BASKETTBALL

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The 2026 March Madness tournament set a 30-year record high in TV viewership, according to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel, which tracked data from over 45 million households and 75 million devices.

CBS Sports and TNT set a record average of 10.3 million viewers throughout the tournament up to the Elite 8 this past weekend – the most since 1993.

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Opposites attract – and that holds true in college basketball, too. With the Sweet 16 around the corner, fans are set for one of the most exciting matchups as Michigan and Alabama battle for a trip to the Elite 8. Two completely different teams. Contrasting styles. Like oil and water.

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Luka Doncic returned from suspension to score 42 points as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-113 to extend their impressive form with a fourth straight victory on Tuesday.

The Lakers, who have emerged as genuine title contenders after winning 15 of 17 games in March to climb up the Western Conference standings, took control with big quarters either side of half-time to cruise to victory.

The Lakers outscored Cleveland 33-19 in the second quarter and then erupted for 45 points in the third to put the game away.

Doncic finished with 42 points, 12 assists and five rebounds, shooting 6-of-13 from three-point range.

Doncic’s latest virtuoso performance also saw him break Kobe Bryant’s record for the most points scored by a Lakers player in a calendar month, which had stood at 578 set in 2006.

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Kon Knueppel scored 26 points as the Charlotte Hornets maintained their late-season charge for an NBA playoff berth with an emphatic 114-103 defeat of the high-flying New York Knicks on Thursday.

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The NBA and basketball governing body FIBA have ⁠received strong interest from prospective teams and investors seeking permanent franchise spots in a proposed new European league, NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum said on Wednesday.

“The level of engagement and the scale of the bids reflect the marketplace’s belief in our proposed model and the enormous, untapped potential for European basketball,” Tatum said in a statement.

“We will now review the bids in more detail and shortlist the partners who share our vision and commitment to accelerating the growth of the game across ⁠the continent.”

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Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and Paul George made triumphant returns Wednesday, combining for 63 points in the Sixers’ 157-137 NBA victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Former NBA Most Valuable Player Embiid showed no sign of rust after missing 13 games with an oblique strain, scoring 35 points – including 15 of the Sixers’ first 19 as they seized control with a 38-point first quarter.

George, returning from a 25-game suspension for taking a medication that violated the league’s anti-drug program, took longer to warm up, scoring 23 of his 28 in the second half.

George finished with six three-pointers and Embiid made all three of his from beyond the arc on an efficient 12-of-17 shooting performance. Embiid added six rebounds and seven assists and the duo showed just how big a playoff threat the Sixers could be if both stay healthy.

They’re seventh in the East, a fraction behind the Atlanta Hawks for sixth and the last direct entry spot to the playoffs.

The Hawks, with 27 points apiece from CJ McCollum and Jalen Johnson, downed Eastern Conference leaders Detroit 130-129 in overtime.

Western Conference leaders Oklahoma City also fell, their 12-game winning streak snapped by the Celtics in Boston.

Jaylen Brown scored 31 points and Jayson Tatum added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who trailed by 13 in the first quarter.

Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points, making 10 of his 12 attempts from the field for the Thunder.

He handed out eight assists but had little scoring support as center Chet Holmgren scored just 10 points and Jalen Williams added seven.

“We were able to keep them off the free throw line and we were able to keep them out of transition,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “When you do those things, the game will just take care of itself.”

The Pistons, still without star Cade Cunningham as he recovers from a collapsed lung, stumbled at home.

Jalen Duren scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Pistons, who trailed by as many as 21 before forcing overtime.

In a game that featured 13 lead changes, McCollum converted a three-point play midway through the extra session to put the Hawks ahead for good.

The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back from their defeat in Detroit on Monday with a 137-130 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.

Luka Doncic scored 43 points with six rebounds and seven assists and LeBron James added a near triple-double of 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Austin Reaves chipped in 25 points.

The Lakers led by as many as 29 points. They were up by 23 early in the fourth quarter before the Pacers cut the deficit to nine. Two free throws apiece from James and Doncic and a dunk from Jake LaRavia pushed the lead back to double digits, before a last-gasp three-pointer from Indiana’s Obi Toppin.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was delighted with his team’s performance in the last game of a six-game road trip against a Pacers team that plays with a “relentless” pace.

“I thought our guys really did a lot of great things,” Redick said.

The Los Angeles Lakers star was penalized after receiving his 16th technical foul of the season during a game against the Brooklyn Nets. The incident occurred in the third quarter of the Lakers' 116 to 99 win, where Dončić delivered a strong performance with 41 points.

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The NBA will have a solution by June to teams “tanking” to try and obtain a better NBA Draft spot, commissioner Adam Silver vowed on Wednesday.

And he made it clear the NBA wants partners on a new European league to include Euroleague, world governing body FIBA and national leagues around the region.

Speaking after the NBA’s board of governors meeting that looked at expansion possibilities to Las Vegas and Seattle, Silver said no votes were taken about Europe League plans but team owners were updated on NBA plans.

“For the betterment of European basketball, I think the best outcome would be if we came together with the European league and we came up with a systematic approach to growing the game throughout Europe,” Silver said.