NEW YORK (AP) — Nets point guard Kyrie Irving is missing an eighth straight game because of an injured right shoulder. He is again unable to face his former team, the Boston Celtics.Brooklyn hoped he could return Friday for the second part of its home-and-home against Boston. Instead, the Nets ruled him out once more with an impingement and hoped to have an update after the game.Coach Kenny Atkinson said Irving would be at the arena for further evaluation. Irving averaged a team-high 28.5 points in 11 games before he was hurt.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Kevin Love knows change could be coming.A couple of years ago, uncertainty might have been something that stressed him out, triggered the sorts of feelings like the ones that manifested themselves in the form of an in-game panic attack in 2017, rendered him unable to compete as efficiently as he wanted.Not this time.Even though he has three full years and about $90 million left on his contract after this season, it's no secret that Love could be traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Plenty of teams even make sense for such a move — Portland, Dallas, Denver, Miami among others.But going public with the details of his panic attack — and his ongoing involvement in the conversation about the need to take care of mental health — has not left Love feeling vulnerable. He's more at peace than anything else, and that's why the rumors that are out there aren't gnawing at him."I'm just going to let the chips fall," Love said. "I know that this is a young team. I think I can help them. I'm going to do... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving will miss a third straight game with a right shoulder injury.The Nets said Tuesday that the All-Star guard wouldn’t play Wednesday when they host Charlotte.Brooklyn beat Chicago on Saturday in its first game without Irving, but lost Monday to Indiana in its return home after a five-game road trip.The Nets are also without their other starting guard, as Caris LeVert had surgery on his right thumb.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Plenty has changed since Carmelo Anthony last played an NBA game.Zion Williamson had just made his Duke debut. Kyrie Irving had said only a month earlier he planned to re-sign in Boston.There’s been turnover all over the league — including a blockbuster trade between Anthony’s last two teams that sent Russell Westbrook to Houston and Chris Paul to Oklahoma City.When Anthony joins the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday in New Orleans, he will come to an NBA that’s much different since Nov. 8, 2018, and he will try to show he still fits in it.“I just look at that opportunity, that team, and say, ‘Look, this is what I can bring to the team, this where I can help,’ and it will only work if all parties see it the same way,” Anthony said in a video posted Monday.Plenty of fellow players think he can. A former coach hopes he will.“Hopefully this is a good situation,” Houston’s Mike D’Antoni said. “You never know why this didn’t happen before. For whatever reason. Maybe he wasn’t ready. I hope it... [More]

Plenty has changed since Carmelo Anthony last played an NBA game.Zion Williamson had just made his Duke debut. Kyrie Irving had said only a month earlier he planned to re-sign in Boston.There’s been turnover all over the league — including a blockbuster trade between Anthony’s last two teams that sent Russell Westbrook to Houston and Chris Paul to Oklahoma City.When Anthony joins the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday in New Orleans, he will come to an NBA that’s much different since Nov. 8, 2018, and he will try to show he still fits in it.“I just look at that opportunity, that team, and say, ‘Look, this is what I can bring to the team, this where I can help,’ and it will only work if all parties see it the same way,” Anthony said in a video posted Monday.Plenty of fellow players think he can. A former coach hopes he will.“Hopefully this is a good situation,” Houston’s Mike D’Antoni said. “You never know why this didn’t happen before. For whatever reason. Maybe he wasn’t ready. I hope it... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving will miss his second straight game because of a right shoulder injury.The Nets announced several hours before tipoff that the All-Star point guard wouldn’t play Monday night against the Indiana Pacers because of an impingement.Irving sat out for the first time this season Saturday at Chicago. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points in his place to lead the Nets to a 117-111 victory.Irving is averaging 28.5 points in his first season in Brooklyn.The Pacers will be without guards Malcolm Brogdon (back), Jeremy Lamb (ankle) and T.J. McConnell (groin).____More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CHICAGO (AP) — Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving will miss Nets’ game at Chicago on Saturday night because of a shoulder injury.Coach Kenny Atkinson said he does not know if Irving will return for the Nets’ upcoming homestand. Irving had 17 points and nine assists in a loss at Denver on Thursday night after being listed as questionable before the game.“He has played through some pain, obviously,” Atkinson said. “We just felt it was best that he doesn't play today to take care of it and get healthy for when we get home."Irving did not speak with reporters before the game. Atkinson said Irving “took a pretty good shot” to his shoulder at Utah on Tuesday and that he’s day-to-day.Irving is sixth in the NBA in scoring average at 28.5 points.It’s the first game the six-time All-Star has missed this season. Spencer Dinwiddie was listed in the Nets’ starting lineup to replace Irving.

