The NBA is not happy that tensions between teams and referees seem to be rising.Then again, 'tis the season.Playoff-race pressure is real, and the NBA thinks — or hopes — that some tantrums in recent weeks can be attributed to that and not an eroding of the always-tenuous relationship between those who commit infractions and those who call them. Golden State coach Steve Kerr smashing clipboards and Houston star James Harden calling out longtime official Scott Foster are sights and sounds that the league doesn't want, so the NBA is once again reaching out to teams to offer reminders about not going too far when ripping the refs."This is the dark ages of the season," said Michelle Johnson, the NBA's senior vice president and head of referee operations. "Teams are shaping up where they stand and it matters more to some teams than others, and some coaches do tactical outbursts for the good of their teams. So even if we go to teams and they don't have a lot of issues ... we want to keep the... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When Victor Oladipo crashed to the floor in late January, the silence inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse was deafening.Teammates quietly expressed best wishes to their injured teammate as he was wheeled off the court on a stretcher. Fans wondered aloud if this was just another chapter in Indianapolis' injury curse that has claimed Peyton Manning, Paul George and Andrew Luck during the previous eight years. League insiders debated how far the Pacers would slide in the Eastern Conference standings.Somehow, after four consecutive losses, Indiana turned the page and won six of its next seven games heading into the All-Star break, still third in the East."We're just going out there and playing basketball," point guard Darren Collison said. "We're keeping the game simple and easy. Everybody is confident. It's getting closer to playoff basketball."After tinkering with his lineup for a few games, coach Nate McMillan settled on a rotation that looks remarkably similar to what he... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — D'Angelo Russell stood high above Times Square, a spot where stars are showcased in New York.He was front and center on a billboard celebrating the Nets' midseason success, pictured with three teammates who joined him in Charlotte for the NBA's All-Star festivities."Brooklyn is having an All-Star weekend," it read.Russell hopes it will turn into a playoff season.Brooklyn heads into the stretch run in good position for the first postseason berth of his career, sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference when play resumes Thursday."I think we're in a great position right now," Russell said.And after some tough times, so is Russell.The point guard Magic Johnson didn't want has become the floor leader the Nets need, raising his level of play after injuries to Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie and Allen Crabbe left them severely short-handed in the backcourt.Russell had 36 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the final game before the break, a 148-139 triple-overtime... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Oladipo's season-ending injury occurred in the same area of his right knee that forced him to miss 11 games earlier this season.He is uncertain if the two are related. At this point, the star guard for the Indiana Pacers doesn't really think it matters.For now, Oladipo remains in Miami, on crutches, working his way back into shape so he can return to Indianapolis before the end of this season after rupturing the quad tendon in his knee."I can't say it's related, but I really wouldn't know. I can't really say it is related because I wouldn't know that, either," Oladipo said during a conference call. "Sure, it might be connected but who knows. I'm not focused on the past because I have no control over that just like I have no control over the future."There is no timetable for his return to the court.In his first public comments since hurting the knee on Jan. 23, Oladipo acknowledged the soreness he felt in November and December was in the same general area as the... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Oladipo says the right knee injury that will force him to miss the rest of this season occurred in the same area he had soreness earlier this season. He is uncertain if the two are connected.The Indiana Pacers guard ruptured the quad tendon as he scrambled back on defense Jan. 23 against Toronto. He had surgery on Jan. 28 and discussed the injury for the first time publicly on Monday.After beating the Raptors, Indiana lost its next four and have since won five straight. They host Charlotte on Monday night.Oladipo says he has not been given a timetable for a return but plans to rejoin the team before the end of this season.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Free agent guard Wesley Matthews has officially signed with the Indiana Pacers.The move was first reported following Thursday's trade deadline, but the Pacers couldn't announce it until Sunday. Matthews was waived by the Knicks after a deal that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas and cleared waivers on Saturday.Terms of the deal were not announced.Matthews will help fill the void left by All-Star guard Victor Oladipo, who will miss the rest of this season with a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee.In 45 games with Dallas, Matthews made 44 starts and averaged 12.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard called Matthews a "solid professional" who will "fit in well" with Indiana.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Free agent guard Wesley Matthews has officially signed with the Indiana Pacers.The move was first reported following Thursday's trade deadline, but the Pacers couldn't announce it until Sunday. Matthews was waived by the Knicks after a deal that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas and cleared waivers on Saturday.Terms of the deal were not announced.Matthews will help fill the void left by All-Star guard Victor Oladipo, who will miss the rest of this season with a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee.In 45 games with Dallas, Matthews made 44 starts and averaged 12.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard called Matthews a "solid professional" who will "fit in well" with Indiana.