SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Trae Young had 27 points and six assists to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 115-108 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A fight broke out and punches were thrown during the game between the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cole Anthony had 20 points and fellow reserve Moritz Wagner scored 19 as Orlando’s bench propelled the Magic to a 127-120 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves that included a fight between the teams and five player ejections Friday night.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers beat San Antonio 137-125 on Friday night, sending the scuffling Spurs to their eighth straight loss.
Tyrese Maxey had 25 points and James Harden added 16 for Philadelphia, which has the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.
HOUSTON (AP) — Fred VanVleet scored 32 points, Gary Trent Jr. added 29 and the Toronto Raptors snapped a two-game skid with a 117-111 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
The Raptors took a commanding lead in the third quarter and were up by double-digits for most of the fourth.
BOSTON (AP) — Devin Booker wore a hockey toque to deal with the sub-zero temperatures in Boston and pulled out a baseball metaphor to describe his possible return to the basketball court.
“Rounding third,” Booker said after watching from the bench as his Phoenix Suns teammates beat the Celtics 106-94 on Friday night.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Buddy Hield scored 21 points against his former team and the Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings 107-104 on Friday night to stop a four-game losing streak.
Hield shot 5 of 9 from 3-point range and grabbed 10 rebounds.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Anfernee Simons scored 20 of his 33 points in the third quarter and the Portland Trail Blazers erased a 20-point deficit, snapping Washington's six-game winning streak Friday night with a 124-116 victory over the Wizards.
DETROIT (AP) — Saddiq Bey scored 22 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 32.1 seconds left, and the Detroit Pistons rallied to beat the Charlotte Hornets 118-112 on Friday night.
The Pistons were playing for the first time since a 111-105 loss in Dallas on Monday.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA, and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell fined $20,000 for their roles in an on-court incident on Thursday night.
NEW YORK (AP) — Unable to get a new contract, Kyrie Irving is looking for a new address.
The All-Star guard has asked the Brooklyn Nets for a trade, a person with knowledge of the details said Friday.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo is scoring at an unprecedented rate in his extraordinary career, and he also has most of his top teammates playing alongside him again.
That combination has helped the Milwaukee Bucks regain their title-contending form.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves were predictably irked when Anthony Edwards was not picked for the NBA All-Star Game, a belief in his worthiness that had plenty of backing around the league.
Mya Smiley is a student at the University of Akron thanks to an assist from LeBron James, and she is determined upon graduation to become a social worker that helps foster kids.
Her education and career path would not have been possible, the sophomore says, were it not for a scholarship and counseling that she received from the LeBron James Family Foundation.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrated his most famous 50-point performance by ordering 50 chicken nuggets at a Chick-fil-A drive-through the next day.
He already has an idea how to commemorate reaching that plateau for the third time in the last month.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — LeBron James had 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and pulled within 63 points of becoming the NBA’s career scoring leader as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Indiana Pacers 112-111 on Thursday night.
DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray just nodded when asked if this might be the most confident he’s ever been.
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks barely held on after leading by 27 points when Luka Doncic exited the game with a right heel injury on a hard fall.
The New Orleans Pelicans thought their one chance to finish the rally and end a long losing streak was taken away by the officials, who acknowledged two incorrect calls in the final seconds.
CHICAGO (AP) — Ayo Dosunmu matched a season high with 22 points, Coby White scored 20 points and the Chicago Bulls overcame shaky outings by DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine to beat the Charlotte Hornets 114-98 on Thursday night.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell took his most vicious shots at Dillon Brooks after the game.
Accusing Brooks of being a dirty player, Mitchell said the NBA needs to do something about the Memphis guard's unruly bad behavior after he smashed Cleveland's All-Star guard in the groin during the Cavaliers' 128-113 victory over the Grizzlies on Thursday night.
NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Barrett never gave his coach a chance to sit him for long Thursday night.
Barrett rebounded from a late-game benching with 30 points, Isaiah Hartenstein made big plays on both ends of the floor in the final minute and the New York Knicks beat the Miami Heat 106-104.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — LeBron James just put his head down and repeatedly drove to the basket Thursday night.
It was his vintage move.
The same late-game philosophy that led to four NBA championships and has him on the precipice of becoming the NBA's new career scoring champ worked perfectly again at Indiana.
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic has been ruled out of a game against New Orleans after exiting in the third quarter with a right heel injury.
Doncic stayed in the game after taking a hard fall Thursday night when he was winding up for a one-handed dunk on a drive and Brandon Ingram knocked the ball out of his hand as Doncic was bumped by Jonas Valanciunas.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell was ejected in the third quarter Thursday night against Memphis for throwing the ball at Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks after the players tangled under the basket.
A look at LeBron James’ pursuit of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s scoring record. Abdul-Jabbar has held the record since April 5, 1984:
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has further adjusted the schedule of nationally televised games with LeBron James closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the league’s scoring record.
James is on pace to break the record Tuesday at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Portland's Damian Lillard had to have known they were going to the All-Star Game. Players averaging more than 30 points per game typically don't have to worry about not hearing their name called.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was set to resume his NBA scoring-record chase Thursday night at Indiana after being cleared to start.
James entered the day 89 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s mark of 38,387.
As LeBron James closes in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and is about to become the NBA's career scoring leader the journey has included several memorable moments.