LARRY BIRD

Scoring was up in the NBA this season, to a level not seen in more than a half-century.

Best record in the NBA.

This week’s new entertainment releases include an album from Paramore that shows off the band's funkier side, the Academy Award-nominated documentary “All That Breathes” about Indian brothers who heal birds of prey, and two rom-coms just in time for Valentine's Day — “Your Place or Mine” on Netflix and “Somebody I Used to Know” on Amazon Prime Video.

Billy Packer, an Emmy award-winning college basketball broadcaster who covered 34 Final Fours for NBC and CBS, has died at 82.

Growing up in Vermont, Keegan Bradley dreamed he might find out what it felt like to be Larry Bird or Carlton Fisk or Tom Brady, or any of those Boston sports greats whose posters plaster bedroom walls across New England.

Jaylen Brown is starting the NBA Finals on the road.

Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, Jayson Tatum added 22 and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of a berth in the NBA Finals, running away after halftime to beat the Miami Heat 93-80 and take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference title series.

Jayson Tatum scored 34 points and Jaylen Brown had 31 points and 10 rebounds to help the Boston Celtics coast to a 134-112 over the Minnesota Timberwolves and take over the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The post-retirement accolades have rained down on Kevin Garnett over the past handful of years.

The NBA is honoring its 75th anniversary team during the All-Star Game, but the league won’t be able to duplicate the magic from 25 years ago in its return to Cleveland.

Bill Fitch, who guided the Boston Celtics to one of their championships during a Hall of Fame coaching career, has died.

Dominique Wilkins was born in Paris.

Hall of Famer Julius Erving says the commercial success he and other NBA players enjoyed in the 1980s didn't just happen.

Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird headline the 1980s all-decade team for the NBA, as voted on by AP Sports staffers directly engaged with the NBA At 75 season-long series.

When the 1980's began, the NBA “was in trouble.”.

The Dallas Mavericks have retired the No. 41 of franchise icon Dirk Nowitzki.

LeBron James scored a season-high 43 points and extended his streak of 30-point games to seven in the Los Angeles Lakers' 139-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.

The Brooklyn Nets beat the Boston Celtics 123-104.

For the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, 75 players weren’t enough.

The Atlanta Hawks are dealing with another injury that could affect their preparations for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final.

The Indiana Pacers have hired Rick Carlisle as their new coach, marking his second stint in charge of the team.

Russell Westbrook had more triple-doubles than almost any trio of NBA players, free-throw shooting was better than ever and 3-point shooting was more prolific than ever once again.

Twenty teams have entered the NCAA Tournament unbeaten.

Gonzaga has given fans the NCAA championship game they wanted with a shot for the ages.

Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog-shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents. Deep into the year, a bookend to Bryant, Diego Maradona died from a heart attack in Argentina weeks after brain surgery, the waves of grief rippling across soccer. The losses, of course, came against a backdrop of a pandemic, its number of fatalities rolled out daily on TV screens. Niekro won 318 games and pitched until he was 48, his knuckleball dancing and mystifying batters across the decades. Kurt Thomas in 1978 became the first U.S. male gymnast to win a world title but lost an Olympic shot in 1980 because of the boycott.

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 1988, file photo, former Boston Celtics teammates Bill Russell, Sacramento Kings coach, left, and K.C. Jones, Celtics coach, meet before the start of the Kings-Celtics NBA basketball game at the Boston Garden in Boston. Only Russell and fellow Celtics teammate Sam Jones won more NBA championships as players. Jones went, winning was sure to follow,” the Celtics said in a statement before their Christmas Day game against the Brooklyn Nets. Jones reunited with Russell in Boston to win eight straight NBA titles from 1959-66.

“That’s Jimmy Butler," Heat center Bam Adebayo said. Butler got fouled with 46.7 seconds left, then slumped over the baseline video boards, clearly exhausted. He made both foul shots for a one-point lead; Davis’ putback with 21.8 seconds left got the Lakers back on top. Butler drove the lane, drew contact and made both with 16.8 seconds left for a 109-108 lead. Lakers: James and Davis were a combined 24 for 36.

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo shouts from the bench in the second half of an NBA conference semifinal playoff basketball game against the Miami Heat Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

He got the Defensive Player of the Year award earlier in these NBA playoffs. Jordan won both the MVP and Defensive Player in 1987-88 and Olajuwon won both in 1993-94. Antetokounmpo came close to joining the club last season by winning MVP and finishing second in the Defensive Player balloting. James won MVP and was second in Defensive Player voting in 2008-09 and 2012-13, and Shaquille O’Neal did so in 1999-2000. “I'm happy for this, I'm happy for this award," Antetokounmpo said.

For the first time since 1990, the Dallas Mavericks are going to the playoffs without Dirk Nowitzki on the roster. The German great retired after last season, officially passing the torch as leader of the Mavs to Doncic the Slovene who nearly averaged a 30-point triple-double in just his second NBA season. So, no, he hasnt seen what the NBA playoffs are like. Behind Doncic, they only assembled the greatest year in NBA history in terms of offensive efficiency. He can make those incredible plays.And now Doncic gets the chance to make those plays on the NBAs best stage: The playoffs.