Stevens: Mazzulla will be back as Celtics coach, team 'without a doubt' wants Brown to return

BOSTON (AP) — For anyone expecting sweeping changes from the Boston Celtics this offseason, team president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is throwing a bit of cold water on that idea. After a season in which the Celtics fell one game short of a return to the NBA Finals,...

Betting interest expected to be down with NBA, NHL finals lacking marquee matchups

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NBA Finals could've featured glamour teams like the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and conventional thinking before the NHL playoffs stated the dominant Boston Bruins and star-studded Edmonton Oilers were on a near-collision course to meet in the Stanley Cup Final. ...

2 teams, 2 chances at titles: Heat, Panthers ready for their finals tests

DENVER (AP) — They were No. 8 seeds. They barely got into the playoffs after up-and-down regular seasons. They had to face the No. 1 overall seeds in Round 1 of the postseason. They had to win Game 7s in Boston just to keep their seasons alive. They are Eastern Conference champions. They are each...

With matchup finally set, Nuggets' Malone says beating Heat will be 'biggest challenge of our lives'

Aaron Gordon bristled at the notion the Denver Nuggets must operate the “rust versus rest” seesaw with 10 days between their Western Conference title celebration in Los Angeles and the start of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Rest? “We've been working,”...

Jimmy Butler told tennis star Coco Gauff his Miami Heat would reach NBA Finals

PARIS (AP) — To hear tennis star Coco Gauff tell it, basketball star Jimmy Butler assured her his Miami Heat would make it to the NBA Finals before they were guaranteed of so much as participating in the playoffs. Before the French Open began, 2022 runner-up Gauff — who lives in...

Future of Brown-Tatum tandem in spotlight as Celtics enter offseason

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics began their season in chaos. They ended it confronted with a decision that could shape the franchise for years to come. Pain, disbelief and uncertainty hung with the Celtics as they walked off the court following their Eastern Conference finals Game...

Man dies while trying to board subway train in Boston, police say

BOSTON (AP) — A man died after falling under a Boston subway train early Tuesday, authorities said. The man apparently wanted to board a moving Green Line trolley at North Station at 12:18 a.m., Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan said in a statement. As...

Celtics fall apart in bid for NBA history and now enter offseason of questions

BOSTON (AP) — Armed with a raucous crowd and seemingly all the momentum after digging their way out of a 3-0 Eastern Conference finals hole, the Celtics entered their Game 7 matchup with the Heat eyeing a chance to make NBA history. It may have evaporated on the very first play. ...

Jimmy Butler helps Heat to 103-84 Game 7 win over Celtics and spot in NBA Finals

BOSTON (AP) — No unprecedented comeback, no last-tick miracle, no cavalcade of higher seeds is going to prevent these Miami Heat from playing for the NBA title. Eastern Conference finals Most Valuable Player Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, and Caleb Martin had 26 points and 10...

Miami Heat beat Boston Celtics in Game 7 of East finals, advance to face Denver Nuggets in NBA Finals