TOKYO (AP) — The Toronto Raptors and the Houston Rockets will play two pre-season games in October at the Saitama Super Arena, the basketball venue for next year's Tokyo Olympics.In a statement Tuesday, the NBA said it has staged 12 regular-season games in Japan, beginning in 1990 when the Utah Jazz played the Phoenix Suns. The NBA says this was the first regular-season game played outside North America by a U.S. sports league.The Rockets played two regular-season games in Japan in 1992. The Raptors will be making their first visit to Japan.Houston is led by James Harden and Chris Paul. Toronto is led by Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, and Marc Gasol.The Saitama Super Arena is located northwest of central Tokyo.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

TOKYO (AP) — The Toronto Raptors and the Houston Rockets will play two pre-season games in October at the Saitama Super Arena, the basketball venue for next year's Tokyo Olympics.In a statement Tuesday, the NBA said it has staged 12 regular-season games in Japan, beginning in 1990 when the Utah Jazz played the Phoenix Suns. The NBA says this was the first regular-season game played outside North America by a U.S. sports league.The Rockets played two regular-season games in Japan in 1992. The Raptors will be making their first visit to Japan.Houston is led by James Harden and Chris Paul. Toronto is led by Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, and Marc Gasol.The Saitama Super Arena is located northwest of central Tokyo.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

TORONTO (AP) — From fellow athletes to star entertainers, DeMar DeRozan has seen plenty of celebrities soaking up an extended round of appreciative applause from fans."When they get that long standing ovation, I always thought that was the coolest thing in the world," DeRozan said Thursday. "I've never received one."Friday night, it could be his turn.DeRozan is back north of the border for the first time since the Toronto Raptors traded him last summer. His new team, the San Antonio Spurs, face the Raptors on Friday. A four-time All-Star in Toronto who helped the Raptors to five straight playoff appearances, DeRozan is likely to receive a warm welcome when he is introduced."If it's one of those long standing ovations, it's definitely going to be overwhelming," DeRozan said in a news conference at the Spurs' team hotel. "It's crazy when you get a whole arena on their feet just showing appreciation. I'm looking forward to it, to feeling the love."Friday's game will be the first following... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Jeremy Lin is on the move again, with the veteran guard getting waived by the Atlanta Hawks and intending to sign later this week playoff-contending Toronto Raptors.The Hawks waived Lin on Monday and Jim Tanner, one of his agents, confirmed Lin's plan to join Toronto, which was first reported by ESPN.Lin and the Hawks worked out a buyout agreement."The future is bright for Atlanta!!! I truly mean that!" Lin posted Monday on Instagram . "Everyone who knows me knows how big my dreams are and that I have so much left to give to the game. Hyped to join the Raptors!!"Lin thanked the Hawks, saying they helped him "become myself again on the basketball court and allowed me to experience the joy of hoops again!"Toronto will become Lin's eighth NBA franchise, after stints with Golden State, New York, Houston, the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte, Brooklyn and this season Atlanta. He appeared in 51 games for the Hawks, all but one of those as a reserve, averaging 10.7 points this season... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Jeremy Lin is about to be on the move again, with the veteran guard in the process of getting bought out by the Atlanta Hawks so he can sign with the playoff-contending Toronto Raptors.Jim Tanner, one of Lin's agents, confirmed the pending move to The Associated Press. ESPN first reported Lin's plan to join the Raptors.Toronto will become Lin's eighth NBA franchise, after stints with Golden State, New York, Houston, the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte, Brooklyn and this season Atlanta. He appeared in 51 games for the Hawks, all but one of those as a reserve, averaging 10.7 points this season on nearly 47 percent shooting.Lin gives the Raptors obvious depth at both guard spots, and will likely — once he clears waivers and joins Toronto — spend time backing up point guard Kyle Lowry and shooting guard Danny Green. And he will be needed soon, with the Raptors announcing Monday that backup guard Fred VanVleet is expected to miss at least three weeks with a partial ligament injury... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Jeremy Lin is about to be on the move again, with the veteran guard in the process of getting bought out by the Atlanta Hawks so he can sign with the playoff-contending Toronto Raptors.Jim Tanner, one of Lin's agents, confirmed the pending move to The Associated Press. ESPN first reported Lin's plan to join the Raptors.Toronto will become Lin's eighth NBA franchise, after stints with Golden State, New York, Houston, the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte, Brooklyn and this season Atlanta. He appeared in 51 games for the Hawks, all but one of those as a reserve, averaging 10.7 points this season on nearly 47 percent shooting.Lin gives the Raptors obvious depth at both guard spots, and will likely — once he clears waivers and joins Toronto — spend time backing up both point guard Kyle Lowry and shooting guard Danny Green.The plans to enter into an agreement with Lin comes one day after the Raptors finalized the conversion of two-way player Chris Boucher's contract to an NBA standard contract.The Raptors entered Monday 41-16 and second in the Eastern Conference behind only NBA-leading Milwaukee.Lin has averaged 11.8 points in 457 career games. He's been part of three previous playoff runs, in 2013 and 2014 with Houston and in 2016 with Charlotte.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The latest episode of "Survivor: NBA" was quite a cliffhanger.All kinds of intrigue. A hefty dose of griping. Some thoroughly unexpected plot twists.Now that's a reality show worth watching."They always catch me by surprise," said Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, whose team had a major role in the plotline. "There's so much going on all the time."Despite complaints from the likes of Kevin Durant and LeBron James, the league's off-the-court drama leading up to Thursday's trade deadline was a welcome respite from the long, sometimes dreary regular season — enhancing all the compelling story lines (and there are plenty) while highlighting a system that really works well for everyone.KD may choose to rip the media for its infatuation with what the future holds for him, but we're guessing the Golden State star doesn't mind cashing those checks (worth $30 million this year) or that he'll be too upset this summer when he can opt out of his contract and decide where he wants to play for a deal... [More]

