NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers have been fined $50,000 for violating the NBA's tampering rule again.League officials made the announcement Tuesday in response to an interview team president Earvin "Magic" Johnson did with ESPN.Johnson was discussing the skills of Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo and said the Greek native would put the Bucks "on the map" and bring them an NBA title.It's the third time in less than 12 months the Lakers have been disciplined for tampering.The team was fined $500,000 last summer after the league found general manager Rob Pelinka had been communicating with Paul George's agent while George was with the Indiana Pacers. Previously, the NBA issued a warning to the team after Johnson winked at George during a television interview.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

NEW YORK (AP) — Oklahoma City forward Paul George will replace injured New Orleans center DeMarcus Cousins on Team LeBron in the NBA All-Star Game.NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the decision Saturday, a day after Cousins went down for the season with an Achilles tear. The All-Star Game is Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.George is averaging 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.17 steals in his first season with the Thunder after seven with Indiana."Obviously, I would have liked to make it under better circumstance, because of an injury I got in," George said after his team's 121-108 win at Detroit. "But needless to say, I'm happy for this to be my fifth and go alongside Russ (Westbrook) and, you know, be a part of this franchise to hold it down for the Thunder. I'm grateful for this opportunity."Cousins was voted to start and was drafted to Team LeBron by captain LeBron James.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

NEW YORK (AP) — Oklahoma City forward Paul George will replace injured New Orleans center DeMarcus Cousins on Team LeBron in the NBA All-Star Game.NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the decision Saturday, a day after Cousins went down for the season with an Achilles tear. The All-Star Game is Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.George is averaging 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.17 steals in his first season with the Thunder after seven with Indiana.Cousins was voted to start and drafted to Team LeBron by captain LeBron James.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Curry will be able to stock his All-Star roster with plenty of Golden State teammates.Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were chosen as reserves Tuesday, giving the defending NBA champions a record-tying four All-Stars for the second straight year.The Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards also had two reserves selected, and they will go into the pool of players that Curry and fellow captain LeBron James can draft to comprise the teams for the Feb. 18 game in Los Angeles. Their rosters will be unveiled Thursday, though the selection process won't be televised.Minnesota's Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns were chosen from the Western Conference, along with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Portland's Damian Lillard.Besides Washington's John Wall and Bradley Beal, the rest of the Eastern Conference reserves were Boston's Al Horford, Cleveland's Kevin Love, New York's Kristaps Porzingis, Toronto's Kyle Lowry and Indiana's... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Curry will be able to stock his All-Star roster with plenty of Golden State teammates.Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were chosen as reserves Tuesday, giving the defending NBA champions a record-tying four All-Stars for the second straight year.The Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards also had two reserves selected, and they will go into the pool of players that Curry and fellow captain LeBron James can draft to comprise the teams for the Feb. 18 game in Los Angeles. Their rosters will be unveiled Thursday, though the selection process won't be televised.Minnesota's Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns were chosen from the Western Conference, along with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Portland's Damian Lillard.Besides Washington's John Wall and Bradley Beal, the rest of the Eastern Conference reserves were Boston's Al Horford, Cleveland's Kevin Love, New York's Kristaps Porzingis, Toronto's Kyle Lowry and Indiana's... [More]

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Thunder coach Billy Donovan can't pinpoint the best thing about Paul George.Oklahoma City's versatile forward averages just over 20 points per game, leads the league in steals and is third in 3-point goals while shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc."I think that's what makes him the player he is," Donovan said. "There's a lot of players in the league that are great offensive players, but they're not great defensive players. I think arguably, it would be hard to make a case either way of what end of the floor he's better on, offense or defense, because he's that special."George believes he's having an All-Star season in first year with Oklahoma City after being traded from the Indiana Pacers. There have been challenges as he has tried to fit in with superstars Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony and it's still unclear where he will play next season because of his upcoming free agency.Still, he has remained focused enough to be a top-notch performer. As he has found... [More]

F Paul George scored 25 for the Thunder in Sunday's 116-113 loss to Dallas.

F Paul George scored 33 points Wednesday. George was 11 of 17 from the floor, including 7 of 10 from behind the 3-point arc as the Thunder shot 52.9 percent, topping 50 percent for the fourth time in five games.

F Paul George scored 24 points Monday.

F Paul George added 26 points for the Thunder. George and PG Russell Westbrook rank first and second, respectively, in the NBA in steals per game. George averages 2.6 steals and Westbrook averages 2.1 per contest.

F Paul George made his return to Indiana Wednesday after being traded to Oklahoma City in the offseason and scored 12 points on a 3-of-14 shooting. He was booed loudly when introduced and every time he touched the ball throughout the game.George, a four-time All-Star, was traded to Oklahoma City in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis after he told the Pacers he didn't plan to re-sign with the team following the 2017-18 season. "I'm glad the circus is over with, now everybody can move on," George said. "I'm not sure what they (fans) wanted me to be, a circus act or some kind of show. I played my hardest. I played everything. I thought I took what the city is about and that's being blue collar."

F Paul George added 20 points for the Thunder.

F Paul George missed a second straight game for Oklahoma City with a calf injury after going through warm-ups Saturday.

F Paul George will miss Thursday's game against the Brooklyn Nets in Mexico City due to a bruised right calf. It will be the first game George has missed since joining the Thunder in an offseason trade from the Indiana Pacers. George suffered the injury during Tuesday's game against the Utah Jazz.

G Paul George sat with a calf injury Thursday in the game at Mexico City.

F Paul George scored 21 points in Tuesday's 100-94 victory over Utah.

F Paul George struggled with foul trouble early and didn't score until early in the third quarter. He wound up with eight points and eight rebounds.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Thunder's troublesome trend of letting second-half leads disappear looked like it was going to show itself again.The Minnesota Timberwolves cut a double-digit Thunder lead to one possession with less than a minute to play, but Paul George hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds to play as the Thunder closed out a 111-107 win Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.George had 36 points and Oklahoma City center Steven Adams had 27. Andrew Wiggins' 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds to go had Minnesota as close as it had been since the first quarter, but unlike the Timberwolves' last trip to Oklahoma City -- when Wiggins banked in a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer -- the Thunder put this one out of reach.Heat 105, Hornets 100MIAMI -- Josh Richardson scored a career-high 27 points to lead Miami over Charlotte.Dion Waiters finished with 19 points and Wayne Ellington scored 14 points as the Heat overcame a 15-point first-quarter deficit.Miami took the lead for good... [More]

F Paul George scored 22 points Wednesday in Orlando after missing 11 of 12 shots Saturday in Dallas.

G Paul George, who scored a season-best 42 points two weeks ago, had only two against Dallas on 1-of-12 shooting.