OAKLAND, Calif. – Tim Duncan has a warning about the San Antonio Spurs' upcoming Western Conference finals against the Memphis Grizzlies, a series that's sure to displease fans of up-tempo basketball.

"It's not going to be pretty," Duncan said. "Sorry. It's just not going to be. It's going to be two teams trying to impose wills on each other. Two very well-coached, good executing, tough-minded, defensive teams. And that's just how the series is going to go."

The point guard matchup between the Spurs' Tony Parker and the Grizzlies' Mike Conley Jr. should be exciting, but the main reason for the expected grimy play is Memphis power forward Zach Randolph and center Marc Gasol. The Spurs earned the right to play the Grizzlies after knocking off the Golden State Warriors in the second round with a 94-82 victory in Game 6 on Thursday night.

There isn't a duo in the NBA more physical and who enjoys every hit more than Randolph and Gasol. The Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin would

Read More »from Spurs' Tim Duncan predicts ugliness against Grizzlies in Western Conference finals

NBA draft prospects, including potential lottery picks, are showcasing their skills in Chicago on Thursday and Friday at the league's pre-draft camp.

Here are five sleepers to watch:

• Jackie Carmichael, PF, 6-9, 241 pounds, Illinois State
Scout's take: "He's one of the most ready players. What you see is what you get. He's a skilled, undersized power forward. But coaches will endear themselves to him."

C.J. McCollum is best remembered for leading Lehigh to a Big Dance upset of Duke in '12. (Y! Sports)

• C. J. McCollum, PG/SG, 6-3, 192 pounds, Lehigh
Scout's take: "He's a combo-scorer who is coming off a broken foot and didn't get a chance to play a full senior season. He is a George Hill-type of a player. I definitely like his upside."

• Norvel Pelle, PF/C, 6-10, 196 pounds, Los Angeles College Prep Academy
Scout's take: "He is definitely a player that no one has heard of. There are some teams that have never heard of him. But he is a guy who if taken in the right range can help you down the line. He's not ready now, but has a lot of upside."

[Photo gallery: Best spot for UCLA's Shabazz

Read More »from NBA pre-draft camp's players to watch, including five sleepers

SAN ANTONIO – Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson walked out of the team's locker room late Tuesday with a noticeable limp that all too many of his players are now carrying. For much of these playoffs, Jackson's inspirational sermons have lifted the Warriors before, after and during games, making their timeout huddles must-see TV. Yet after the San Antonio Spurs won 109-91 to take Game 5 of the teams' Western Conference semifinals series, even Jackson must now admit the obvious:

Talk is cheap.

Now down 3-2 in the series, the Warriors know they need more than words to prolong their season.

"It's not asking much to win two games," Jackson said. "If we played like the way we played tonight, we might as well begin to make [offseason] preparations. And I don't believe that's my team. So there is a lot of life left in my team, and we've talked about it being a long series. So this is where it gets fun."

The Warriors didn't have much fun in Game 5. Star guard Stephen Curry still looked

Read More »from Spurs push Warriors to brink

OAKLAND, Calif. – Sonya Curry, the mother of Golden State's Stephen Curry, had quite the Mother's Day, so much that it'll be tough to beat in the years to come.

First, she and her husband, former NBA player Dell Curry, attended the college graduation of their other ball-playing son, Seth, at Duke in Durham, N.C., on Sunday morning. Afterward, the Currys watched on television as Stephen overcame a major ankle injury to score 22 points in 38 minutes to help the Warriors even up a second-round series with a 97-87 overtime victory in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs. The triumph affords mom the ability to watch a potential series-deciding Game 6 here in person Thursday night.

"I watched a graduation," Sonya Curry told Yahoo! Sports in a phone interview. "Then the Warriors won. My day is complete. "Every Mother's Day is wonderful. But this one will stand out because a lot of stuff happened."Stephen Curry woke up Sunday with a swollen ankle and a mind full of uncertainty. (AP)

Stephen Curry's biggest opponent during his four-year NBA career has been ankle injuries, which

Read More »from Sonya Curry gets memorable Mother's Day, but will ankles of son Stephen Curry hold up?

