CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls hope to decide on a return date for guard Zach LaVine early next week.LaVine will travel with the team to games at Dallas and Indiana on Friday and Saturday. Coach Fred Hoiberg says the two-time slam dunk champion will meet with doctors, trainers, management and coaches after the Bulls return home.LaVine averaged 18.9 points in 47 games for Minnesota last season before tearing the ACL in his left knee. The Bulls acquired him along with Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen in the trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves.Hoiberg spoke before Wednesday's matchup with Toronto. The Bulls' first home game after the upcoming trip is against Houston on Monday.___More NBA basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid was in the starting lineup against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night after his coach said he was "very doubtful" to play because of a sprained right hand.Embiid had said his hand was swollen and it made him unable to shoot. Embiid, who leads the Sixers with 23.9 points and 10.9 rebounds in 27 games, was hurt Saturday when he took a hard fall against the Suns.Coach Brett Brown said before the game that Embiid was not likely to play. Embiid used a soft touch to sink a couple of shots during pregame drills, and that was enough to convince the Sixers he could play through the injury."When you see it, you see the bruising on his palm," Brown said. "When you go back and look at how he fell, you're surprised that's all it is. It's a club hand. And it's his shooting hand."The Sixers had been used to playing without their cornerstone center. He missed his first two seasons with foot injuries and was limited to 31 games last season.... [More]

Gregg Popovich was the coach nobody wanted.It's hard to fathom now, after five NBA championships as coach of the San Antonio Spurs and with him now alone in fifth place on the league's all-time victory list. But it's true — Popovich's decision to fire Bob Hill and make himself coach and general manager in December 1996 was horribly received at first, leaving even some of his own players baffled.The San Antonio Express-News took a poll after that season and found that 92 percent of Spurs fans wanted Popovich fired.As Popovich would suggest now (on politics, one of his favorite topics), sometimes voters get it wrong."The pressure is always there for any coach," Popovich said. "You've got to get the job done. If you don't, you're not there. If you do get it done, you get to stay."He said those words in 1997. He was right.Popovich now has 1,176 wins. He's 34 away from No. 4 Pat Riley, 45 shy of No. 3 Jerry Sloan, and should catch both next season. He would need 156 to catch No. 2 Lenny Wilkens,... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Isaiah Thomas is back on the court doing what he does best.The All-Star point guard made his long-awaited debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night, his first action since re-injuring his right hip on May 19 in the Eastern Conference finals.With the crowd stirring, Thomas sat at the scorer's table before checking in to a loud ovation with 4:33 left in the first quarter of the Cavs' game with the Portland Trail Blazers.It didn't take long for the 5-foot-9 Thomas to get involved in the action as he quickly picked up an assist on a pass to Jae Crowder, who came along with him from Boston in a blockbuster trade last summer.Wearing his familiar headband and No. 3, the playmaker missed his first shot and got fouled on a drive to the basket. Moments later, Thomas dropped a 14-foot pull-up jumper to pull the Cavs within 28-25.Then, Thomas drove the lane and scooped in a left-handed layup while being fouled, the type of play he perfected in Boston. As he picked himself... [More]

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — When Brad Stevens studied the video of Boston's last game against Cleveland, he skipped over a handful of plays and put the sound on mute."I didn't want to watch the injury or what happened after it," the Celtics coach said on Tuesday, a day before his team was to play the Cavaliers for the first time since Gordon Hayward broke his leg in the season opener. "I just didn't want to rehash that moment, obviously."Boston's top free agent acquisition last summer, Hayward went down in a heap in the first quarter of the first game and is expected to be lost for the season. The gruesome injury cast a pall on the opener and upended the Celtics' plans to supplant the Cavaliers as Eastern Conference champions."It was the first game of the season," forward Jaylen Brown said. "When Gordon went down, it was a traumatic moment for everybody."But the game — and the season — went on.The demoralized Celtics erased an 18-point, third-quarter deficit in the opener before losing by three.... [More]

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball and center Brook Lopez have been cleared to return to practice after recent injury absences.Ball and Lopez are both questionable for the Lakers' next game against Oklahoma City on Wednesday.Ball has been out with a sprained left shoulder since Dec. 23, missing five consecutive games. The rookie No. 2 overall draft pick is averaging 10.0 points, 7.1 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game.Lopez has missed eight games since spraining his right ankle Dec. 18. The veteran big man is averaging 12.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in his first season with Los Angeles.The Lakers (11-25) have lost seven straight games to fall back into last place in the Western Conference standings.___More AP NBA: www.apnews.com/tags/NBAbasketball

