Pelicans first-year coach Stan Van Gundy was hired less than two months before the Pelicans first preseason game earlier this week. Never mind that he's taking over a roster that is loaded with young players and has been entirely overhauled since New Orleans hired David Griffin as executive vice president of basketball operations in 2019. So when Van Gundy was asked whether he expected to have a clear vision for individual players' roles and minutes during the preseason, he didn't hesitate to say he did not even expect to know that when New Orleans' regular season slate opens on Dec. 23. “I’m not sure I’ll be there on Jan. 15 either. It’s going to take some time," Van Gundy continued. "I want these guys in a mindset of competing and having to produce for minutes.” While coaches with overhauled rosters face similar challenges trying to navigate a compressed timeline that is loaded with uncertainty, it's even more difficult for Van Gundy and the eight other NBA teams with new coaches this... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kevin Pritchard swallowed hard when the Indiana Pacers endured yet another season-ending first-round sweep last week.Then the Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations tried to wash away the sour taste.Five days after firing coach and longtime friend Nate McMillan, Pritchard has embarked on a search for a replacement who can communicate better with today's players, someone with a more updated playing style and someone who can win in the playoffs.“I think it shows you by the actions of the last few days our ownership expects more," Pritchard said Monday. “It’s up to me to step up to the plate and find the right person to lead the locker room, be creative and find a new age coach. We’ve been in the playoffs, we keep getting into the playoffs, we come up with fourth-best record in the East and that’s something we’re proud of. But we want to play well in the playoffs."That wasn't the case under McMillan, who reached the postseason in all four seasons as the Pacers... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Myles Turner has been to the playoffs each of his first five seasons with the Indiana Pacers. He still hasn't reached the second round.“At some point, you have to get over the hump," the 24-year-old center said, emphatically acknowledging he's taking it personally.Whether that happens next season largely depends on how the front office, the coaches and his teammats handle this offseason, however long it lasts.How much of a struggle has the postseason been for Indiana?The loss to Miami on Monday sealed a second straight first-round sweep and the team's third in four years — the only best-of-seven series sweeps in the franchise's NBA history. They've lost a franchise-record nine consecutive playoff games, too.Sure, there are obvious explanations.Two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo wasn't available last season because of a season-ending knee injury. Then he missed most of Game 1 against Miami after getting poked in the eye.Domantas Sabonis, who made his first All-Star appearance... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Lakers and Bucks exited practice Wednesday to palm trees around them and sunny skies overhead.The weather is good at Walt Disney World. The service is great. The setting seems ideal.For the best NBA teams, it's anything but.The top-four seeds in each conference should be playing in their arenas right now, with home-court advantage in the first two games of their playoff series. They'd have their fans screaming during the action and in many cases families waiting at home afterward.Boy, do some of them miss that at the moment.“If's definitely a difference. You can feel it,” Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton said. "There's times where we really depended on our crowd last year and during the season this year to kind of pull us out of our struggle or whatever it was. And here, there is none of that."We have to bring it every single night. We can't rely on our crowd, our fans to give us that energy. We have to bring it ourselves."Milwaukee and Los Angeles, the No.... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NBA expected positive coronavirus results to happen once players began undergoing mandatory tests, and three players revealed Wednesday they are dealing with COVID-19.Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon and Sacramento Kings players Jabari Parker and Alex Len all said they have tested positive for the coronavirus.Brogdon and Parker made announcements in the form of statements released by their teams. Len announced his status in an Instagram post. All three said they expect to be with their teams when the NBA season resumes at the Disney complex near Orlando, Florida, next month.“I recently tested positive for the COVID virus and am currently in quarantine," Brogdon said in his statement. “I’m doing well, feeling well and progressing well. I plan to join my teammates in Orlando for the resumption of the NBA season and playoffs.”All 22 NBA teams that will be part of the resumed season began mandated testing Tuesday. League officials have expected that positive tests... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon and Sacramento Kings forward Jabari Parker both revealed Wednesday that they have tested positive for the coronavirus.Both made announcements in the forms of statements released by their teams. And Brogdon and Parker both believe they will be with their teams when the NBA season resumes at the Disney complex near Orlando, Florida, next month.“I recently tested positive for the COVID virus and am currently in quarantine," Brogdon said in his statement. “I’m doing well, feeling well and progressing well. I plan to join my teammates in Orlando for the resumption of the NBA season and playoffs.”All 22 NBA teams that will be part of the resumed season began mandated testing Tuesday. League officials have expected that positive tests would be inevitable, and believed that starting a testing regimen now — roughly five weeks before games begin at Disney — will give players with positive results time to recover and get back with their teams... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon said Tuesday he has been quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus.Team officials made the announcement by posting Brogdon's statement on Twitter.