SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry is confident he has put his left hand through every possible test aside from actually getting into an NBA game.He will get that chance Thursday night, when the two-time MVP is set to return following a more than four-month absence with a broken left hand to play for Golden State against the Toronto Raptors. Curry said he is comfortable enough to play, though it may be months before his hand feels completely “normal” again to where he can compare it to the right side. Yet he still plans to play in the Tokyo Olympics this summer with the Team USA training camp scheduled to open in July.“Hopefully, there aren't any thoughts and I get to play my game the way I see it and just be able to react and make plays without having second thoughts or hesitation,” Curry said after shootaround Thursday morning at Chase Center. “If I need to make a left-handed pass, no matter where it is, or finish with my left or defend and get a deflection or take a hit with it, that... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry is scheduled to return from a more than four-month absence with a broken left hand to play for Golden State against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night.The Warriors announced Wednesday night that Curry had been medically cleared to play and would be in the lineup Thursday in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals won in six games by Toronto. The two-time NBA MVP missed 58 games after falling on his left hand Oct. 30 versus Phoenix. He practiced Monday with the G League Santa Cruz Warriors, then was recalled back to the NBA team later in the day in a most expected promotion. Curry, who turns 32 on March 14, had hoped to return last Sunday against Washington but his timeline wasn't too far delayed. He is averaging 20.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds over just four games this season. Golden State Curry's initial game back from injury also will be his first on the court with Andrew Wiggins, who was acquired by the Warriors from Minnesota on Feb. 6 for... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry is aiming to return to the Golden State Warriors lineup on Sunday for the first time sine breaking his left hand in October.Coach Steve Kerr said Tuesday that the hope is that Curry will be able to play against Washington. Curry has been practicing in recent weeks and will be re-evaluated on Saturday before a final decision is made."He's had that date in his mind," Kerr said. "He'll continue to work this week and we'll make that determination on Saturday."Curry hasn't played since breaking his left hand on Oct. 30 against the Phoenix Suns. The Warriors (12-45) have the worst record in the NBA this season after making five straight trips to the NBA Finals.Curry has played only four games and Klay Thompson has missed the entire season recovering from a serious knee injury.Kerr said he wants Curry to get time to play with recently acquired forward Andrew Wiggins down the stretch to help make for a smoother transition next season.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In Brooklyn a couple of days back, Bob Myers realized something he has rarely seen as Golden State's general manager or even dating to his days as a busy sports agent: Nobody wanted to be traded from the NBA's worst team.“That's unprecedented,” Myers said Friday after dealing much of the Warriors roster this week.Golden State dealt D'Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans III and Omari Spellman to the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of Thursday's trade deadline for Andrew Wiggins and draft picks — Minneosta's first-rounder and second-rounder in 2021, unless the first-rounder is in the top three and then it would roll over to 2022.It was “somber” as Myers put it after Golden State opted to send so many players packing for new opportunities. He felt it. Coaches felt it. The young Warriors said heartfelt farewells, having built tight bonds by being thrown into the fire because of injuries to stars such as Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and following Kevin Durant's offseason... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Not yet finished with his fifth NBA season, D'Angelo Russell has landed with his fourth team.Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves sure don't want him to leave. “It’s surreal to really think that instead of us just talking on the phone or playing video games with each other and talking about how our teams are doing and everything, but now we’re getting to do this every day with each other,” Towns said.Russell was introduced at an open-to-the-public news conference Friday along with six other players acquired during the trading spree this week.“I’ve been seeing from a distance, and from close-up, the ship that Karl’s kind of been driving around here for years,” Russell said. “Players come and go from here. I take it they didn’t appreciate the situation here or whatever that may be, but watching from a distance I knew I could help Karl. I’ve never played with a dynamic big just like him.”President of basketball operations Gersson Rosas was hired May 1. He was... