Michael Charles

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Michael Charles |Austin Green

By The AthleticGreetings basketball fans! Welcome to The Athletic's live coverage of Game 3 in the Western Conference finals featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Thunder look like the best team in the NBA in this series, hence why they are up 2-0. Can Oklahoma City take a commanding 3-0 lead or will Minnesota get back in the series? Follow our live updates as we build up to tonight's game.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Michael Charles |Lukas Weese

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Michael Charles |Austin Green

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-88 at home Tuesday night, taking a 1-0 series lead over Minnesota as the fight for a spot in the NBA Finals began. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder in scoring with 31 points, adding nine assists and five rebounds. Minnesota kept it close in the first half, but Oklahoma City secured its first double-digit lead in the final few minutes of the third quarter and stayed in control until the buzzer.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Michael Charles |Lukas Weese

What's up basketball fans! Welcome to our live coverage of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks from Madison Square Garden. New York City will be jumping tonight as the last time the Knicks made the ECF was 2000 and ironically, their opponent in that series? Who else but the Pacers. These two teams also battled in the second round last season, a series Indiana won in seven games.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Michael Dominski |Mark Puleo |Sabreena Merchant |Ben Pickman |Michael Charles |Richard Deitsch | +2 more

Caitlin Clark didn’t just bring new fans to women’s basketball, she introduced new viewers to the world of sports, WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert said during an interview on “The Bill Simmons Podcast.”“(NBA commissioner) Adam (Silver) and I talk all the time about this; she’s the most popular athlete in America,” Engelbert said.As the second season of the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark era tipped off Friday night, the reigning Rookie of the Year remains the talk of the league despite Clark and the Indiana Fever not playing until Saturday.The league is brimming with other marketable stars such as 2025 No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers, who made her WNBA debut Friday, and reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, who had a signature shoe released with Nike. And while that’s a good problem for the league to have, Engelbert stressed the importance of showcasing the league’s other standout players, while also leaning into the Clark phenomenon.Read more here.