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    James Harden’s Dunked It. Ruling: No Basket.

    James Harden rose for an uncontested dunk. It went into the basket with great downward force, as so many of his others have before. Then came an apparent violation of some of the fundamental laws of physics. The ball passed through the hoop, but then spun upward back to the top of the rim, where […] More

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    The Nets Win One for Their Culture

    The Nets are missing their three best players, two of them All-N.B.A.-caliber centerpieces. And yet, they’re doing just enough to get by. For that, the Nets have chiefly turned to two players who made them such a watchable team last year — Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen — two core pieces of the scrappy, upstart […] More

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    Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Called Amazing. Now in Sign Language, Too.

    MILWAUKEE — Mike Budenholzer, the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, recently described Giannis Antetokounmpo as a “monster” at one of his postgame news conferences. In that moment, as he stood a few feet from Budenholzer, Brice Christianson tried to work out in his head how to interpret that word for his audience watching live on […] More

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    Chasing Tim Duncan

    Want more basketball in your inbox? Sign up for Marc Stein’s weekly N.B.A. newsletter here. It was, and shall remain, my favorite twist from the looniest N.B.A. off-season ever. Not the dueling star duos that formed in Los Angeles. Not the Nets’ stunning free-agent superiority over the Knicks. Not even the combustible reunion of James […] More

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    Why Nerds Rule the N.B.A.

    Marc is on vacation this week. He has given the keys to his column to Kevin Draper, our sports business reporter. Get this newsletter in your inbox each week by clicking here. Ben Alamar went to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, like many N.B.A. front office executives, in the middle of April seven years ago. Most […] More

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    Jimmy Butler Returns to Another Franchise Left Behind

    PHILADELPHIA — There is no doubt that Jimmy Butler is one of the best basketball players in the world and has been for some time. He is tenacious on both ends of the floor and unafraid of any opponent or moment. On Saturday night, he returned here to take on the 76ers, his most recent […] More