Basketball

ATLANTA (AP) — Finally, Trae Young ran into someone he couldn't beat.

A referee.

The Atlanta Hawks' playoff star sprained his right ankle in a freak encounter with an official's foot late in the third quarter of Game 3 in the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night.

PHOENIX (AP) — Deandre Ayton is rapidly become the player the Phoenix Suns imagined when the ping-pong balls bounced their way for the 2018 NBA draft.

The third-year center was in top form Saturday in a hard-fought 84-80 Game 4 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Rick Pitino professes to knowing three Greek words: Kalimera, kalispera and kalinichta, which translate to good morning, good afternoon and good night.

Luckily for the Hall of Famer, basketball is a universal language.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — North Carolina State baseball players who were one win away from playing for a national championship reacted with anger and confusion to their team's removal from the College World Series because of COVID-19 protocols.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks' path to the Eastern Conference finals provides reason to remain optimistic after a humbling Game 2 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks evened the series at 1-1.

The Bucks also can rely on their postseason history to boost their belief in their championship hopes.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Vanderbilt will advance to the College World Series finals after North Carolina State was forced to drop out because of COVID-19 protocols, the NCAA announced early Saturday.

NC State had only 13 players available during its 3-1 loss to the Commodores on Friday.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo definitely had something to declare on his triumphant return to Greece on Sunday.

The NBA star carried the Larry O’Brien Trophy with him at Athens International Airport and said he hopes to win more titles with the Milwaukee Bucks.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Kevin Durant and Breanna Stewart have more than a little in common.

They’re two-time champions, Durant in the NBA and Stewart in the WNBA. Both are two-time finals MVPs. Both have a league MVP award.

TOKYO (AP) — One of the best rivalries on the track moves into the spotlight on Day 10 of the Tokyo Games and takes a step closer to a big finish when United States teammates Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad size each other up in the semifinals of the women's 400-meter hurdles.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum are going for gold, though they can’t forget about the green.

Basketball and business are about to mix in a way players have never experienced.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. and Spain played for Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, then in the semifinals in 2016.

And at the Tokyo Games, the top teams in the FIBA world rankings will meet again — just earlier than has been the norm.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Luka Doncic's winning streak with Slovenia will carry right into the Olympic quarterfinals.

Spain's streak of Olympic medals is in serious jeopardy, with a quarterfinal date with the U.S.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The tradition continues. Luis Scola goes to the Olympics, and Argentina goes to the quarterfinals.

Scola’s fifth Olympics aren’t over yet. He scored 23 points, Facundo Campazzo added 17 points and 11 assists, and Argentina defeated host Japan 97-77 on Sunday in what amounted to a play-in game for a berth in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Ann Wauters is a pioneer for women's basketball in Belgium, becoming the first player to play in the WNBA.

Now 21 years later, the No. 1 pick in the 2000 WNBA draft is the team captain of the Belgium squad playing in the Olympics for the first time.

TOKYO (AP) — There will be a new fastest man of the Olympics crowned Sunday when the 100-meter dash is run without Usain Bolt in the finals for the first time since 2008.

The favorite to claim the gold is American sprinter Trayvon Bromell, a 26-year-old from St.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. women’s team isn’t clicking at the Tokyo Games the way the Americans would like and one reason is the different styles of play they have encountered so far.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Kevin Durant had been just ordinary so far in these Olympics.

That's probably not good enough for gold.

Not on this U.S. men's basketball team, an unproven and for now still unspectacular group.

TOKYO (AP) — Katie Ledecky made more history for the U.S. in the pool. Same for Caeleb Dressel.

Elaine Thompson-Herah made her history on the track.

Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle, finishing her grueling Olympic program with a third straight victory in a race she hasn’t lost since 2010.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. lost its first two exhibition games of the summer in Las Vegas, dropped its opening game at these Olympics and had a difficult time shaking free of the Czech Republic in their group-play finale.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The wait needs to end now. Australia views this as its time to finally be standing on the medal podium when the Olympics are over.

“The whole country right now knows the desperation of this team, knows where this team’s at,” coach Brian Goorjian said.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Yvonne Anderson knew playing in the Olympics for the U.S. was a longshot at best. Realistically, it was likely never going to happen.

