The defending NBA champions held off the league’s hottest team, with Jayson Tatum scoring 33 points and adding 12 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 120-117 victory over Cleveland and hand the Cavaliers their first loss after 15 straight wins to open the season.

The Boston Celtics stayed cool while Charlotte Hornets lost theirs.

The Boston Celtics tied the NBA record by making 29 3-pointers in their victory over the New York Knicks.

Jayson Tatum continued Boston’s Banner 18 celebration by scoring 37 points and making eight of the Celtics’ NBA record-tying 29 3-pointers as Boston ran away with a 132-109 victory over the New York Knicks on opening night.

The Boston Celtics have raised Banner 18 to the rafters.

The NBA returned to the Persian Gulf on Friday for the third consecutive year.

Grant Hill will be back for another stint as managing director of the U.S. senior men's national basketball team.

Halfway to its goal of gold, the U.S. has the No. 1 seed going into the medal round at the Paris Olympics.

The U.S. men’s basketball team overflowed with highlights in its opening game, blowout win over Serbia.

LeBron James made his Olympic return after a 12-year absence.

Most countries will have two athletes hoisting a large flag in the boats along the Seine River for the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Kevin Durant is dealing with calf soreness that has kept him from being a full participant in USA Basketball’s training camp for the Paris Olympics, though he has assured team officials that he does not expect the issue to be a major one.

Jayson Tatum has agreed to a five-year, $314 million contract extension to remain with the Boston Celtics, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The ownership group that controls the NBA champion Boston Celtics says it intends to sell all its shares of the team.

It took more than a decade, savvy front office and draft moves, and some free agency growing pains for the Celtics to ultimately build the roster that ended their 16-year championship drought.

In the NBA, it’s already next season.

In 2008, the Celtics ended a 22-year championship drought led by a Big 3.

Jayson Tatum had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds as the Celtics topped the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 to claim the franchise’s 18th championship, breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history.

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum spent part of his Father’s Day thinking about how his son made him a better person — and probably a better basketball player, too.

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and the Boston Celtics held off a furious Dallas rally to reach the brink of a record 18th championship with a 106-99 victory over the Mavericks for a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

There have been two versions of Jayson Tatum so far in the NBA Finals.

The Boston Celtics had the NBA Finals in mind when they went out and acquired Jrue Holiday.

Jrue Holiday had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Jayson Tatum made up for a rough shooting night with 12 assists and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 105-98 on Sunday night to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

Jason Kidd couldn’t figure out how to stop the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

When the Boston Celtics make a ton of 3-pointers, forget it.

The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics prepare to tip off the NBA Finals and the four biggest names in the series are looking at this moment through different lenses.

Joe Mazzulla was thrust into a job he didn’t expect to have following former Celtics coach Ime Udoka’s suspension just days before the start of training camp last season.

Kyrie Irving returning to Boston.

The Boston Celtics completed one quest Monday night by making it back to the NBA Finals.

Derrick White’s tiebreaking 3-pointer with 43 seconds left gave Boston the lead and the Celtics closed out a four-game sweep of the Indiana Pacers 105-102 to reach the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.

Jrue Holiday overcame an illness to convert the go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds left, then make the game-saving steal to help the Boston Celtics rally from an 18-point deficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 114-111 on Saturday night for a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Jaylen Brown matched his career playoff high with 40 points and the Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 126-110 to open a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Indiana All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton left in the third quarter because of left hamstring soreness and a chest injury in the Pacers’ 126-110 loss to Boston on Thursday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

LeBron James is now the youngest and the oldest player to make an All-NBA team.

Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, including 10 in overtime after Jaylen Brown’s tying 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds remaining in regulation, and the Boston Celtics rallied just in time for a 133-128 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics are back in the Eastern Conference finals for the third consecutive season following their 4-1 series victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 on to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight season.

Jayson Tatum scored 33 points with LeBron James watching from a courtside seat and the Boston Celtics beat the severely short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers 109-102 in Game 4 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their East semifinal series.