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MIAMI (AP) — Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Miami's Dwyane Wade are both NBA champions, NBA Finals MVPs and longtime ambassadors for the game of basketball.And now, one more time, they're All-Stars.By special order of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Wade and Nowitzki were added Friday to the pool of players for the All-Star Game that will be played in Charlotte on Feb. 17. Each team will now have 13 players instead of the customary 12, and LeBron James — one of the captains — will be the one who decides which side Wade and Nowitzki will be joining.Wade said he reached out to Silver to thank him for the gesture."I appreciated my fans for voting for me, but I didn't want to be put in position to take a roster spot from someone who's getting their first opportunity to go to the All-Star Game or their second or third," Wade said. "I've had 12 chances at it. For the commissioner to create that opportunity for Dirk and myself, it's cool. I appreciate it more getting in this way, so I'll be there."Silver,... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Miami's Dwyane Wade are both NBA champions, NBA Finals MVPs and longtime ambassadors for the game of basketball.And now, one more time, they're All-Stars.By special order of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Wade and Nowitzki were added Friday to the pool of players for the All-Star Game that will be played in Charlotte on Feb. 17. Each team will now have 13 players instead of the customary 12, and LeBron James — one of the captains — will be the one who decides which side Wade and Nowitzki will be joining."Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade embody the best of the NBA: remarkable skill, drive and professionalism as well as a deep devotion to strengthening their communities and growing the game around the world," Silver said. "As a global celebration of basketball, our All-Star Game is an ideal setting to salute these first-class NBA champions and Finals MVPs."Also Friday, Silver announced that Brooklyn's D'Angelo Russell will make his All-Star debut. Russell... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Miami's Dwyane Wade are both NBA champions, NBA Finals MVPs and longtime ambassadors for the game of basketball.And now, one more time, they're All-Stars.By special order of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Wade and Nowitzki were added Friday to the pool of players for the All-Star Game that will be played in Charlotte on Feb. 17. Each team will now have 13 players instead of the customary 12, and LeBron James — one of the captains — will be the one who decides which side Wade and Nowitzki will be joining."Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade embody the best of the NBA: remarkable skill, drive and professionalism as well as a deep devotion to strengthening their communities and growing the game around the world," Silver said. "As a global celebration of basketball, our All-Star Game is an ideal setting to salute these first-class NBA champions and Finals MVPs."Also Friday, Silver announced that Brooklyn's D'Angelo Russell will make his All-Star debut. Russell... [More]

New Orleans has an All-Star for the sixth straight year.That is, unless he gets traded first.Pelicans standout Anthony Davis — only three days removed from having his trade request made known publicly — was one of the 14 players announced Thursday as reserves for the All-Star Game in Charlotte. Davis wants to be swapped out of New Orleans by the Feb. 7 trade deadline, so it remains unclear if his uniform for the All-Star contest on Feb. 17 will bear a Pelicans logo or not.It's the sixth consecutive All-Star nod for Davis. The Pelicans aren't sure if he'll play for them again, though there's also no guarantee that he gets traded by next week either."That's something that will obviously have to be discussed about what's best for him and what's best for our team," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.The other Western Conference reserves were Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, Denver's Nikola Jokic, Portland's Damian Lillard, Golden State's Klay Thompson, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesota's... [More]

New Orleans has an All-Star for the sixth straight year.That is, unless he gets traded first.Pelicans standout Anthony Davis — only three days removed from having his trade request made known publicly — was one of the 14 players announced Thursday as reserves for the All-Star Game in Charlotte. Davis wants to be swapped out of New Orleans by the Feb. 7 trade deadline, so it remains unclear if his uniform for the All-Star contest on Feb. 17 will bear a Pelicans logo or not.It's the sixth consecutive All-Star nod for Davis. The Pelicans aren't sure if he'll play for them again, though there's also no guarantee that he gets traded by next week either."That's something that will obviously have to be discussed about what's best for him and what's best for our team," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.The other Western Conference reserves were Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, Denver's Nikola Jokic, Portland's Damian Lillard, Golden State's Klay Thompson, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesota's... [More]

New Orleans has an All-Star for the sixth straight year.That is, unless he gets traded first.Pelicans standout Anthony Davis — only three days removed from having his trade request made known publicly — was one of the 14 players announced Thursday as reserves for the All-Star Game in Charlotte. Davis wants to be swapped out of New Orleans by the Feb. 7 trade deadline, so it remains unclear if his uniform for the All-Star contest on Feb. 17 will bear a Pelicans logo or not.The other Western Conference reserves were Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, Denver's Nikola Jokic, Portland's Damian Lillard, Golden State's Klay Thompson, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns.Indiana's Victor Oladipo was selected as one of the Eastern Conference reserves, even though his season is over because of injury. The other reserves from the East were Toronto's Kyle Lowry, Milwaukee's Khris Middleton, Philadelphia's Ben Simmons, Washington's Bradley Beal, Detroit's Blake Griffin... