Basketball

Boston Celtics (57-25, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (44-38, eighth in the Eastern Conference) Miami; Sunday, 8:30 p.m.

BOSTON (AP) — Grant Williams poked Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum went cold again in the fourth quarter and the Boston Celtics are staring at a 2-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference finals.

BOSTON (AP) — Jimmy Butler went forehead-to-forehead with the Boston Celtics, and the Heat are heading back to Miami with an opportunity to advance to the NBA Finals.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Although the Los Angeles Lakers’ late-season transformation is one of this NBA season’s best stories, LeBron James and his teammates finally appear to be running out of steam in the Western Conference finals.

Denver Nuggets (53-29, first in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (43-39, seventh in the Western Conference) Los Angeles; Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE : Lakers -5.5; over/under is 223.

DENVER (AP) — After Nikola Jokic's monster game in the opener, his pick-and-roll partner Jamal Murray took the spotlight in the Western Conference finals Thursday night. Murray, from Kitchener, Ont.

DENVER (AP) — In what the Denver Nuggets saw as the latest sign of disrespect, ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters revealed she hadn’t watched two-time MVP Nikola Jokic play before Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Laker

CHICAGO (AP) — Brandon Miller was a little more than three weeks from being born when LeBron James made his NBA debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. Two decades later, James is still near the top of the league Miller is about to enter.

BOSTON (AP) — The latest Eastern Conference finals pairing between the Heat and Celtics will be a matchup that ultimately turns on the play stars like Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — LSU transfer Hailey Van Lith is one of the eight players announced Thursday as members of USA Basketball’s teams headed to the 3x3 World Cup in Austria later this month.