Although James said he has become accustomed to distractions as his teams near the championship -- a racist epithet was spray-painted on the gate of his L.A. home on the eve of the 2017 Finals, for instance -- Irving's comments were unavoidable.

The "Seven-Eight Game" will be between the teams ranked seventh and eighth, while the "Nine-Ten Game" will feature the teams ranked ninth and 10th. The winner of the Seven-Eight Game will advance to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. The loser will host the winner of the Nine-Ten Game, and then the winner of that contest will get the eighth seed in the playoffs.

It didn't help that the Saints are so depleted at wide receiver. Michael Thomas and Deonte Harris were placed on injured reserve Saturday, and Tre'Quan Smith left Sunday's game early with an ankle injury.Detroit Pistons

If the player is asymptomatic, he must sit out for 10 days from when first testing positive, then pass a cardiac screen and, finally, work out alone at the team facility for two more days before being allowed to return to full team activities -- assuming there are no issues.Brooklyn Nets

Tylek told ESPN she sent a demand letter to the NBA's league offices on Dec. 10, addressing her concerns about Gores to both commissioner Adam Silver and the league's board of governors.Phoenix Suns

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s smart game-planning has been a huge advantage in its series against the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA playoffs. "The Miami Heat are up 2-0 in against the first seeded Milwaukee Bucks. They need to win twice more to earn an Eastern Conference Finals berth, a height that no one saw them reaching when they retooled their roster last offseason.

Several of the Heat’s newcomers have been impactful in Miami’s two victories against the Eastern Conference’s best team but one of the longest-tenured people in the Heat organization deserves credit as well: head coach Erik Spoelstra.

Miami’s two-time championship-winning coach has proven to be a cut above the rest yet again. The culture he fosters in the Heat organization pays dividends, attracting stars like Jimmy Butler and developing guys with few, if any, expectations to be big-time contributors at the NBA level into key starters (see: Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson).

While the play on the court is always the most important aspect of the game, coaching makes a tremendous difference, and it’s showing in this series. Spoelstra has run circles around Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer. Spo’s decisions have put the Miami Heat in a prime position to take the series while Bud’s have cost his team momentum and possibly the outcome of games.

For one, Spoelstra has managed his rotations better than Budenholzer, who still has a reluctance to play his best players through the entirety of crunch time.

Spoelstra has made minimal substitutions near the end of the fourth quarter. By roughly half-way through the final period, Spo has his key players in for the remainder of the game. Budenholzer has struggled with this.

With 5:06 left in Game 2, Middleton picked up his 5th foul. He was subbed out for Wes Matthews and subbed back in with 3:32 left. In that time, Matthews committed a turnover and two fouls, one of which was a shooting foul on Jimmy Butler, who made both free throws, extending the Heat’s lead to eight.

The absence of Eric Bledsoe in Game 1 doesn’t excuse some of Budenholzer’s rotation decisions. Pat Connaughton receiving 25 minutes in Game 1 and Marvin Williams receiving 21 minutes in Game 2 are huge lapses in judgment by last season’s Coach of the Year."

"It's not so much deferring, because in past situations where I didn't take the last shot, I felt guilty. I want this game-winning shot, but also, you want to trust your teammates. Not that I didn't trust my teammates, but I felt like I was the best option."Atlanta Hawks