Donovan Mitchell did his part for the Cavaliers.

Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, Jaylen Brown added 28 and the Boston Celtics looked more like themselves after stumbling at home, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-93 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and Evan Mobley had 21 points and 10 rebounds to help the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the top-seeded Boston Celtics 118-94 and tie their second-round playoff series at one game apiece.

Lu Dort was the defensive catalyst as the Oklahoma City Thunder held Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic to 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

Jaylen Brown scored 32 points and the Boston Celtics powered past the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-95 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

The Boston Celtics ran away from the rest of the NBA in the regular season.

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the short-handed Miami Heat 118-84 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Derrick White scored a career-high 38 points, Jayson Tatum added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat 102-88 to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Denver is one win from returning to Round 2.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 22 points, and the Boston Celtics soundly beat the Miami Heat 104-84 to a take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Saturday night.

Tyler Herro hit six of Miami’s franchise playoff-record 23 3-pointers to lead the Heat to a 111-101 victory over the Boston Celtics and tie their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

Jayson Tatum notched his first career playoff triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics past the Miami Heat 114-94 to open their first-round playoff series.

The Celtics spent the regular season racking up superlatives and pulverizing opponents with one of the league’s most versatile rosters.

LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years.

De’Andre Hunter scored 24 points, including a clinching 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds remaining, and the patched-together Atlanta Hawks rallied from a 30-point deficit for a stunning 120-118 victory over the NBA-leading Boston Celtics.

Dean Wade made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland won a replay review in the final second to stun Boston 105-104, ending the NBA-leading Celtics’ winning streak at 11 games.

Jaylen Brown scored 29 points, Jayson Tatum had 27 on his 26th birthday, and the NBA-best Boston Celtics posted their third-largest winning margin in franchise history, drubbing the weary Golden State Warriors 140-88.

Jayson Tatum made five 3-pointers and scored 32 points and the Boston Celtics overcame Luka Doncic’s second straight triple-double to beat the Dallas Mavericks 138-110 and extend their season-best winning streak to 10 games.

Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, Kristaps Porzingis had 22 and the NBA-leading Boston Celtics easily handled the New York Knicks 116-102 for their eighth consecutive victory.

Last season’s All-Star Game played out in a way that the NBA hopes to never experience again.

Boston Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum announced Tuesday a gift of $1 million from the financial services company SoFi to his nonprofit.

Jayson Tatum had 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and the Boston Celtics withstood a late rally to beat the Miami Heat 110-106.

Jayson Tatum scored 35 points and sparked a third-quarter rally to help the NBA-leading Boston Celtics to their 40th win of the season, 133-129 over the Washington Wizards.

Austin Reaves scored a season-high 32 points and hit a career-high seven 3-pointers to help a Los Angeles Lakers team missing LeBron James and Anthony Davis stun the Boston Celtics 114-105 on Thursday night.

LeBron James joined yet another exclusive club, and he’ll have plenty of familiar faces alongside him at the NBA All-Star Game.

Jamal Murray scored 35 points, Nikola Jokic finished with 34 and the Denver Nuggets held on to hand the Boston Celtics their first home loss of the season 102-100.

Jayson Tatum scored 45 points — 14 of them in the fourth quarter and another 12 in overtime — as the Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-120 in a matchup of the two conference leaders to remain perfect at home.

Hoping to avoid a 28th straight loss that would match the longest losing streak in NBA history, the Detroit Pistons forced overtime against the league-best Celtics before Boston recovered to win 128-122.

Kristaps Porzingis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jayson Tatum added 25 points and the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time in Christmas Day meetings 126-115 on Monday.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver seemed more than satisfied by the way the inaugural In-Season Tournament went this season, though noted that it’s only natural to expect some tweaks to the format before next year.

The Indiana Pacers have shown everyone they can score at a historic clip.

All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton recorded the first triple-double of his career and completed a tiebreaking four-point play with 1:33 left as the surprising Indiana Pacers ousted the Boston Celtics from the NBA In-Season Tournament with a 122-112 quarterfinal victory.