“I recently tested positive for the COVID virus and am currently in quarantine," the statement read. “I’m doing well, feeling well and progressing well. I plan to join my teammates in Orlando for the resumption of the NBA season and playoffs.”Indiana began testing players earlier this week and is scheduled to arrive in Orlando in early July to resume full practices.NBA officials have announced they will quarantine teams for 24 hours before practices can begin. It's also not the first time the Pacers organization has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Myles Turner's father was hospitalized in Texas with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, but has recovered.Brogdon wasn't healthy before the season was suspended, sitting out with a leg and hip muscle injury. But the stoppage... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rudy Gobert started at center for the Utah Jazz at Indiana on Wednesday after missing two games because of a sprained left ankle.Gobert was named the league’s top defensive player each of the past two seasons and is averaging 14.1 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 15 games this season.He returned against one of the league’s other top post defenders, Pacers center Myles Turner — the top shot-blocker in the NBA last season.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers have signed power forward Domantas Sabonis to a four-year contract extension.Team officials completed the deal Monday, less than two hours before an NBA deadline would have allowed players with rookie contracts to become restricted free agents next summer.The Pacers did not announce financial terms of the deal though ESPN.com first reported it was worth $77 million in guaranteed money and Sabonis could make as much as $85 million with bonuses.A message was left by The Associated Press with Sabonis' agent, Greg Lawrence."I'm very excited to remain with the Pacers, this is where I wanted to be," Sabonis said in a statement. "I appreciate the organization showing their confidence in me, and I'm ready to be part of what's going to be a great year for our team."It's dramatic turnabout from last weekend when reports surfaced Sabonis soon could be on the trading block.But now the Pacers have four of this season's projected starters under contract through... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — General manager Kevin Pritchard convinced himself the Indiana Pacers could contend for an Eastern Conference title by basically keeping the core rotation intact.Victor Oladipo's season-ending knee injury changed the whole equation.While the Pacers continued playing hard and won more often than many expected over the final two months, the absence of their All-Star guard prevented the Pacers from retaining one of the top four seeds or reaching the conference semifinals for the first time since 2014."Vic has been our closer for the last couple of years. To not have him on the court is big," point guard Darren Collison following Sunday's season-ending 110-106 loss to Boston. "Think about the playoffs he had last year and how amazing he was. Now, just imagine if we had that this year."It's hard not to.But even before Oladipo was wheeled off the court with a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee on Jan. 23, he struggled with a sore knee and it showed in the stats that were... [More]

Orlando returned to Florida with home-court advantage.Indiana and Oklahoma City are seeking some home-court magic.A trio of Game 3s in the NBA on Friday night — Toronto at Orlando, Boston at Indiana and Portland at Oklahoma City — have three very different story lines. The Magic got a split of their first two games with the Raptors, the Pacers are reeling after a late-game collapse in Game 2 left them trailing the Celtics 2-0, and the Thunder have seemed completely out of sorts as they've gotten into a 2-0 hole against the Trail Blazers."I still don't think we understand how good a team we can be when we play well," Magic coach Steve Clifford said.Indiana had a great chance at getting a split slip away late in Game 2 at Boston. The Pacers have now lost 16 of their last 24 games overall, are looking at a fourth consecutive first-round ouster and have never won a series after losing the first two games.Having said all that, the Celtics are leery of a letup."We know anything can happen in... [More]

Orlando returned to Florida with home-court advantage.Indiana and Oklahoma City are seeking some home-court magic.A trio of Game 3s in the NBA on Friday night — Toronto at Orlando, Boston at Indiana and Portland at Oklahoma City — have three very different story lines. The Magic got a split of their first two games with the Raptors, the Pacers are reeling after a late-game collapse in Game 2 left them trailing the Celtics 2-0, and the Thunder have seemed completely out of sorts as they've gotten into a 2-0 hole against the Trail Blazers."I still don't think we understand how good a team we can be when we play well," Magic coach Steve Clifford said.Indiana had a great chance at getting a split slip away late in Game 2 at Boston. The Pacers have now lost 16 of their last 24 games overall, are looking at a fourth consecutive first-round ouster and have never won a series after losing the first two games.Having said all that, the Celtics are leery of a letup."We know anything can happen in... [More]

The best 3-point shooter who ever lived, at least in terms of volume, is Ray Allen.Boston used to have him.Milwaukee used to have him.And he doesn't figure into either franchise's greatest single-game 3-point barrage.With NBA records being set from 3-point range this season — Golden State's Klay Thompson has already busted the mark for 3s in a game with 14, one more than the standard his fellow Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry established in 2016, the league is well on its way to making more shots from beyond the arc than ever before.The record, set last season, is 25,807. The NBA is on pace this season to make about 27,300 shots from 3-point land.Now, not even three full weeks into this season, five teams have broken their own franchise record for 3s in a game. The most recent entry into that club was Milwaukee, which connected on 22 3s — on 56 tries, as opposed to 39 from inside the arc — in its 144-109 win over Sacramento on Sunday. The Bucks used 13 players, with everyone trying... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — All-Star guard Victor Oladipo promised to spend the offseason becoming a better all-around player.Promising young center Myles Turner beefed up, fine-tuned his defense and worked on his flexibility. Darren Collison, the NBA's 3-point percentage champ, continued working on his shooting touch, and the Indiana Pacers added depth to improve their chances of winning an NBA title.The key to this season might actually be maintaining the selfless approach the Pacers used to emerge as one of last season's biggest surprises."We want to continue to build that culture," coach Nate McMillan said. "We've been throwing that around a lot because I thought that was a big part of us having success last year — creating an atmosphere in which we play together, an atmosphere of sacrifice. All that was created last year and we've got to do that again this season, I think, to have success.'It's going to take more words to rekindle the togetherness they had last season when the Pacers proved... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana point guard Darren Collison made his position clear: The Pacers haven't done anything yet.Sure, they surprised everyone last season by posting a winning record, making the playoffs and forcing eventual Eastern Conference champion Cleveland to a seven-game series. They also think others around the league believe it could have been a fluke."I guess you'd kind of say we're still going under the radar," Collison said during the team's annual media day Monday. "People still think we haven't really accomplished anything yet, and we haven't, really. We made the playoffs, which is a good plus for a team that just got together. But at the same time, to have some success you've got to go further in the playoffs and I think that's where we're at right now."All-Star guard Victor Oladipo and promising center Myles Turner understand questions remain, too. Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard has even heard similar sentiments expressed during chats with... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers are parting ways with guard Lance Stephenson, the gritty veteran who brought energy off the bench in last season's surprising run to the playoffs.The team will not pick up the team option next season, Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said Monday."This was a very difficult decision, but as free agency begins on July 1, we want to have flexibility so that we can prepare for all of our available options," he said.A year ago, Pritchard decided to trade star Paul George before almost surely losing him in free agency and got Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis from Oklahoma City in a deal that turned out remarkably well for Indiana.Oladipo emerged as a leader, earned his first All-Star trip and won the league's steals title. Sabonis, a lottery pick in 2016, became a key contributor off the bench. Point guard Darren Collison was the NBA's most accurate 3-point shooter, and Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic thrived in their roles,... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers were full of surprises this season.They won more games than expected. They proved more competitive than projected. Heck, they even forced the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs into a decisive seventh game all while receiving the stamp of approval from the world's best player.Not bad for a team that was supposed to be sitting home and plotting draft strategy long ago."This was one of the most amazing seasons of my career," forward Thaddeus Young said. "We played for one another, not as individuals. It's tough (being eliminated), but this is a great group of guys. We all gave our blood and sweat to the game and each other."And it could be just the start.The Pacers' future looks far brighter now than it did 12 months ago after they were swept out of the playoffs by LeBron James and the Cavaliers.Back then, there questions about Paul George's future in Indiana loomed heavily over the franchise. By late June, new general manager Kevin Pritchard... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James walked sluggishly down a corridor inside Quicken Loans Arena following Game 7 surrounded by the usual squadron of security personnel, some business associates and his publicist.Each step seemed a challenge. His eyes were heavy. He ached from head to toe. He wanted to lie down.James was moving on to the second round of the NBA playoffs — almost on his hands and knees."I don't think he's appreciated enough for just how much energy he puts into every single game to do what he does," Cavaliers forward Kyle Korver said of James. "It's just unbelievable."Pushed to his physical limits by the Indiana Pacers, and barely helped by Cleveland teammates until they finally showed up when it mattered most Sunday in a 105-101 win, James willed the Cavs into the next round, where they'll face the top-seeded Toronto Raptors for the third straight postseason.If the Indiana series was any indication, James might have to do it again.James scored 45 points — his third game over... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James walked sluggishly down a corridor inside Quicken Loans Arena following Game 7 surrounded by the usual squadron of security personnel, some business associates and his publicist.Each step seemed a challenge. His eyes were heavy. He ached from head to toe. He wanted to lie down.James was moving on to the second round of the NBA playoffs — almost on his hands and knees."I don't think he's appreciated enough for just how much energy he puts into every single game to do what he does," Cavaliers forward Kyle Korver said of James. "It's just unbelievable."Pushed to his physical limits by the Indiana Pacers, and barely helped by Cleveland teammates until they finally showed up when it mattered most Sunday in a 105-101 win, James willed the Cavs into the next round, where they'll face the top-seeded Toronto Raptors for the third straight postseason.If the Indiana series was any indication, James might have to do it again.James scored 45 points — his third game over... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers have been winning together, losing together and fighting together all season.Now they need to demonstrate their resilience once more as they try to save their season by rebounding from an emotional loss to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers."Nobody thought we'd be in this situation," Victor Oladipo said, referring to the playoffs. "It's important for us to stick together now because we've seen where it can go, where it can take us and it's great."The immediate problem is recent history doesn't bode well for the underdog Pacers, who trail 3-2 with Game 5 set for Friday in Indianapolis.Cleveland swept Indiana in the first round last year, winning four games by a record low 16 total points. James has won 10 straight close-out games and has never lost a first-round series. Indiana, meanwhile, is trying to reach the conference semifinals for the first time since 2014.But the Pacers don't care about stats, projections or conventional wisdom — as they've... [More]