OAKLAND, Calif. – Stephen Curry and Tony Parker limped off the court following the San Antonio Spurs' 102-92 Game 3 victory over the Golden State Warriors Friday night, giving each team reason to worry about the health of its star guard in a postseason already littered with significant injuries.

Curry sprained his left ankle with about five minutes remaining in the game while Parker was kicked in his left calf in the fourth quarter. They won't have much time to recover: Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals series – which the Spurs now lead 2-1 – is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon.

Curry hurt the same ankle in the opening round against the Denver Nuggets. His status for Sunday will be a game-time decision, Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. With All-Star forward David Lee limited by a hip injury that was initially thought to have ended his season in the first round, the Warriors hope not to suffer even more of a talent drain.

"Hopefully, he's with us," Warriors guard Klay

Read More »from Spurs' Game 3 victory over Warriors leaves Stephen Curry, Tony Parker hobbled

SAN FRANCISCO – Being mistaken for your sibling is a daily part of life for identical twins. The mistaken identity has a little more meaning now for ex-NBA player Jarron Collins after his brother, Jason, recently became the first active male pro athlete in a major American sport to announce he was gay.

"I get people looking at me, especially kids, teenagers," Jarron Collins said after a television appearance Thursday night. "They look at me and they do the double-take. They look at their smart phones and double-check for a profile pic. But I would say that the interaction in public has been supportive. It's, 'Hey are you Jason?' 'No, I'm Jarron.' 'I just love what your brother did,' sort of thing. Jarron Collins (L) and Jason Collins hang out with Oprah Winfrey, a stop in Jason's media blitz. (AP)

"Coming here in the airport I must have been stopped 10 times. The most awkward was going through security. Someone was going through, put their keys down, looked at me and said, 'Collins! Hey.' I'm like, 'I'm the other one. That's my brother.' But for someone that is the other one, my twin,

Read More »from Being mistaken for Jason Collins creates odd scene at airport for twin brother Jarron Collins

NEW YORK – The defunct Twitter account of Hall of Fame inductee Bernard King left its mark on this Eastern Conference semifinals, perhaps more positive than negative for the New York Knicks.

King's Twitter account, @30BernardKing, was shut down and vanished shortly after tweets scolded the team on Monday, the day after New York dropped Game 1 to Indiana. The Knicks said that an unnamed friend of King's was the real tweeter and it was not the "sentiment" of the ex-player. Those sentiments included telling the Knicks to take high-percentage shots, don't be a one-man show and use ball movement. Most notably, the Knicks' television analyst – or his friend if you believe the Knicks – told Carmelo Anthony to drive, dish and work the paint, especially if his shoulder is ailing.

Those tweets had a lot of merit. The Knicks improved on much of the criticism Tuesday during a 105-79 hammering of the Pacers that tied the series 1-1 Tuesday.

"I found out about the alleged Bernard King tweet this

Read More »from Bothersome tweets from Bernard King may have knocked some sense, urgency into Knicks

Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew and his staff have begun exploring other job opportunities in anticipation of the possibility they won't be retained, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Larry Drew has taken the Hawks to the playoffs each of the past three seasons. (AP)Hawks general manager Danny Ferry is expected to make a final decision by the middle of this week, sources said. One source close to the coaching staff believes there is a "slim chance" the coaches will be brought back because Ferry has often talked about changing the franchise's culture.

The contracts of Drew and his staff expire July 1.

Drew has a 128-102 record in three seasons as head coach of the Hawks and has guided the team to the playoffs in each season. The Hawks went 44-38 this season and secured the Eastern Conference's No. 6 playoff seed after Ferry overhauled the roster by trading star guard Joe Johnson and the remaining $90 million on his contract to the Brooklyn Nets.

Drew's regular-season winning percentage of .557 is better than the Hawks' previous two coaches; the New York Knicks' Mike

Read More »from Hawks coaches bracing for decision on future