Yet, the Arkansas native is here is at the Tokyo Games living her Olympic dream — with Serbia.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Arsalan Kazemi spoke sadly and not because his Olympics were over.

It's because Iran was never really ready when they started.

France is moving on and Iran is headed home in men's basketball, with the French easing to a 79-62 victory Saturday.

Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Isaiah Todd all bet that bypassing college basketball to get the jump on an NBA career was the right call.

The three teenagers will soon find out how well their preps-to-pros path – being paid to play on a G League team designed to develop elite prospects – has prepared them for it.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst says Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn't need any type of offseason procedure for the left knee that the two-time MVP hyperextended during the team’s NBA title run.

TOKYO (AP) — The final night of swimming gives Caeleb Dressel and four-time Olympic medalist Simone Manuel more chances to collect hardware on Day 8 of the Tokyo Games.

Dressel is a gold medal favorite in the men’s 50-meter freestyle and is the two-time reigning world champion.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. women’s basketball has won six consecutive gold medals by being able to successfully meld first-time Olympians with veterans.

The Tokyo Games are no different. With six newcomers on the team, USA Basketball’s latest crop of Olympic rookies is giving early indications of being more than up to sustaining the standard of excellence in the American’s pursuit of a seventh straight gold medal.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — There is no aura of invincibility around this U.S. men’s basketball team. It has gone just 3-3 so far this summer, still has work to do just to qualify for the knockout stage at the Tokyo Olympics and seems far from a lock to win its fourth consecutive gold medal.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. women's basketball team has not looked sharp in its first two wins at the Tokyo Games.

Five-time Olympian Sue Bird attributes the pedestrian performances to the lack of practice time with so many new faces on the squad, and just that the rest of the world is catching up to the Americans.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — For the second time in five years, the Oklahoma City Thunder went Down Under to find a first-round pick in the NBA draft, taking Josh Giddey at No. 6 on Thursday night.

The 18-year-old Giddey, a 6-foot-8 guard from Melbourne, Australia, attended the NBA Global Academy in 2019-20 and played last season for the Adelaide 36ers in Australia’s National Basketball League.

Cade Cunningham sure looked like the No. 1 overall draft pick all year at Oklahoma State with his fluid game, scoring ability and passing — all in a 6-foot-8 frame.

So it was no surprise the Detroit Pistons would grab the freshman All-American with the top pick as they did to open the draft Thursday night in New York.

Nico Harrison went into his first NBA draft as general manager of the Dallas Mavericks without a pick, which made for an interesting day.

“It is a little weird because everybody’s congratulating me and thanking me and wishing me good luck for the draft, and we don’t have a pick,” Harrison said before the start of Thursday night's draft.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — First, the Indiana Pacers played it safe. Then they took a big swing Thursday night.

They will soon find out if they hit a home run on draft night 2021.

After selecting the oldest player in the draft, 24-year-old shooting guard Chris Duarte of Oregon with the No.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers are acquiring All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards for three players and the rights to first-round pick Isaiah Jackson.

According to two people with knowledge of the deal, the Lakers are trading Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell to Washington for Westbrook, who is a Los Angeles native and helped lead UCLA to a pair of Final Four appearances.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Australia center Aron Baynes will miss the remainder of the Tokyo Olympics with a neck injury, a significant blow for the medal hopefuls who have already qualified for next week’s knockout stage.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — When the Orlando Magic’s hopes of moving up in the NBA draft never materialized, they instead used their picks to select former Gonzaga star Jalen Suggs fifth and German forward Franz Wagner eighth.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes was arrested in Los Angeles after a struggle with officers who responded to a report of a domestic dispute and used a Taser before handcuffing him, authorities said Thursday.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to talented post players, possibly the best ever assembled.

No team in world has the height, experience or depth to match up with the American bigs — a group of women that includes three of the last four WNBA MVPs.

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Ricky Rubio scored 26 points and Spain remained unbeaten in the Olympics by beating Argentina 81-71 on Thursday in a rematch of the Basketball World Cup.

Sergio Llull added 10 for Spain, which improved to 2-0 and will face Luka Doncic and Slovenia on Sunday for the top spot from Group C.

TOKYO (AP) — Brittney Griner has long been open about her ongoing battle with depression, an ailment that triggered suicidal thoughts when she was younger and last year drove her out of the WNBA bubble because the isolation was too much to handle.