For three quarters, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets looked like the team so many thought they would be. Murray couldn’t throw water into a well and early on the San Antonio Spurs were well on their way to taking a 2-0 lead back to Texas, a dejected Nuggets team in tow.

Two seasons after joining the Celtics, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward finally got their first taste of playoff basketball in Boston on Sunday afternoon. Their debut turned out to be worth the wait, as a huge third quarter powered the Celtics to an 84-74 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1.

The NBA regular season has ended, but the coaching carousel has just begun with vacancies opening throughout the league.

The most notable open head coach spot is in Los Angeles after the Lakers parted ways with Luke Walton on Friday. There's another opening in Sacramento, where a prospective head coach will take over for Dave Joerger to lead De'Aaron Fox and the Kings.

The Charlotte Hornets' 2018-19 season came to an end following a 122-114 loss to the Orlando Magic Wednesday night. It may have marked the last time Kemba Walker plays at Spectrum Center as a member of the home team. 

"I don't know," Walker said when asked after the game if he would re-sign with Charlotte in free agency this summer, according to The Athletic's Rod Boone. "I've got a long time to even start thinking about that stuff. Me and my agent will get together. Me and my family, we'll discuss that stuff when the time is right."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- He stood over the fallen foe and sneered at him, daring him to get up, all that testosterone boiling over and his chest sticking out to invite a conflict and send a buzz through the crowd.

But this wasn’t Ali looking down at Sonny Liston and providing a photo op that became legendary. This was Kevin Durant giving the business to Patrick Beverley in the final minutes of a playoff game. For a mouthy LA Clippers guard and physical defender who lives to irritate, this was nothing unusual for Beverley to be in such a situation.

After setting a new attendance record last year, Butuan City will host the Jr. NBA Philippines presented by Alaska Mindanao Regional Selection Camp for the second consecutive year at the Fr. SaturninoUrios University on April 13-14. The league’s youth basketball participation program returns to the Caraga region to teach basketball fundamentals and impart core values of the game to boys and girls ages 10-14.

Steven Adams made an impact, but not as much as Enes Kanter in game 1 of the Western Conference first-round NBA playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers.

Kanter backed up point guard Damian Lillard's game-high 30 points with 20 points and a career playoff-high 18 rebounds as the third-seeded Blazers opened their series against the No 6 Thunder with a 104-99 victory on Monday (NZT).

Recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve head coach Luke Walton, who reportedly has suitors already should the Lakers fire him.
Los Angeles Lakers rumors have been running rampant since Magic Johnson shocked the world and stepped down as the team’s president of basketball operations. A lot of those Lakers rumors have involved people Luke Walton and what will happen with the team’s head coach.