CHICAGO (AP) — Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving will miss the game at Chicago because of a shoulder injury.The team made the announcement before the game on Saturday night.Irving had 17 points and nine assists at Denver on Thursday after being listed as questionable before the game.Irving is sixth in the NBA in scoring average at 28.5 points.It’s the first game the six-time All-Star has missed this season.

CHICAGO (AP) — Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving will miss the game at Chicago because of a shoulder injury.The team made the announcement before the game on Saturday night.Irving had 17 points and nine assists at Denver on Thursday after being listed as questionable before the game.Irving is sixth in the NBA in scoring average at 28.5 points.It’s the first game the six-time All-Star has missed this season.

NEW YORK (AP) — When Kristaps Porzingis crashed to the Madison Square Garden floor in pain on Feb. 6, 2018, it was soon clear that would be his final play of the season.Much harder to imagine was that it would be the final play of his Knicks career.Porzingis returns to the arena on Thursday for a nationally televised game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Knicks, who are already showing signs of the type of chaos that helped sour the star forward on the team in the first place.Though Porzingis enjoyed the city and the fans, the dark cloud under which the Knicks permanently reside was something he’s been glad to escape.“I remember when I was there the expectations were always high for us, and it’s a city hungry for success in basketball,” Porzingis said Wednesday. “And for them, for the fans and for the city to be going through this year after year, it’s got to be tough. And so it’s always a lot of pressure and when things are not going right immediately, there needs to be changes, and... [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]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Brooklyn Nets' transformation from the shadows to the spotlight happened in just one night.Building a team that can live up to their new expectations is going to take much longer.Even with Kyrie Irving's terrific start, the Nets remain just what they were early last season: good enough to be in just about every game, but not yet good enough to win many of them.The Nets are just 2-4 and later this week begin a five-game road trip that includes difficult stops at Portland, Utah and Denver."We have three new starters and we're still working through getting on the same page. You say well, that's your job, to get it done. And we're working towards that. We're not there yet," Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said.Though the Nets landed commitments from Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan on the opening night of free agency, they also lost a lot from a team that went 42-40 and reached the playoffs. All-Star D'Angelo Russell is gone along with what Atkinson counts as seven... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Koby Altman has some extra job security as he rebuilds the Cavaliers.Cleveland signed its general manager to a long-term contract extension Friday, making him the first GM since Dan Gilbert bought the team in 2005 to receive a second deal.The Cavs did not release terms.The 37-year-old Altman signed a three-year contract in 2017, not long after he took over on an interim basis when the club parted with previous GM David Griffin, who guided the Cavs to an NBA title in 2016."Koby has been a culture-driver and an innovator who has built a fresh, new foundation and environment for our front office and team that inspires everyone involved," Gilbert said. "He is a passionate leader who is executing a very dynamic, strategic plan for the future of the team and our vision for growth and success."Gilbert has had four other GMs beside Altman since he bought the Cavs from Gordon Gund 14 years ago. Altman, who started with the club as a pro personnel manager in 2012, says he is "truly... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — A group of fans held signs, wore shirts and chanted support for Hong Kong and Tibet in the Brooklyn Nets' first game since returning from China.The fans sat behind the backboard near the Nets' bench at Barclays Center in their 123-107 loss to Toronto on Friday night.The Nets returned this week after playing exhibition games against the Los Angeles Lakers in Shanghai and Shenzhen. The games were not televised in China after relations between the NBA and Chinese officials became strained following Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's tweet in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.One sign was aimed at LeBron James and Nets owner Joe Tsai, the co-founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who were critical of Morey's tweet. Tsai wrote a Facebook post explaining why the since-deleted tweet was upsetting to the Chinese.Nets guard Kyrie Irving said he understood why the protesters came to the game."I think that when you think about communities across... [More]

