BASKETTBALL

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Next year's NBA All-Star Game will feature a "USA versus the World" format, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on Wednesday. The move comes after last February's revamped tournament-style format with celebrity-picked rosters was seen as a flop by players and drew relatively low US television ratings.

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After falling in the Eastern Conference finals, the New York Knicks are turning over a new leaf and parting company with head coach Tom Thibodeau. In the summer of 2020, Tom Thibodeau took over as head coach of the New York Knicks, the third NBA side he led after the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves.

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NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he believes the league should explore the question of expansion when the subject comes up for discussion at a board of governors meeting next month.

Silver, speaking in his annual news conference ahead of the NBA Finals, said he expected the possibility of creating new franchises should be examined given the number of "underserved" markets in North America. "I'd say the current sense is we should be exploring it," Silver said on the question of expansion. "I don't think it's automatic because it depends on your perspective on the future of the league. As I've said before, expansion in a way is selling equity in the league. If you believe in the league, you don't necessarily want to add partners. On the other hand, we recognize there are underserved markets in the United States and elsewhere, I think markets that deserve to have NBA teams."

The NBA chief said next month's owners meeting in Las Vegas would gauge interest in expansion. "It will be on the agenda to take the temperature of the room," Silver said. "We have committees that are already talking about it. But my sense is at that meeting, they're going to give direction to me and my colleagues at the league office that we should continue to explore it." Silver added that the NBA's efforts to create a league in Europe were part of the expansion drive. "We think there's an opportunity to serve fans in Europe," Silver said. "There's really high-level basketball being played there. But we think there is an opportunity to better serve fans there. I view that as a form of expansion as well, and that's something we're also thinking hard about."

Silver meanwhile confirmed that the NBA was working on a revamped All-Star Game which would bring an "international flavor" to the mid-season event that has battled years of steadily declining ratings, plunging from some 13.1 million viewers in 2002 to 4.72 million in 2025. Silver, however, appeared to rule out a straight face-off between US players and a team made up of international players. "We are looking at something that brings an international flavor into All-Star competition," Silver said. "We're still experimenting internally with different formats, talking to the Players Association about that. I don't think a straight-up USA versus World makes sense ... There probably will be some different teams we form. Whether it's some regional basis for how we combine certain groups of players, because USA players, who I talked about earlier, international is 30% of the league, American players are still 70% of the league."

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The Indiana Pacers, fueled by 31 points from Pascal Siakam (31) and a 21-point double-double from Tyrese Haliburton (25), beat the New York Knicks 125-108 on Saturday to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.

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Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton sank the game-winning basket in the final second to give the Pacers a stunning 111-110 fightback victory over Oklahoma City in Thursday's opening game of the NBA Finals.

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Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combined for 56 points as the New York Knicks kept their NBA playoff campaign alive with a 111-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks roared back to life in front of a star-studded Madison Square Garden crowd with a wire-to-wire win that sets up a game six in Indianapolis on Saturday.

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Powered by young star talent and deep rosters, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers open the NBA Finals on Thursday, each trying to bring their city a first-ever crown. Oklahoma City, fancied by oddsmakers after an NBA-high 68 regular-season wins, will host game one in the best-of-seven championship series.

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Oklahoma City, sparked by 34 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012 by routing Minnesota 124-94 on Wednesday. Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA Most Valuable Player, added eight assists and seven rebounds as the Thunder captured the best-of-seven Western Conference finals series 4-1 and will host game one of the NBA Finals on June 5. "This is a step in the right direction, but we have a lot more work to do, and we know that and that's what we're focused on, so let's buckle up and get ready," said Gilgeous-Alexander. "We've got a lot of work to do to get to our ultimate goal, and this is not it. That's all that I'm focused on."