Basketball

Phoenix Suns (45-37, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (53-29, first in the Western Conference) Denver; Monday, 10 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE : Nuggets -4.5; over/under is 227.

DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray kept imploring the crowd to get louder and louder with each trip down the floor. As if the Nuggets point guard even needed to. His play was already rocking the arena.

The Memphis Grizzlies must prove the NBA's second-youngest team can learn the league's toughest lesson that the playoffs are nothing like the regular season. It's also time these young Grizzlies grow up.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James didn't respond at first after Dillon Brooks called him old and questioned his abilities early in the Lakers' first-round playoff series with Memphis.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — His team huddled up before taking the floor, Harrison Barnes hollered a message to the Kings with their special season on the line: “Leave it all on the floor and take this series back to Sac!” With spectacular performances on bo

NEW YORK (AP) — Back when the New York Knicks and Miami Heat were meeting every year in the postseason, nobody had the kind of series Jimmy Butler just did . Get as hot as he was against Milwaukee and a player was going to get clobbered.

CAMDEN. N.J. (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers says NBA MVP finalist Joel Embiid is doubtful for Game 1 of the playoff series against the Boston Celtics with a sprained right knee.

MANILA, Philippines — The Canadian men's basketball team will play France, Latvia and Lebanon in Group H at the 2023 FIBA World Cup this summer.

The United States will open Basketball World Cup play against New Zealand this summer, with Greece and Jordan also awaiting the Americans in the group stage. And the earliest the U.S. can see France in an Olympic final rematch is the semifinals.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James made sure the Lakers had the appropriate urgency for a closeout playoff game. Their raucous fans constantly urged them to end an infuriating decade without a postseason celebration on the Lakers' home court.