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have taken on yet another new look, with D'Angelo Russell on his way to join pal Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins heading west to the Golden State Warriors.In a swap of high scorers consummated just a few hours before the NBA deadline on Thursday, the Timberwolves acquired the dynamic point guard they'd been seeking for awhile in Russell and pulled the plug on their development of Wiggins, the mercurial first overall pick of the 2014 draft.The deal also sent two little-used Golden State players, guard Jacob Evans and forward Omari Spellman, to the Timberwolves and routed two draft picks to the Warriors. They'll get Minnesota's first-rounder and second-rounder in 2021, unless the first-rounder is in the top three. Then it would roll over to 2022.That means the Timberwolves, who overturned half of their roster this week, will have two first-round picks this summer, their own that's likely to be in the top five and another one from Brooklyn... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Most of the top NBA playoff contenders stayed out of the down-to-the-wire frenzy at the trade deadline.Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers beefed up instead.And a slew of other teams — including the Golden State Warriors — made moves with short-term finances and long-term ramifications in mind.The NBA’s 3 p.m. EST deadline Thursday for trades to be consummated did not arrive quietly, with a flurry of deals getting struck in the final hour and at least one other notable move falling apart before reaching the finish line. Deals that included at least 41 players and 15 future draft picks were struck on either Wednesday or Thursday — the biggest move likely being the one Thursday that saw Andrew Wiggins going from Minnesota to the Warriors so D’Angelo Russell could leave Golden State finally be paired with his good friend Karl-Anthony Towns with the Timberwolves.Here's how busy the Timberwolves were at trade-deadline time: They announced the jersey numbers of eight new players Thursday... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Most of the top NBA playoff contenders stayed out of the down-to-the-wire frenzy at the trade deadline.Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers beefed up instead.And a slew of other teams — including the Golden State Warriors — made moves with short-term finances and long-term ramifications in mind.The NBA’s 3 p.m. EST deadline Thursday for trades to be consummated did not arrive quietly, with a flurry of deals getting struck in the final hour and at least one other notable move falling apart before reaching the finish line. Deals that included at least 41 players and 15 future draft picks were struck on either Wednesday or Thursday — the biggest move likely being the one Thursday that saw Andrew Wiggins going from Minnesota to the Warriors so D’Angelo Russell could leave Golden State finally be paired with his good friend Karl-Anthony Towns with the Timberwolves.Here's how busy the Timberwolves were at trade-deadline time: They announced the jersey numbers of eight new players Thursday... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have taken on yet another new look, with D'Angelo Russell on his way to join pal Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins heading west to the Golden State Warriors.In a swap of high scorers consummated just a few hours before the NBA deadline on Thursday, the Timberwolves acquired the dynamic point guard they'd been seeking for awhile in Russell and pulled the plug on their development of Wiggins, the mercurial first overall pick of the 2014 draft.The deal also sent two little-used Golden State players, guard Jacob Evans and forward Omari Spellman, to the Timberwolves and routed two draft picks to the Warriors. They'll get Minnesota's first-rounder and second-rounder in 2021, unless the first-rounder is in the top three. Then it would roll over to 2022.That means the Timberwolves, who overturned half of their roster this week, will have two first-round picks this summer, their own that's likely to be in the top five and another one from Brooklyn... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Most of the top NBA playoff contenders stayed out of the down-to-the-wire frenzy at the trade deadline.Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers beefed up instead.And a slew of other teams — including the Golden State Warriors — made moves with short-term finances and long-term ramifications in mind.The NBA’s 3 p.m. EST deadline Thursday for trades to be consummated did not arrive quietly, with a flurry of deals getting struck in the final hour and at least one other notable move falling apart before reaching the finish line. Deals that included at least 41 players and 15 future draft picks were struck on either Wednesday or Thursday — the biggest move likely being the one Thursday that saw Andrew Wiggins going from Minnesota to the Warriors so D’Angelo Russell could leave Golden State finally be paired with his good friend Karl-Anthony Towns with the Timberwolves.Marcus Morris leaves New York for Los Angeles, going from the woebegone Knicks to the title-hoping Clippers — who added... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — In a swap of high scorers, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired D'Angelo Russell on Thursday from the Golden State Warriors for Andrew Wiggins, according to a person with knowledge of the trade.The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had yet to be finalized by the NBA with a few hours remaining before the deadline. ESPN first reported the trade, which also includes additional players and draft picks. Russell had been on Minnesota's radar for months, a dynamic point guard in his fifth season in the league after going as the second overall pick in the 2015 draft. The first choice that year was Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, a friend of Russell around whom the front office has been trying to rebuild the roster. Minnesota will be Russell's fourth NBA team. He averaged 23.6 points per game for the injury-wrecked Warriors, a career high after coming in an offseason trade with Brooklyn. The Wolves tried to woo him then, too,... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — In a swap of high scorers, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired D'Angelo Russell on Thursday from the Golden State Warriors for Andrew Wiggins, according to a person with knowledge of the trade.The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had yet to be finalized by the NBA with a few hours remaining before the deadline. ESPN first reported the trade, which also includes additional players and draft picks. Russell had been on Minnesota's radar for months, a dynamic point guard in his fifth season in the league after going as the second overall pick in the 2015 draft. The first choice that year was Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, a friend of Russell around whom the front office has been trying to rebuild the roster. Minnesota will be Russell's fourth NBA team. He averaged 23.6 points per game for the injury-wrecked Warriors.Wiggins, the first overall selection in the 2014 draft, never fulfilled his potential with the Wolves, a shooting and slashing wing with the athleticism and frame to dominate on the perimeter. He's averaging 22.4 points this season.___More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders was eager to work after a restless night, a lack of sleep that was not attributable to the nocturnal habits of his 7-month-old son.His team was the cause after a late-game collapse so stunning it's all but destined to serve as the defining moment of the season no matter what else comes down the stretch.“We put ourselves in the history books for the wrong reason," said star center Karl-Anthony Towns, who has not been on the floor for a victory since Nov. 27.The Timberwolves lost a 17-point lead on Sacramento on Monday with just 2:49 left in regulation, proceeding to lose 133-129 to the Kings in overtime. According to ESPN research, this was the first time in 8,379 games — since the tracking of NBA play-by-play data began with the 1996-97 season — that a team trailing by 17 or more points in the final three minutes had rallied to win.“Trust me, I understand, especially as a Minnesota fan, a game like last night hurts. It does.... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With the Minnesota Timberwolves committed to a new style of play, Jeff Teague didn't fit the trend.The Timberwolves traded the 11th-year veteran point guard to his original team Thursday in a three-player swap of backups with the Atlanta Hawks, who sent shooting guard Allen Crabbe in return.The Timberwolves also dealt shooting guard Treveon Graham, creating a roster space for potential other transactions prior to the Feb. 6 trade deadline. It was the first significant in-season move by new president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, who let the first wave of players acquired by the previous regime go last summer soon after he was hired.Teague, who played his first seven NBA seasons with the Hawks after they made him the 19th overall pick in the 2009 draft, went to his only All-Star game in 2015 for Atlanta.Crabbe is a better stylistic fit for the fast-paced, 3-point-favoring offense the Wolves have transitioned to under Rosas and first-year coach Ryan Saunders.... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Minnesota built a big lead, wasted it and then had to build another one.“Sometimes," Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said, "you have to win a game twice.” Gorgui Dieng scored 22 points, Shabazz Napier had 21 and the Timberwolves blew a 25-point lead before regrouping for a 118-103 victory Sunday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who may have lost rookie Kevin Porter Jr. for an extended period with a knee injury.The Cavs, who rested star Kevin Love one night after he displayed frustration toward his teammates in a loss, trailed 90-65 with four minutes to go in the third quarter and seemed done. But Dante Exum got hot and his 3-pointer with 8:29 left capped a 32-6 blitz to give Cleveland a 97-96 lead.However, the Timberwolves recovered and scored 14 straight with Dieng dropping two 3-pointers during the five-minute stretch to help Minnesota avoid an embarrassing loss.“We just ran out of gas,” Cavs coach John Beilein said.Andrew Wiggins came back after missing four games... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Minnesota built a big lead, wasted it and then had to build another one.“Sometimes," Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said, "you have to win a game twice.” Gorgui Dieng scored 22 points, Shabazz Napier had 21 and the Timberwolves blew a 25-point lead before regrouping for a 118-103 victory Sunday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who may have lost rookie Kevin Porter Jr. for an extended period with a knee injury.The Cavs, who rested star Kevin Love one night after he displayed frustration toward his teammates in a loss, trailed 90-65 with four minutes to go in the third quarter and seemed done. But Dante Exum got hot and his 3-pointer with 8:29 left capped a 32-6 blitz to give Cleveland a 97-96 lead.However, the Timberwolves recovered and scored 14 straight with Dieng dropping two 3-pointers during the five-minute stretch to help Minnesota avoid an embarrassing loss.“We just ran out of gas,” Cavs coach John Beilein said.Andrew Wiggins came back after missing four games... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Gorgui Dieng scored 22 points, Shabazz Napier had 21 and the Minnesota Timberwolves blew a 25-point lead before regrouping for a 118-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.Cleveland rested disgruntled forward Kevin Love and may have lost rookie Kevin Porter Jr. for an extended period with a knee injury.The Cavs trailed 90-65 with four minutes to go in the third quarter and seemed done. But Dante Exum got hot and his 3-pointer with 8:29 left capped a 32-6 blitz to give Cleveland a 97-96 lead, .The Timberwolves recovered and scored 14 straight with Dieng dropping two 3-pointers during the five-minute stretch to help Minnesota avoid an embarrassing loss.Andrew Wiggins came back after missing four games with the flu and scored 15 points for the Timberwolves. They won for just the fourth time in 16 games.Exum, recently acquired in a trade with Utah, scored a career-high 28 points — 24 in the second half — for the Cavs. They dropped their fourth in a row amid... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Gorgui Dieng scored 22 points, Shabazz Napier had 21 and the Minnesota Timberwolves blew a 25-point lead before regrouping for a 118-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.Cleveland rested disgruntled forward Kevin Love and may have lost rookie Kevin Porter Jr. for an extended period with a knee injury.The Cavs trailed 90-65 with four minutes to go in the third quarter and seemed done. But Dante Exum got hot and his 3-pointer with 8:29 left capped a 32-6 blitz to give Cleveland a 97-96 lead, .The Timberwolves recovered and scored 14 straight with Dieng dropping two 3-pointers during the five-minute stretch to help Minnesota avoid an embarrassing loss.Andrew Wiggins came back after missing four games with the flu and scored 15 points for the Timberwolves. They won for just the fourth time in 16 games.Exum, recently acquired in a trade with Utah, scored a career-high 28 points — 24 in the second half — for the Cavs. Theydropped their fourth in a row amid... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Kelly Oubre Jr. was ready for a low-key night on the town with friends and family to celebrate his birthday, dressed head to toe in black with a jacket, shirt, pants and shoes.His work was already done and the results were exactly what he wanted. The new 24-year-old had just poured in 24 points to help the Phoenix Suns top the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-109 on Monday.“It's easy to get lost in the sauce when it comes to the emotions of the game,” Oubre said. “It's my birthday, definitely wanted to win, so I just wanted to go out there and do everything I possibly could to get the win.”Devin Booker led the Suns with 26 points, Oubre shot 8 of 15 from the field and Ricky Rubio finished with 16 points and 14 assists. The Suns won at home for the first time since Nov. 14, snapping a four-game losing streak at Talking Stick Resort Arena.Dario Saric added 20 points for Phoenix. Rubio has dished out at least 13 assists in three straight games and had only one turnover on Monday.“You... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 26 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 24 on his 24th birthday and the Phoenix Suns rolled to a 125-109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.Oubre shot 8 of 15 from the field and made all six free throws, while Ricky Rubio finished with 16 points and 14 assists. The Suns won at home for the first time since Nov. 14, snapping a four-game losing streak at Talking Stick Resort Arena.Dario Saric added 20 points for Phoenix. Rubio has had at least 13 assists in three straight games.Minnesota lost its fifth in a row. The Timberwolves were led by Karl Anthony-Towns, who scored 33 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. He shot 12 of 18 from the field.Andrew Wiggins added 23 points and Jeff Teague had 16 off the bench.Phoenix trailed by three at halftime but rallied for a 94-85 advantage at the end of the third quarter. The Suns pushed that margin to 12 early in the fourth after Rubio's 3-pointer.The Timberwolves made a few small runs in the final period but... [More]