For the Orlando Magic, next season doesn’t start in October. It started in March. The next season — the next chapter, really — for the Magic began when the trade-deadline frenzy of March 25 happened, the day when Orlando traded away Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier in a series of moves that clearly ushered in a total reboot of the team and its core. Injuries held the team back, and when the offers arrived to bring in young players, draft picks or both, the Magic couldn’t say no. So, they said farewell to Vucevic — one of the best players in Orlando history — and started anew. “Listen, it’s the toughest season I’ve ever been through,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “I go back and think about the excitement around our team, that we could be the surprise team because of continuity. We had played well at the end of the year before, we had a lot of guys coming back, other teams did not, and as it played out the East isn’t as good as it was. ... But we were never able to sustain... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Orlando coach Steve Clifford proudly displayed a pair of personalized Mickey Mouse ears inside his home office Monday, saying they would be one of the gifts from this season that he would cherish the most.It’s safe to say they weren’t on his wish list when this season started.The world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the NBA into a bubble at Walt Disney World to resume the season — and now that the Magic are out of the bubble, they have no real idea what comes next.So, for now, there’s no concrete plans to be made for the 2020-21 season. That’ll come in time, but Clifford intends to spend the immediate future going over what went right and wrong after a season in which Orlando made the playoffs for a second consecutive year but couldn’t get past the first round.“I think what it does is it makes us more relevant again,” Clifford said. “First of all, making the playoffs is never an easy thing. You can’t take it for granted.... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A slow start didn't help Giannis Antetokounmpo's shot at NBA history, but the Milwaukee Bucks are hardly a one-man show.Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer less than 20 seconds into the game, and the team with the league's best record never trailed Saturday night in a 111-95 victory over the Orlando Magic. It's the 13th time the Bucks have led from wire to wire this season.“It's nice to not trail ... but it doesn't really mean anything. We have to keep playing good basketball," Antetokounmpo said.“We were up 27 and they came back, cut the lead to 11. So it doesn't mean anything," the league's reigning MVP added. “We just try to take it quarter by quarter."Antetokounmpo nearly had a triple-double with 18 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists while also falling short of becoming the first player in league history with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in six consecutive games.Antetokounmpo was originally listed with 19 points, but the NBA announced later Saturday... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A slow start didn't help Giannis Antetokounmpo's shot at NBA history, but the Milwaukee Bucks are hardly a one-man show.Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer less than 20 seconds into the game, and the team with the league's best record never trailed Saturday night in a 112-95 victory over the Orlando Magic. It's the 13th time the Bucks have led from wire to wire this season.“It's nice to not trail ... but it doesn't really mean anything. We have to keep playing good basketball," Antetokounmpo said.“We were up 27 and they came back, cut the lead to 11. So it doesn't mean anything," the league's reigning MVP added. “We just try to take it quarter by quarter."Antetokounmpo nearly had a triple double with 19 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists while also falling short of becoming the first player in league history with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in six consecutive games.With Middleton, Brook Lopez and Eric Bledsoe picking up the slack, it didn't matter as... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo nearly had a triple double with 19 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, helping the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic 112-95 on Saturday night.The Bucks won for the 13th time in 14 games, improving the league’s best record to 45-7 and remaining on course to become just the third team to top 70 wins in a regular season.Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, fell short in a personal bid to become the first player with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in six consecutive games, scoring two points in the first quarter and finishing 6 of 17 from the field.Wilt Chamberlain is the only other player with a stretch of five straight games with 30, 15 and 5, accomplishing it from Dec. 10-17, 1965, with the Philadelphia Warriors.Brook Lopez led the Bucks with 23 points, including 5 for 5 on 3-point attempts. Khris Middleton had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe finished with 18 points for the Bucks, who led by as many as 27 in the third... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross made some shots and his Orlando teammates blocked a bunch of them.Ross scored a season-high 26 points Monday night and the Magic rejected 13 shots to break a three-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls.Mo Bamba came off the bench to block four shots, and Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon blocked three apiece.“That's who we have to be,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “We're long, we have size, we have versatility. “The other guys did great things, but without (Ross), we would have been playing from eight, 10 behind there in the third quarter. He kept us in the game and made shot after shot.” Zach LaVine led Chicago with 26 points on 8-of-26 shooting, but the Bulls managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter. Tomas Satoransky added 20 points and was 4 of 5 on 3-point shots.“It's very difficult to win a road game when you have 17 turnovers and they have 13 blocks,” Bulls coach Jim Boylen said.Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and seven... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross scored a season-high 26 points Monday night to help the Orlando Magic break a three-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls.Zach LaVine led Chicago with 26 points on 8-of-26 shooting, but the Bulls managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter. Tomas Satoransky added 20 points and was 4 of 5 on 3-point shots.Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and seven rebounds for Orlando, which blocked 13 shots and held the Bulls to 31 percent shooting in the second half. Jonathan Isaac finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks.Ross, who made six 3-pointers, hit a short jumper and a 3-pointer on a 7-0 Magic run early in the fourth quarter to put Orlando ahead to stay.With LaVine hitting two free throws and a 3-pointer, the Bulls scored the first nine points of the game.Lauri Markkanen and LaVine made two 3-pointers apiece in the last 4:15 of the first half to leave Chicago with a 54-51 lead at the break.TIP-INSBulls:... [More]

Dion Waiters leads the Miami Heat in suspensions and headlines this season.And his future is very unclear.Waiters won't be with the Heat for at least nine more games — his 10-game suspension for repeated conduct deemed detrimental to the team started Friday when Miami visited the Los Angeles Lakers — and what happens from there will be anyone's guess.He'll miss out on about $835,000 in salary, raising his total missed through suspensions (he was also shunned from the season-opener) to about $920,000 this season. That doesn't include a $1.1 million roster bonus he could have gotten by playing in 70 games, a number that is now officially unattainable.All told, this has cost him $2 million and counting.For someone making $12.1 million this season alone, that doesn't sound so bad. The cost to his reputation hasn't been added into that figure yet.When this suspension ends on Nov. 30, the 6-foot-4 guard will be allowed to resume workouts at the Heat facility. By then, the season will be about... [More]

Preseason numbers often mean almost nothing. Rotations are unusual, starters rarely play much, and few if any teams are putting a premium on winning games.As such, it's tough to glean much from exhibition stats.But what the Boston Celtics and New Orleans rookie Zion Williamson — the No. 1 pick in this year's draft — have been doing so far in the preseason certainly stands out.The Celtics are 3-0 after beating Cleveland on Sunday — and have put together a huge run in all three of those games. The latest was a 50-17 spurt against the Cavaliers, a game that was close for most of the first quarter before Boston built what eventually became a 54-point lead.Boston's other big runs of note in this preseason were a 41-17 stretch last Sunday against Charlotte, and opening the game with a 29-4 burst at Orlando on Friday. On top of the 50-17 run against the Cavs, they added a 26-8 run in the fourth quarter as well.No matter who the Celtics have on the court, defense has been the constant. Boston is... [More]

Preseason numbers often mean almost nothing. Rotations are unusual, starters rarely play much, and few if any teams are putting a premium on winning games.As such, it's tough to glean much from exhibition stats.But what the Boston Celtics and New Orleans rookie Zion Williamson — the No. 1 pick in this year's draft — have been doing so far in the preseason certainly stands out.The Celtics are 3-0 after beating Cleveland on Sunday — and have put together a huge run in all three of those games. The latest was a 50-17 spurt against the Cavaliers, a game that was close for most of the first quarter before Boston built what eventually became a 54-point lead.Boston's other big runs of note in this preseason were a 41-17 stretch last Sunday against Charlotte, and opening the game with a 29-4 burst at Orlando on Friday. On top of the 50-17 run against the Cavs, they added a 26-8 run in the fourth quarter as well.No matter who the Celtics have on the court, defense has been the constant. Boston is... [More]