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo understands the recovery from the ruptured quad tendon in his right knee will long and grueling.He is determined not to come back even stronger after undergoing surgery Monday."He is expected to make a full recovery. No timetable has been established for his return," the Pacers said.Oladipo was injured in Wednesday's victory over Toronto. He was scrambling back to defend an outlet pass when his leg bent awkwardly and he fell to the ground. Trainers immediately a draped a towel over his injured leg and he was taken off the court on a stretcher. An MRI on Thursday confirmed the Pacers' worst fears — their top scorer would not play again this season.Over the weekend, though, Oladipo addressed the injury for the first time publicly."I can't even lie the last few months have been really tough for not only me but for my family as well. You give it your all, literally your blood, sweat and tears to the game you love and things like this happen,"... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo has undergone surgery for a ruptured tendon in his right knee.Team officials have ruled out Oladipo for the rest of this season but did not provide an updated timetable Monday for his return.Oladipo was injured in Wednesday's victory over Toronto. He was taken off the court on a stretcher and an MRI confirmed the extent of the injury.He was averaging a team high 19.2 points and was hoping to make the All-Star Game for the second straight season. Tyreke Evans replaced Oladipo in the starting lineup and scored nine points in Saturday's loss at Memphis.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Golden State Warriors don't just have streaks.They have streaks of streaks.Golden State has won 10 straight games, the longest winning streak in the NBA this season. And that makes this the sixth consecutive season that the Warriors have had a double-digit streak of victories — which ties San Antonio for the longest such run in league history. The Spurs had a 10-game streak in every season from 2010-11 through 2015-16.That said, here come the champs, again.Golden State is back atop the West, and in the mix with Milwaukee and Toronto for the NBA's best record. The stretch where the Warriors lost four straight and six of nine earlier this season, prompting whispers that the reigning back-to-back champions are vulnerable, seems long forgotten."We've got an edge about us," Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. "It hasn't been perfect and we know we can still get better, but we've talked about putting a run together for a while now and we're right in the middle of a really good one. We want... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Oladipo's season is over. The Indiana Pacers intend to make sure his injury doesn't derail theirs, too.After learning the All-Star guard faces season-ending surgery for a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee, Oladipo's teammates quickly banded together in hopes of surprising the NBA again."It's very, very tough to see this happen to a guy who is so positive and means so much to this team," co-captain Thaddeus Young said Thursday. "But we can't just go be sad. We have to go out and grind out wins and stay together through thick and thin."Young and his teammates demonstrated what that might look like Wednesday night after Oladipo crumpled to the ground awkwardly as he tried to defend an outlet pass against Toronto. He was taken off the court on a stretcher with 4:05 left in the first half. Team officials announced during the game it was a "serious injury" to his right knee but waited until Thursday's MRI to provide more details.Even without their leader, Indiana... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana All-Star guard Victor Oladipo is out for the season with a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee.Oladipo was injured during Wednesday night's 110-106 victory over Toronto and left the court on a stretcher with 4:05 left in the first half.Team officials acknowledged during the game that the injury was serious but waited until after the results of Thursday's MRI returned to announce how much time he would miss. Coach Nate McMillan said he was unsure when Oladipo would have surgery or whether he would be ready for the start of next season."It's unfortunate. He's a special player and a special person," McMillan said. "It will be tough but we have to continue to move on."Losing Oladipo is an enormous blow to the Pacers' postseason hopes. He led the Pacers in scoring at 19.2 points per game, was a first-team all-NBA defensive selection last season and is a co-captain of the teamIndiana currently holds the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference but the Pacers face a... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers have lost All-Star guard Victor Oladipo with a season-ending ruptured quad tendon in his right knee.Oladipo was injured during Wednesday night's 110-106 victory over Toronto and left the court on a stretcher with 4:05 left in the first half.Team officials acknowledged during the game that the injury was serious but waited until after the results of Thursday's MRI returned to announce how much time he would miss. Coach Nate McMillan said he was unsure when Oladipo would have surgery or whether he would be ready for the start of next season.Oladipo led the Pacers in scoring at 19.2 points per game, was a first-team all-NBA defensive selection last season and one of the Pacers' co-captains.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers lost All-Star guard Victor Oladipo to a serious right knee injury in the second quarter of Wednesday night's game against Toronto.Oladipo's leg bent awkwardly as he fell to the floor while trying to disrupt an outlet pass to the Raptors' Pascal Siakam. The team announced that Oladipo will undergo an MRI on Thursday.The magnitude of the injury was obvious quickly.Trainers placed a towel over the leg, and players from both teams surrounded Oladipo. Fans gave him a standing ovation as he was carted off the floor on a stretcher and reporters were detoured from their normal path to the media work room while Oladipo apparently was being evaluated in the hallway."There's no other choice but business as usual," assistant coach Dan Burke told Fox Sports Indiana at halftime. "For 24 minutes, we have to have our focus right here. Our hearts and thoughts might be somewhere else, but we have to focus."The Pacers held on to beat Toronto 110-106. It was clear, though,... [More]