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OG Anunoby won’t play for the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Friday night because of a strained left hamstring, while Jalen Brunson is questionable with his sore right foot.

Brunson returned from his injury after missing the second quarter to lead the Knicks to a 130-121 victory on Wednesday for a 2-0 lead over the Indiana Pacers. But Anunoby was hurt in the second half after scoring a career playoff-high 28 points, leaving the Knicks’ injury-depleted frontcourt without yet another starter.

The forward limped off the court holding the back of his leg after appearing to get injured attempting a fast-break layup in the third quarter.

The Knicks are 26-5 this season with Anunoby in the lineup, which he joined after being acquired from Toronto on Dec. 30.

All-Star forward Julius Randle was already out for the rest of the season after shoulder surgery, and the Knicks lost key reserves Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic during the playoffs.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior WriterMay 9, 2024, 07:26 AM ET

CloseESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two booksOpen Extended Reactions

The Indiana Pacers have submitted 78 instances of incorrect or non-calls to the NBA that they felt put them at a disadvantage in Games 1 and 2 against the New York Knicks, a league source told ESPN.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, speaking after Indiana fell behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 130-121 loss to New York on Wednesday, said the team had identified 29 questionable refereeing decisions from Game 1. The source said the Pacers then identified 49 plays from Game 2 that they felt were incorrectly called or not called at all and submitted them overnight to the NBA office.

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Carlisle said they had decided not to send the Game 1 calls to the league office for

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Tim Bontemps, ESPNMay 9, 2024, 02:13 PM ET

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Bucks guard Patrick Beverley was suspended for four games without pay for throwing a basketball multiple times at fans and for an “inappropriate interaction” with ESPN producer Malinda Adams after Milwaukee’s season-ending loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of their first-round series last week, the NBA announced Thursday.

Indianapolis police announced Wednesday they were opening an investigation into “an NBA player and citizen” altercation, after Beverley threw a ball multiple times in the fourth quarter of what ultimately became a 120-98 loss to the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse a week ago.

Cameras showed Beverley throwing a ball into the stands, where it hit a fan in the head. After he asked for the ball back, and had it thrown back to him, he then fired it back at that fan.

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Police said in a news

Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPNMay 9, 2024, 08:32 AM ET

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Boston Celtics lead assistant coach Charles Lee has agreed on a four-year contract to become the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, sources told ESPN on Thursday morning.

Lee, 39, had risen to become one of the league’s most accomplished assistant coaches and now lands with new executive president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson in Charlotte to preside over the Hornets’ rebuild. Lee and Peterson began their NBA careers together with the Atlanta Hawks.

Lee will complete the Celtics’ playoff run before moving over to join the Hornets on a full-time basis, sources said.

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Before joining Boston as the top assistant under Joe Mazzulla last summer, Lee spent five years under two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer with the Bucks and was a part of Milwaukee’s 2021 NBA championship run.

Lee replaces Steve

Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPNMay 9, 2024, 07:50 PM ET

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Mike Budenholzer has emerged as the Phoenix Suns‘ target to become the franchise’s next coach and discussions are expected to move rapidly toward a deal, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The Suns fired coach Frank Vogel on Thursday afternoon after one season as a coach, and momentum on a Budenholzer deal included him working on building an assistant coaching staff to bring with him, sources said.

The looming hiring of Budenholzer comes with significant pressure and expectations for these Suns. The roster has been constructed around Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, bringing championship aspirations and a slim margin for error.

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Budenholzer is poised to become the franchise’s third head coach in three seasons, a run that has included owner Mat Ishbia firing Monty Williams and Vogel in successive years. Vogel had four years left on his contract, and the

Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN Staff WriterMay 8, 2024, 07:34 PM ET

CloseOhm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
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Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic continued to add to his legacy as one of the best NBA players ever by winning his third Most Valuable Player trophy on Wednesday.

Jokic earned the award for the third time in four seasons, succeeding last season’s MVP, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Jokic topped Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, who finished

Alex Prewitt

CloseAlex Prewitt is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn. He previously worked for Sports Illustrated and the Washington Post.May 9, 2024, 01:49 PM ET

NEW YORK — Former NBA forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis was sentenced by a federal judge Thursday to 40 months in prison, plus three years’ supervised release, for his November 2023 conviction in an alleged scheme to defraud the league’s health care benefits plan.

Twenty-two people — 18 of them former players, including Terrence Williams and Keyon Dooling — have been sentenced in the case for filing false medical claims with the NBA Players’ Health and Benefit Welfare Plan.

Davis, 38, who has maintained his innocence since indictments in the case were handed down in October 2021, was found guilty of multiple fraud charges and conspiring to make false statements. He was ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution. The conditions of his supervised release include attending a financial

By Dionysis Aravantinos | May 9, 2024 Follow @AravantinosDA

POINT GUARDS / SHOOTING GUARDS
POWER FORWARDS / CENTERS

Zaccharie Risacher

Ian Langsdon/AFP/Getty Images

(JL Bourg-en-Bresse: International, 6-8)

Current overall rank: 2
Previous rank: 2 (-)
Best rank: 1
Worst rank: 10

French forward Zaccharie Risacher ranked No. 2 overall for the second straight HoopsHype aggregate mock draft, but it’s essentially been a coin flip between him and Alex Sarr in the polling process.

Risacher offers upside as a 3-and-D wing player whose size and fluidity will allow him to guard three NBA positions. He’s converted 38.7 percent of his threes this season, with the ability to convert catch-and-shoot opportunities, and also uses a slide step to create space beyond the arc.

“Risacher is going to be a high pick, but he could be two years away,” a

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USATSI

The No. 5 seed Dallas Mavericks head back into Paycom Center to play against the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. The Thunder are currently 5-0 in the 2024 NBA playoffs, including 3-0 at home. Meanwhile, Dallas has gone 2-2 on the road in the postseason. The Mavericks are looking to avoid going down 0-2, as they did in the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals against the Phoenix Suns.

Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Thunder are 5-point favorites in the latest Mavericks vs. Thunder odds via SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 218.5. Before making any Thunder vs. Mavericks picks, you’ll want to see the NBA predictions and betting advice from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

The SportsLine