In today's high-stakes NBA, a powerful pair beats three of a kind.Teams who longed to build a Big Three are now striving for a dynamic duo, hoping two premier players are good enough to win a championship when the belief used to be that it required a trio.And with some of the combinations assembled this summer, it sure seems less is more.That's certainly the thinking in Los Angeles, where LeBron James and Anthony Davis will try to power the Lakers back to the playoffs, and Kawhi Leonard and Paul George attempt to carry the Clippers further than they've ever gone before.Houston is putting James Harden and Russell Westbrook together in a backcourt of recent MVPs, and Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant made the Nets the talk of not only New York but also the entire NBA on the opening day of free agency when they decided to partner up in Brooklyn."Everybody was looking for a Big Three," George said. "It didn't work for a lot of teams, so now this is a new dynamic for the new generation of this league."One... [More]

In today's high-stakes NBA, a powerful pair beats three of a kind.Teams who longed to build a Big Three are now striving for a dynamic duo, hoping two premier players are good enough to win a championship when the belief used to be that it required a trio.And with some of the combinations assembled this summer, it sure seems less is more.That's certainly the thinking in Los Angeles, where LeBron James and Anthony Davis will try to power the Lakers back to the playoffs, and Kawhi Leonard and Paul George attempt to carry the Clippers further than they've ever gone before.Houston is putting James Harden and Russell Westbrook together in a backcourt of recent MVPs, and Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant made the Nets the talk of not only New York but also the entire NBA on the opening day of free agency when they decided to partner up in Brooklyn."Everybody was looking for a Big Three," George said. "It didn't work for a lot of teams, so now this is a new dynamic for the new generation of this league."One... [More]

Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers did not get out of China unscathed.Davis will have tests Sunday to determine the full severity of a right thumb injury, which the Lakers have initially diagnosed as a sprain. He got hurt in the first quarter of the Lakers' 91-77 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at Shenzhen in the finale of the NBA China Games series.Caris LeVert scored 22 points on 8 for 11 shooting for Brooklyn, which swept the two matchups between the clubs in China. Taurean Prince scored 14 for Brooklyn, and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 11 rebounds in 19 minutes.Avery Bradley led the Lakers with 14 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 11.The encouraging sign for the Lakers is that Davis — who has a history of being plagued by injuries throughout his career — continued to play for a few minutes after getting hurt while attempting to block a shot. He and LeBron James both shot 2 for 7 and scored six points apiece for the Lakers; James, like Davis, played the entire first quarter... [More]

Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers did not get out of China unscathed.Davis will have tests Sunday to determine the full severity of a right thumb injury, which the Lakers have initially diagnosed as a sprain. He got hurt in the first quarter of the Lakers' 91-77 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at Shenzhen in the finale of the NBA China Games series.Caris LeVert scored 22 points on 8 for 11 shooting for Brooklyn, which swept the two matchups between the clubs in China. Taurean Prince scored 14 for Brooklyn, and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 11 rebounds in 19 minutes.Avery Bradley led the Lakers with 14 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 11.The encouraging sign for the Lakers is that Davis — who has a history of being plagued by injuries throughout his career — continued to play for a few minutes after getting hurt while attempting to block a shot. He and LeBron James both shot 2 for 7 and scored six points apiece for the Lakers; James, like Davis, played the entire first quarter... [More]

SHANGHAI (AP) — Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving left the team's preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers about one minute after tip-off after taking a hit to the face.Irving was attempting to play through a facial fracture, an injury that occurred in a pickup game last month. He was wearing a clear mask in an effort to protect his face, but appeared to bump into Lakers guard Rajon Rondo while playing defense just 1:06 into the contest.Irving's face made contact with Rondo's upper arm. The Nets guard immediately winced in pain, took the mask off and motioned to the bench that he needed a substitute.The Nets said Irving would not return to the game.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SHANGHAI (AP) — Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving left the team's preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers about one minute after tip-off after taking a hit to the face.Irving was attempting to play through a facial fracture, an injury that occurred in a pickup game last month. He was wearing a clear mask in an effort to protect his face, but appeared to bump into Lakers guard Rajon Rondo while playing defense just 1:06 into the contest.Irving's face made contact with Rondo's upper arm. The Nets guard immediately winced in pain, took the mask off and motioned to the bench that he needed a substitute.It was not immediately clear if Irving would return to the game.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports