Joel Embiid

PARIS - The Serbia men's national basketball team has failed to qualify for the final of the Paris Olympics after a 95-91 (23-31, 20-23, 20-22, 32-15) semi-final defeat to the USA on Thursday evening.

Bogdan Bogdanovic led the scoring for Serbia with 20 points, Nikola Jokic followed with 17 points and 11 assists and Aleksa Avramovic added 15 points.

Luka Dončić, the Slovenian basketball superstar, has been named to the All-NBA First Team for the fourth year running even as his Dallas Mavericks failed to appear in this year's NBA play-offs.

De'Aaron Fox scored 38 points and Malik Monk added 32 off the bench in leading the Sacramento Kings to a 126-123 victory over Golden State for their first NBA playoff triumph in 17 years.

The Boston Celtics edged the Los Angeles Lakers 125-121 in an overtime battle tinged by controversy on Jan. 28 as Philadelphia 76ers big-man Joel Embiid out-dueled Denver's Nikola Jokic as NBA rivalries took center stage.

The league-leading Celtics came out on top in a game that featured 19 lead changes, snapping a three-game skid.

The Boston Celtics shook off the absence of injured Jayson Tatum and the early exits of Marcus Smart and Robert Williams to beat the Toronto Raptors 106-104 on Jan. 21 and push their NBA winning streak to nine games.

Jaylen Brown scored 27 points and Grant Williams added a career-high 25 for the Celtics, who improved their league-best record to 35-12.

Turkish center Alperen Şengün had the best performance of his young career against the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday, posting a career-best 33 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and four blocks for the Houston Rockets, but failed to prevent a 140-132 loss.

Luka Doncic scored 51 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to their sixth victory in a row while the Brooklyn Nets stretched their NBA win streak to 11 on Dec. 31.

Doncic added nine assists, six rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot in a maestro performance for the Mavericks in a 126-125 victory at San Antonio.

Boston forward Jayson Tatum poured in 40 points as the Celtics beat the Orlando Magic 126-120 on Oct. 22 to improve to 3-0 in the fledgling NBA season while the Philadelphia 76ers fell to 0-3.

The rebuilding San Antonio Spurs stunned the Sixers 114-105 in Philadelphia, where frustrated 76ers coach Doc Rivers said after the game his team was "not ready" to win yet.

The Toronto Raptors stayed alive, the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves pulled level, and the Boston Celtics pushed the Brooklyn Nets to the brink of elimination in the NBA playoffs on April 23.

Jayson Tatum scored 39 points to lead the Celtics in a 109-103 victory over the Nets in Brooklyn that pushed their lead in the NBA Eastern Conference first-round series to 3-0.

Joel Embiid scored 41 points as the Philadelphia 76ers bagged their 50th win of the season with a crushing 133-120 victory over the Indiana Pacers on April 9.

Embiid produced another dominant performance that enhanced his claims to the NBA's Most Valuable Player award, finishing with 20 rebounds and four assists in addition to his 41-point haul.