Robin Lopez and Frank Mason III both scored 14 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over the Chicago Bulls 122-112 in preseason action on Monday night.Milwaukee didn't play most of its major contributors, including last year's league Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton.Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game that most of them had a good scrimmage on Sunday so he didn't want to play them in what was essentially a back-to-back stretch.All five of the Bucks' starters scored in double figures. Brook Lopez scored 13 points, Sterling Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds and Wesley Matthews scored 10.Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 16 points. Lauri Markkanen added 14 points, making 4 of 8 of his 3-point attempts.PELICANS 133, HAWKS 109Jrue Holiday led New Orleans with 21 points and Zion Williamson scored 16, including several highlight-reel dunks.Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick in June's draft, threw down his first preseason dunk, a tomahawk... [More]

Robin Lopez and Frank Mason III both scored 14 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over the Chicago Bulls 122-112 in preseason action on Monday night.Milwaukee didn't play most of its major contributors, including last year's league Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton.Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game that most of them had a good scrimmage on Sunday so he didn't want to play them in what was essentially a back-to-back stretch.All five of the Bucks' starters scored in double figures. Brook Lopez scored 13 points, Sterling Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds and Wesley Matthews scored 10.Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 16 points. Lauri Markkanen added 14 points, making 4 of 8 of his 3-point attempts.PELICANS 133, HAWKS 109Jrue Holiday led New Orleans with 21 points and Zion Williamson scored 16, including several highlight-reel dunks.Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick in June's draft, threw down his first preseason dunk, a tomahawk... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic will open training camp Tuesday with an expectation they haven't had in many years — to win.After making the NBA playoffs for the first time in seven years, the Magic brought back every rotation player including Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ros after both signed four-year contracts this summer to stay in Orlando after becoming free agents."If you look at all the teams in the past that brought back the same teams, like the Spurs, they always win," said guard D.J. Augustin. "They keep the same culture and the same chemistry. It's going to be great for our team. If we start how we finished last year, we can do amazing things this year."Under first-year coach Steve Clifford, the Magic won 22 of their last 31 regular-season games to finish 42-40, then lost in five games to the eventual champion Toronto Raptors."Just to get a taste of the playoffs was a great feeling," said forward Aaron Gordon. "We put together a great stretch after the All-Star break, and... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — It was time for the last jump shot of Markelle Fultz's workout on the Orlando Magic practice court on Wednesday. He let a 3-pointer fly from the left corner, and spun around in celebration even before the ball swished through the net.After two years of problems, he's feeling good again.The shoulder injuries that kept him off the court for most of the two seasons since he was picked No. 1 in the 2017 draft are now being managed — he's hesitant to say healed — and Fultz is expected to be a full participant in practice when the Magic open training camp next week. It's a significant step forward, though the Magic also know they'll have to proceed with caution."Man, I always have joy every time I step in here no matter what's going on," Fultz said after his workout. "As I learned quickly, you can't take it for granted. You never know when it's going to get stripped away from you."His shot is still a work in progress. Some of his jumpers Wednesday were perfect, some rimmed... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic were supposed to have gotten a day off on Jan. 30. Instead, an incensed coach Steve Clifford brought his team in to watch film and make them see all the mistakes they made the night before in a loss to Oklahoma City.Plenty of teams would have grumbled about such a move.In this case, it paid off.Clifford showed them the error of their ways, and their ways changed. They took some days off over the next 3 1/2 months, sure — but they didn't take any more games off. A team that was 20-31 after that Thunder loss wound up going 22-9 down the stretch, earned its first playoff berth in seven years and set the tone for what Clifford is going to expect from the outset of next season."As the season went on, we played better and better and toward the end of the year we played some of our best basketball," Magic center Nikola Vucevic said. "We were just very well organized and it comes from the culture that coach Clifford installed, put in for us. As the season... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tobias Harris drove the lane, tossed up a runner and buried the winner in what turned out to be his final shot for the Los Angeles Clippers.His packed bags needed a new destination. Next stop, Philadelphia.The 26-year-old Harris is headed to the 76ers as part of a late-night deal that suddenly gives the team the best starting five in the Eastern Conference and stamped them as legitimate title contenders.Harris is ready for the move — he tweeted early Wednesday a GIF from the opening credits of the 1990s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" showing Will Smith's character playing basketball.The Sixers can only hope this trade turns into a story all about how the East got flipped-turned upside down.They paid a steep price for the free agent: Sensational rookie guard Landry Shamet and four draft picks are headed to the Clippers. Philadelphia traded forwards Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala to Los Angeles, too.The Sixers also acquired center Boban Marjanovic and forward Mike... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tobias Harris drove the lane, tossed up a runner and buried the winner in what turned out to be his final shot for the Los Angeles Clippers.His packed bags needed a new destination. Next stop, Philadelphia.The 26-year-old Harris is headed to the 76ers as part of a late-night deal that suddenly gives the team the best starting five in the Eastern Conference and stamped them as legitimate title contenders.Harris is ready for the move — he tweeted early Wednesday a GIF from the opening credits of the 1990s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" showing Will Smith's character playing basketball.The Sixers can only hope this trade turns into a story all about how the East got flipped-turned upside down.They paid a steep price for the free agent: Sensational rookie guard Landry Shamet and four draft picks are headed to the Clippers. Philadelphia traded forwards Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala to Los Angeles, too.The Sixers also acquired center Boban Marjanovic and forward Mike... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tobias Harris drove the lane, tossed up a runner and buried the winner in what turned out to be his final shot for the Los Angeles Clippers.His packed bags needed a new destination. Next stop, Philadelphia.The 26-year-old Harris is headed to the 76ers as part of a late-night deal that suddenly gives the team the best starting five in the Eastern Conference and stamped them as legitimate title contenders.Harris is ready for the move — he tweeted early Wednesday a GIF from the opening credits of the 1990s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" showing Will Smith's character playing basketball.The Sixers can only hope this trade turns into a story all about how the East got flipped-turned upside down.They paid a steep price for the free agent: Sensational rookie guard Landry Shamet and four draft picks are headed to the Clippers. Philadelphia also traded forwards Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala to Los Angeles.A person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press the... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to acquire Los Angeles Clippers forward Tobias Harris as the centerpiece of a six-player, four-draft pick trade they hope can put them over the top in the East.A person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press the Sixers also acquired center Boban Marjanovic and forward Mike Scott as part of the deal. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been announced.Harris is ready for the move — he tweeted early Wednesday a GIF from the opening credits of the 1990s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" showing Will Smith's character playing basketball.The Clippers restocked the roster with pieces for the future. The Sixers sent rookie guard Landry Shamet and four draft picks to the Clippers. Philadelphia also traded forwards Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala to Los Angeles.The 26-year-old Harris is having a breakout season with the Clippers. He averages 20.9 points and shoots nearly 50 percent... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to acquire Los Angeles Clippers forward Tobias Harris as the centerpiece of a six-player, four-draft pick trade they hope can put them over the top in the East.A person familiar with the trade said the Sixers also acquired center Boban Marjanovic and forward Mike Scott as part of the deal. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been announced.Harris is ready for the move — he tweeted early Wednesday a GIF from the opening credits of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."The Clippers restocked the roster with pieces for the future. The Sixers sent rookie guard Landry Shamet and four draft picks to the Clippers. The Sixers also traded forwards Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala to the Clippers.The 26-year-old Harris is having a breakout season with the Clippers. He averages 20.7 points and shoots 42 percent from 3-point range and will start with All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, and Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick... [More]