifth place in the Western Conference with a 129-118 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and Rudy Gobert had 25 points and 17 rebounds as the Utah Jazz snapped a five-game losing streak with a 122-109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 34 points in a triple-double and the Dallas Mavericks routed the Lakers 128-110 on Tuesday night with Los Angeles missing LeBron James because of an ankle issue while anticipating the return of long-injured Anthony Davis.
DALLAS (AP) — LeBron James and Anthony Davis were together on the bench for a Los Angeles debacle in Dallas that further endangered the postseason hopes of the Lakers.
Now the club waits to see when the All-Star pair will be together on the floor again, and whether it will be in time to secure a play-in spot for the second consecutive year for the 2020 champs.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brandon Ingram's strained hamstring healed in time for him to return from a 10-game absence against the team that drafted him — and in a matchup holding postseason implications for both clubs.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even after seeing James Harden and Joel Embiid record double-doubles in a convincing 25-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers doesn't think his team is at its best yet.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joel Embiid had 30 points and 10 rebounds, James Harden added 24 points and the Philadelphia 76ers hung on for a 126-121 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers without LeBron James on Wednesday night.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Antawn Jamison played basketball in college at North Carolina, was a first-round pick in the 1998 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons in the league with the Warriors, Mavericks, Wizards, Cavaliers, Lakers and Clippers.
In 2022, the end of the season might feel like 1978.
If we’re lucky.
Let’s go back to the greatest scoring race in NBA history, one that was decided 44 years ago, the epic to-the-last-day battle between David Thompson and George Gervin.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, including nine in a row during a crucial stretch, and the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers — without stars Joel Embiid and James Harden — beat the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat 113-106 on Monday night.
CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James broke them all out — the fadeaway jumper, the fly-through-the-lane shot, some signature dunks, one over former teammate and friend Kevin Love, the patented pregame chalk toss.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and James Harden were ruled out for Monday night’s Eastern Conference showdown against the Miami Heat due to nagging injuries.
Embiid, who entered Monday tied with LeBron James for the NBA lead in scoring (29.8 ppg), is nursing back soreness.
WASHINGTON (AP) — LeBron James passed Karl Malone on the career scoring list, leaving only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still to catch.
Then the Los Angeles Lakers wasted another stellar performance by their star.
WASHINGTON (AP) — LeBron James moved into second place on the NBA’s career scoring list Saturday night, surpassing Karl Malone in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game at Washington.
James now trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the lead.
PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 28 points and the Phoenix Suns moved closer to wrapping up the NBA’s best regular-season record, routing the Chicago Bulls 129-102 on Friday night.
At a franchise-best 57-14 through 71 games, the Suns moved nine-games ahead of second-place Memphis with 11 games left.
TORONTO (AP) — LeBron James scored 19 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, Russell Westbrook had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Raptors 128-123 on Friday night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scottie Barnes scored 15 of his 21 points in the first quarter and the Toronto Raptors held off a late rally by the Los Angeles Lakers for a 114-103 victory Monday night.
The Raptors led by 24 in the first as the Lakers were soundly defeated for the second consecutive night.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had a team-record 60 points — the most scored in the NBA this season — and the Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 149-139 on Monday night.
Towns shot 19 for 31 and grabbed 17 rebounds in surpassing his previous best of 56 points against Atlanta on March 28, 2018.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns delivered one of the most prolific performances by an NBA player in more than two decades.
And he finished with a nice round number, too.
Towns had a team-record 60 points — the most scored in the NBA this season — and the Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 149-139 on Monday night.