LeBron James finally has Anthony Davis as a teammate.For one game.His Los Angeles Lakers were unable to swing a deal for Davis, but James drafted the New Orleans Pelicans star on Thursday when he and fellow captain Giannis Antetokounmpo sat down to choose their teams for the Feb. 17 All-Star Game in Charlotte.Davis told the Pelicans he wanted a trade, and James has made it clear that he'd love to play with him. But the Pelicans kept Davis as the trade deadline passed, so for now, their time as teammates will be limited to All-Star weekend and James pounced at the chance to grab him with the second pick of the reserve round."I'm very sure of that," James said, when asked by TNT host Ernie Johnson if he was sure he wanted Davis as a teammate."Isn't that tampering?" Antetokounmpo asked.Responded James, as both players laughed: "Tampering rules do not apply on All-Star weekend," a thinly veiled reference to the reaction James got when he listed Davis as one of many players he would like the... [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]

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]

Imagine this: Kevin Durant is out of bounds by an enormous margin, all three referees somehow miss the obvious infraction and Golden State winds up getting a basket that it didn't deserve to take the lead with a few seconds remaining.It seemed implausible.That is, until it happened.When such a scene played out last week in the Houston-Golden State overtime thriller, James Harden kept a ton of egg from landing on the NBA's face when he connected on a 3-pointer to give the Rockets a win in a game they would have screamed bloody murder about otherwise. But what if he missed? Or worse, if a call that big got missed in Game 7 of the NBA Finals?"How do you miss that?" TNT analyst Reggie Miller mused while watching the Durant replay.An obvious question, with an obvious answer: It's time for a change.Everyone in the NBA replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey that night surely saw Durant standing out of bounds. But there is no mechanism for the replay crews to trigger a review of such a play — since,... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has had pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory injections for his sore lower back.The team said Tuesday he was treated Friday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.Coach Nick Nurse said Monday "things are progressing really well" and it "shouldn't be too long" before Lowry returns. There is, however, no specific timetable.The four-time All-Star has been dealing with back and hip ailments and has missed seven of the last eight games. He did not practice Monday and has been ruled out for Tuesday's home game against Utah.Toronto also said center Jonas Valanciunas had stitches removed from his surgically repaired left hand Saturday. He's expected to miss at least a few more weeks.

TORONTO (AP) — Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas spent a dozen years between them developing their games under coach Dwane Casey. Valanciunas had never played for any other NBA head coach before this season.When they welcome Casey and his Detroit Pistons back to Toronto on Wednesday night, the two longest-serving current Raptors know emotions will be running high."It's going to be different, but hey, I'm still going to try to take his head off, the team's head off," Lowry said with a laugh.The Raptors will face Detroit for the first time since Casey was fired, just days after Toronto was ousted from the playoffs by Cleveland for the third consecutive season.Lowry became a four-time NBA all-star under Casey's watch, while Valanciunas has grown into a multi-skilled big man. Casey had kind words for both Raptors on the eve of his visit. Lowry got off to a rocky start with Casey when the Raptors acquired the temperamental guard in 2012, but he and Valanciunas returned the compliment."(Our relationship)... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard spoke publicly in his first appearance as a Toronto Raptor and said he is physically ready to play.Leonard joined the Raptors in a summertime blockbuster trade with the San Antonio Spurs. How long he stays in Toronto is unclear but the former NBA Finals MVP and two-time defensive player of the year who was limited to nine games last season because of a right quadriceps injury insists he is ready to go as the team gets ready for training camp in Vancouver, British Columbia.Sharing a podium with Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who pulled the trigger on the trade that included acquiring forward Danny Green and losing DeMar DeRozan, Leonard addressed the biggest question about him: His health."Right now I'm feeling great, ready to play basketball." Leonard said. "Throughout the summer I worked on my body. Took it step-by-step, just getting fully healthy, getting ready to make this extra step this season."The usually reserved Leonard also attempted to offer the crowded... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard has yet to address the media in Toronto since his trade to the Raptors, but team president Masai Ujiri said Tuesday that his star acquisition is happy and healthy."He is determined and seems in the right frame of mind," Ujiri said. "You will be hearing from him shortly. I think there is a fire inside of him and we are all excited about that."Leonard was the centerpiece of one of the NBA's biggest off-season trades. The Raptors acquired the two-time Defensive Player of the Year from the San Antonio Spurs along with Danny Green in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a draft pick. Ujiri swung the deal while in Kenya working with his nonprofit, Giants of Africa.While Leonard has remained mum on the move, Ujiri said he's not concerned about the 27-year-old's commitment to the franchise, saying Leonard worked out with Raptors coaches in Los Angeles, and has visited Toronto a couple of times."Basketball person. Just loves the game," he said. "Wants to play... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri hasn't forgotten the first time he met Nick Nurse.It was 1995 and Ujiri, now president of the Toronto Raptors, was playing for the Derby Storm of the British Basketball League. Nurse was coach of the rival Birmingham Bullets. Not yet 30, Nurse had already been on the bench for six years, quickly establishing himself as a coach on the rise."His teams were tough," Ujiri said Thursday as the Raptors officially introduced Nurse as their coach. "There was always something about the Birmingham team that was different from the whole league. People talked about them that way."More than two decades on from that initial introduction, Ujiri is hoping Nurse has what it takes to turn Toronto into the talk of the NBA.The ninth head coach in Raptors history, Nurse replaces his former boss, Dwane Casey — under whom he spent the past five seasons as a Toronto assistant. Casey was fired after the Raptors were swept out of the second round of this year's... [More]