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Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder top the Western Conference, while Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and LeBron James of the Miami Heat lead the Eastern Conference after the first returns of 2011 NBA All-Star Balloting presented ...

Shaquille O'Neal will miss his second straight game as the Boston Celtics remain cautious with the big man's sore right calf. Coach Doc Rivers announced at shootaround before Saturday's game against Charlotte that O'Neal would sit out. O'Neal said he was willing to take pain medication and play, but ...

Shaquille O'Neal's curious about one aspect of LeBron James' impending return to face angry Cavaliers fans -- the pregame ritual. "I'm a silly fan,'' O'Neal said. "I'm anxious to see if he's going to do that powder thing.'' James' homecoming on Thursday, his first game in Cleveland since deciding to ...

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said center Shaquille O'Neal missed Boston's practice on Monday because the veteran center forgot the time it was scheduled to start. "Today, we only had 11 guys," Rivers said. "It hurts your practice because that means most of your guys are on the floor ...

Shaquille O'Neal groaned as he curled his 7-foot body off the courtside seat, then took a slow first step toward the practice floor. For the Boston Celtics, that was welcome progress. O'Neal hopes to return to the Celtics' lineup when they visit the Miami Heat on ...

Shaquille O'Neal missed his second straight practice on Monday with a knee bruise suffered late in Friday's game against the Knicks. He likely will miss Tuesday's game in Detroit. "I doubt if he plays, but we'll see," coach Doc Rivers said. "If he has a chance, he'll make the ...

Leaping to any conclusions about the radically new Miami Heat -- or the mostly old Boston Celtics, for that matter -- based on a sample size of one game in an NBA season is like believing exit poll results that trickle in next Tuesday at 6:07 a.m. Might ...

Basketball, especially at its highest level, is a game of athleticism and skill. If your team doesn't have talent, it's not going to win many games. But it takes more than talent to win in the NBA. To get through an 82-game regular season and two months of ...

Nate Robinson figures the Boston Celtics' bench won't face much stiffer competition than what they see in their own practices. Robinson scored 13 points, including a key 3-pointer, to lift the Celtics to a 91-87 preseason win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. With aging stars Kevin Garnett, Paul ...

The sting subsides, the itch intensifies and sooner or later, the sensations cross like arrows on some financial guru's graph. From that point forward, for so many NBA coaches who have been through this particular career cycle, the trauma of getting fired gives way to the ...