Cavaliers get another shot at ending Cleveland's title drought 3:02 PM ET Jason Starrett, ESPN Stats & Information The NBA Finals begin Thursday, and the Cavaliers will again look to end Cleveland’s championship drought. It’s been nearly 52 years since Cleveland won a title in any of North America’s four major pro sports. That was on Dec. 27, 1964, when the Browns defeated the … [Read more...]

BDL's 2015-16 NBA Finals Preview: Warriors vs. Cavaliers How They Got Here For two defending conference champions with precious little roster turnover from last season, there has been a remarkable amount of change in the clubhouse for these two squads. To start, the coaches that manned the sidelines all the way back in October when things tipped off won’t be standing much, or at all, during … [Read more...]

How the Warriors can repeat as NBA champions 11:32 AM ET Sharon Katz and Ben Alamar ESPN's Basketball Power Index gives the Golden State Warriors a 75 percent chance to repeat as NBA champions. However, they just escaped a tough seven-game series with the Oklahoma City Thunder and now have to refocus on a Cleveland Cavaliers team that seems to be playing its best basketball. The toughest … [Read more...]

Celtics extend contracts for Ainge, Stevens 11:47 AM ET Chris ForsbergESPN Staff Writer Close Covered Celtics since 2007 Emmy award-winning videographer Joined ESPNBoston.com in 2009 The Boston Celtics have given extensions to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and coach Brad Stevens, the team announced Wednesday. "Danny and Brad represent exactly what the Boston Celtics stand … [Read more...]

The Numbers Game: 2016 NBA Finals Preview The NBA Finals are set to begin on Thursday, pitting a locked-in Cavaliers team against a record-setting Warriors team that survived a 3-1 deficit to escape the Western Conference finals. Golden State is only the 10th team in league history to come back from a 3-1 hole, giving them a wave of momentum heading into the Finals, but LeBron and the well-rested … [Read more...]

Cavaliers must limit number of Warriors shots to upset them 10:00 AM ET Sharon Katz and Ben Alamar ESPN's Basketball Power Index gives the Cleveland Cavaliers only a 25 percent chance of beating the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Given that steep hill to climb, the Cavaliers have to craft a game plan that takes advantage of their strengths and the matchups that favor them, while … [Read more...]

Playoff Daily Dose: Dose: Cavs Preview It’s really easy to get caught up in offense in the NBA world. Teams win games with points while we track assists, efficiency and several stats on the box score. Most hardcore fans and even NBA writers don’t really quantify players outside of the stats on the box scores. Hey, DeAndre Jordan even won First Team All-NBA because most people saw his rebounding … [Read more...]

Kings point guard Darren Collison charged with domestic violence The NBA season featured few arrests, but now that 2015-16 has given way to the offseason for all but two of the league's 30 teams, players have free time on their hands. And you know what they say about idle hands. Sacramento Kings point guard Darren Collison was arrested on a felony domestic violence charge, according to … [Read more...]

Warriors' Barnes: 'No idea' on Game 1 start 5:07 AM ET ESPN.com news services After Golden State coach Steve Kerr went with Andre Iguodala over Harrison Barnes in the starting lineup for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, the Warriors' strategy for the NBA Finals is in question. But Barnes offered no insight Tuesday, saying he had "no idea" when asked whether he expected … [Read more...]

Draft Preview: NBA Draft Ranks: PG Last year saw a pretty good draft when it came to point guards, but the crop is a bit thinner this year, though there will be at least four first round picks, and maybe as many as six. It is a group that is strong in pick-and-roll ballhandlers, but there are a lot of players who still haven’t found their shooting stroke. A handful of these players could make an … [Read more...]