There are a few surprises who have played their way into the early season MVP conversations, joining the list usual list of NBA stars that includes Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

Jayson Tatum shook off an illness to have 23 points and 11 rebounds, carrying the Boston Celtics over the Milwaukee Bucks 119-116 on Wednesday night in an early showdown of top Eastern Conference teams.

Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 12 rebounds in less than three quarters and the Boston Celtics used a blistering start to pull away from the Indiana Pacers, winning 155-104 on Wednesday night to remain unbeaten.

Jaylen Brown wasn't considered to be a surefire NBA superstar when the was drafted in 2016.

Through two games of this FIBA World Cup, the players who lead USA Basketball team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocked shots all share something in common.

The Celtics' rollercoaster season ended a round short of a return to the NBA Finals.

The Miami Heat were 0.1 seconds away from a trip to the NBA Finals.

Derrick White scored on a putback as time expired and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history, holding off the Miami Heat 104-103 to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics finally found cohesion between their defense and offense in their Game 4 win, capitalizing off 16 Heat turnovers and finding their 3-point shot.

Jayson Tatum scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 17 points and the Boston Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

Blown out in Game 3, facing elimination in Game 4, tasked with engineering the sort of comeback that no team in their league has ever pulled off before.

Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat are now just one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.

Jimmy Butler scored 27 points, hitting a pair of buckets to give the Heat the lead after they erased a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit and Miami beat Boston 111-105 to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

As much as this latest Eastern Conference finals pairing between the Heat and Celtics is a matchup that will lean heavily on stars like Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum, Game 1 proved it also will be a clash of Boston's rookie coach Joe Mazzulla and Miami's Erik Spoelstra.

Jimmy Butler scored 35 points, including 20 after halftime, and the Miami Heat rallied in the second half to beat the Boston Celtics 123-116 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics got a historic 51-point performance from Jayson Tatum to blow past the 76ers in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup to land back in the conference finals for the second straight season.

Jayson Tatum scored 51 points with 13 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-88 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year.

Jayson Tatum missed his first six 3-pointers before he drilled two straight clutch ones late in the game that pushed the Celtics past the Philadelphia 76ers 95-86 to send the Eastern Conference semifinals back to Boston for Game 7.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic now knows how Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid felt during two previous NBA award seasons.

Joel Embiid scored 33 points and the Philadelphia 76ers easily took a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the Boston Celtics 115-103.

Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Jaylen Brown had 23 and the Boston Celtics spoiled Joel Embiid’s MVP coronation, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 114-102 Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Jaylen Brown scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Philadelphia 76ers 121-87, spoiling the return of reigning league MVP Joel Embiid.

James Harden matched his playoff career high with 45 points and hit a go-ahead, step-back 3-pointer over Al Horford with 8.7 seconds left as the Philadelphia 76ers rallied without Joel Embiid to beat the Boston Celtics 119-115 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Al Horford hit a huge 3-pointer against his former team and the Boston Celtics broke open a tight game in the closing minutes to beat the Atlanta Hawks 128-120.

Trae Young had 38 points and drained a go-ahead 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key with 2.8 seconds left to help the Atlanta Hawks cap a late comeback and beat the Boston Celtics 119-117.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 31 points and the Boston Celtics led nearly the entire way, holding off the Atlanta Hawks for a 129-121 victory and a commanding 3-1 lead in the opening-round playoff series.

Trae Young scored 32 points in his best game of the playoffs and the Atlanta Hawks gave themselves a glimmer of hope, beating the Boston Celtics 130-122 to close the gap to 2-1 in their opening-round series.

Jayson Tatum had 29 points and an emphatic dunk to end a clinching late run and the Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 119-106 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and had 12 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics capitalized on a woeful shooting performance by the Atlanta Hawks to hold on for 112-99 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round matchup.

Scoring was up in the NBA this season, to a level not seen in more than a half-century.