WASHINGTON -- Otto Porter scored 26 points and Bradley Beal had 21 as the Washington Wizards handed the Houston Rockets their fifth consecutive loss with a 121-103 win on Friday night.Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter for the Wizards (20-16), who turned a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter into a rout. John Wall finished with 17 points.James Harden led the Rockets (25-9) with 20 points. Chris Paul started and scored eight points in 25 minutes after sitting out the previous three games with a left adductor strain.The Rockets, who average more 3-point attempts than any team, shot 5-for-25 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished 14 of 48.Porter sank 7 of 11 shots from long distance and the Wizards shot 18 of 36 on 3-pointers. Washington finished at 53.4 percent from the field compared to Houston's 42.7 percent.Hornets 111, Warriors 100OAKLAND, Calif. -- Dwight Howard totaled a season-high 29 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists to propel... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Curry returned from an 11-game absence due to an ankle injury and set an NBA season-high by hitting 10 3-pointers as the Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 141-128 on Saturday.In his first game since Dec. 4, Curry scored 38 points on 13 of 17 shooting. He made 10 of 13 as Golden State (29-8) shot 54.5 percent (18 of 33) from behind the arc and 58.8 percent overall.Klay Thompson added 21 and hit five 3-pointers while Kevin Durant contributed 20 for the defending champions.Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies (11-25) with 27 points while Tyreke Evans added 22 as Memphis shot 52.1 percent and 71.4 percent (15 of 21) from 3-point range.Jazz 104, Cavaliers 101SALT LAKE CITY -- Rookie Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and Utah held off Cleveland.Derrick Favors added 19 while Ricky Rubio totaled 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Utah (16-21) beat Cleveland for the fourth straight time.LeBron James turned 33 and played for the seventh time on his birthday.... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Rockets star James Harden will miss at least two weeks with a left hamstring strain.The team announced Monday that the NBA's leading scorer has a grade 2 strain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.Harden was injured on a missed layup late in the fourth quarter of Houston's 148-142 double-overtime win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. He said after the game that he didn't think the injury was serious, but the guard was walking with a pronounced limp.The Rockets have the second-best record in the Western Conference behind Golden State at 26-9, and Harden leads the NBA with his scoring average of 32.3 points per game. He also is averaging 9.1 assists, ranking third in the league.Harden, who has played every game this season, has been extremely durable during his career, missing just two games since the start of the 2014-15 season.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The agonizing wait to play again is over for Isaiah Thomas. Vengeance on the Celtics is still on hold.Thomas, sidelined with a hip injury since last season's Eastern Conference finals, will make his debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.After months of rehab, the All-Star point guard will take the floor for the first time with the Cavaliers, who acquired him last summer in the blockbuster trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Celtics."It's been a long process for me," Thomas said Monday following practice. "It's been a frustrating and tough process, but at the same time you got to trust it. I just attacked it every day to try to get better and now that day is here. I haven't played in so long, so man it's going to be a weird feeling tomorrow, but I'm happy. I'm happy it's here."Coach Tyronn Lue said Thomas will come off the bench and initially will play limited minutes. Also, he will not play in back-to-back games as he builds... [More]

SG JJ Redick scored 22 points in Sunday's win at Phoenix.

C Joel Embiid (back tightness) was back in the lineup after missing Philadelphia's Saturday win in Denver but injured his right hand in a collision with Suns guard Devin Booker when he crashed to the floor with 3:54 left. Postgame X-rays were negative, and Embiid said he was told the hand was sprained. "It's OK, I think I will be fine. They said it wasn't broken," said Embiid, who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists."It was numb (initially), but I wanted to stay in and I wanted to win the game."

F Chandler Parsons also sat out Sunday's win against Sacramento because of a sore right knee.

G Tyreke Evans scored a game-high 26 points in 26 minutes as Memphis won 114-96 over Sacremnto on Sunday. "He's on a mission right now," Grizzlies interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. Evans canned 10 of 16 shots from the field and made 5 of 7 3-point attempts. He added five assists and six rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter.

G Mike Conley is traveling with the team and has taken part in practices, as well as a pregame workout before Saturday's contest at Golden State, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reported. Conley has missed 24 straight games with a left heel injury.

C DeAndre Jordan contributed eight points and 16 rebounds in Sunday's 106-98 win over Charlotte.

G Jeff Teague, an Indianapolis native who signed with the Timberwolves after playing for the Pacers last season, was disappointed about not being able to play against his former team in his hometown on Sunday. He even dressed for warm-ups. The point guard, who averages 13.4 points per game, missed his second straight game with a sprained left MCL and is out indefinitely.

G Lance Stephenson, who is starting in place of injured Victor Oladipo, made just 2 of 9 shots and finished with five points in Sunday's loss to Minnesota. In his first start for Oladipo on Wednesday, Stephenson had his first double-double of the season, including a career-high 15 rebounds. He then matched his season high with 18 points in his second start, a Friday loss at Chicago.

G Jimmy Butler, who averages 21.2 points, scored a game-high 26 points in Sunday's win over Indiana.

F Mike Scott returned to the team Sunday after missing the Friday win over the Houston Rockets for the birth of his second child. He scored 17 points against Chicago.