LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — James Ennis of the Orlando Magic and Marvin Williams of the Milwaukee Bucks were ejected for scuffling on Saturday during Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. The forwards were battling for rebounding position midway through the second quarter with Milwaukee leading 53-34. When they headed back up the floor, Ennis shoved Williams, and Williams shoved back. As the two players were separated, Williams grabbed Ennis’ jersey. Ennis appeared to throw his fist in an attempt to free his jersey.Ennis was in Orlando’s starting lineup, while Williams was filling a reserve role for Milwaukee. The loss of Ennis further depleted an Orlando team that already was playing without Jonathan Isaac, Aaron Gordon, Michael Carter-Williams and Mo Bamba because of various injuries and illnesses.The Eastern Conference series is tied at one game apiece.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Isaac would routinely be inside the Orlando Magic’s AdventHealth practice facility by 7:15 a.m. most days this spring when the facility was open, putting in hours of work to rehabilitate a serious injury to his left knee.And now another, longer rehab regimen awaits the young forward.Isaac left the NBA’s bubble at Walt Disney World on Monday for more tests on his left knee, to determine if additional damage was done when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament on a jump-stop Sunday night. Magic President Jeff Weltman went to visit Isaac before he left, with plans to cheer him up.No need: By then, Weltman said, Isaac was trying to comfort him, not the other way around.“He was chipper and kind of looking at this as Day 1 of his recovering,” Weltman said.ACL tears can take many months, perhaps even a full year, to recover from in most cases — and given the timing of this injury, it raises the possibility that Isaac could miss much of the 2020-21 season... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — So far, so good.The NBA’s bubble remains intact. The extraordinary health protocols put into place to try and save this season seem to be working. The mission shared by coaches and players to use their platform and continue the conversation about racial injustice is off to a strong start.Through four days, here’s just some of what has happened at Walt Disney World: LeBron James had a gamewinner for the Los Angeles Lakers, T.J. Warren put his name all over the Indiana record book with a 53-point outburst, Houston and Dallas combined for more than 300 points in a game, the defending champion Toronto Raptors came out flying and Joel Embiid had a 41-point, 21-rebound night — in a loss.And don't forget the symmetry: Rudy Gobert was the first player to test positive for coronavirus, so naturally, it made sense that the Utah center was the first player to score when the pandemic shutdown was officially over.If that wasn’t enough, the quality of play is so good that... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Meyers Leonard has a brother who served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marines. He carries a military-themed backpack, wears combat boots and has a phone loaded with Navy SEALs who are his friends.He also makes this clear: “I absolutely believe Black Lives Matter,” he said.Still, Leonard simply could not bring himself to kneel for the national anthem.Wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt over a jersey that he ordered to say “Equality,” and as all other coaches and players around him knelt, Leonard stood for the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Saturday before the Heat re-opened their season by facing the Denver Nuggets at Walt Disney World.“Some of the conversations I’ve had over the past three days, quite literally, have been the most difficult,” Leonard told The Associated Press prior to the game. “I am with the Black Lives Matter movement and I love and support the military and my brother and the people who have fought to defend our rights... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Meyers Leonard has a brother who served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marines. He carries a military-themed backpack, wears combat boots and has a phone loaded with Navy SEALs who are his friends.He also makes this clear: “I absolutely believe Black Lives Matter,” he said.Still, Leonard simply could not bring himself to kneel for the national anthem.Wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt over a jersey that he ordered to say “Equality,” and as all other coaches and players around him knelt, Leonard stood for the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Saturday before the Heat re-opened their season by facing the Denver Nuggets at Walt Disney World.“Some of the conversations I’ve had over the past three days, quite literally, have been the most difficult,” Leonard told The Associated Press prior to the game. “I am with the Black Lives Matter movement and I love and support the military and my brother and the people who have fought to defend our rights... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Heat went cold in the fourth quarter Friday night, matching the lowest point total for a quarter by an NBA team in more than two years.Terrence Ross scored 25 points, Nikola Vucevic added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Orlando Magic held Miami to six points over the final 12 minutes on their way to a 105-85 victory."They shut down the paint, they shut down our layups, shut down a lot of the things we're used to getting and shut down our normal threes," Miami coach Eric Spoelstra said. "There was a possession when they must have run us off five straight 3s on their close-outs and did a tremendous job with making multiple efforts, and we weren't really doing that on the other end. They deserved to get that win." Miami shot 3 for 19 from the field and missed all 10 3-point shots while committing six turnovers in the period.The last team team to score only six points in a quarter was Portland against Toronto in October 2017.Jimmy Butler had 23 points and 10 rebounds... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross scored 25 points, Nikola Vucevic added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Orlando Magic shut down the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter in a 105-85 victory Friday night.Miami scored only six points in the fourth quarter, going 3 for 19 from the field. Jimmy Butler had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat.Aaron Gordon had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Magic, and Evan Fournier scored 15 points despite spending most of the game in foul trouble.One day after holding the Toronto Raptors to 6-of-42 shooting from 3-point range in a victory at Miami, the Heat shot 7 for 37 from long range and 37.5% overall.After Vucevic and Gordon combined for three 3-pointers in quick succession to give the Magic to a 67-49 lead early in the third quarter, the Heat responded with a 14-3 run. Meyers Leonard then hit pair of 3-pointers to cut Orlando's lead to four.But Miami wet scoreless for more than 3 1/2 minutes at the outset of the fourth quarter, missing five shots... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac hyperextended his left knee early in the first quarter Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards. Isaac collided with Washington's Bradley Beal with 9:57 left in the first quarter and was taken off the court on a stretcher. The Magic say Isaac will have an MRI in Orlando on Thursday.Issac entered the game averaging 12.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.52 blocks.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross made some shots and his Orlando teammates blocked a bunch of them.Ross scored a season-high 26 points Monday night and the Magic rejected 13 shots to break a three-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls.Mo Bamba came off the bench to block four shots, and Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon blocked three apiece.“That's who we have to be,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “We're long, we have size, we have versatility. “The other guys did great things, but without (Ross), we would have been playing from eight, 10 behind there in the third quarter. He kept us in the game and made shot after shot.” Zach LaVine led Chicago with 26 points on 8-of-26 shooting, but the Bulls managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter. Tomas Satoransky added 20 points and was 4 of 5 on 3-point shots.“It's very difficult to win a road game when you have 17 turnovers and they have 13 blocks,” Bulls coach Jim Boylen said.Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and seven... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross scored a season-high 26 points Monday night to help the Orlando Magic break a three-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls.Zach LaVine led Chicago with 26 points on 8-of-26 shooting, but the Bulls managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter. Tomas Satoransky added 20 points and was 4 of 5 on 3-point shots.Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and seven rebounds for Orlando, which blocked 13 shots and held the Bulls to 31 percent shooting in the second half. Jonathan Isaac finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks.Ross, who made six 3-pointers, hit a short jumper and a 3-pointer on a 7-0 Magic run early in the fourth quarter to put Orlando ahead to stay.With LaVine hitting two free throws and a 3-pointer, the Bulls scored the first nine points of the game.Lauri Markkanen and LaVine made two 3-pointers apiece in the last 4:15 of the first half to leave Chicago with a 54-51 lead at the break.TIP-INSBulls:... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Orlando Magic spent last season climbing back to relevance. They're at it again.Terrence Ross scored 21 points, Evan Fournier added 18 and Aaron Gordon had a big dunk in the final 20 seconds to lead the Magic to their fourth straight win, 93-87 Friday night over the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers, who have dropped four in a row and 11 of 12.Orlando opened the season 2-6, but in winning five of six, the Magic, who had a 17-game improvement in 2018 after winning just 25 games the previous year, reached .500 for the first time.“It’s good we’ve gotten back there after the way we started, but time will tell how good we are,” said Ross, who made two 3-pointers early in the fourth. "We’ve got three tough games coming up that will test us.”The Magic face a brutal stretch over the next week, playing at Milwaukee and home against the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston.Collin Sexton scored 19 points and Cedi Osman 14 for Cleveland, which pulled within 90-87 on rookie Darius Garland's... [More]

Protesters handed out T-shirts and held up signs in support of Hong Kong on Wednesday night when the Washington Wizards hosted a team from the Chinese Basketball Association.The Wizards beat the Guangzhou Long-Lions 137-98 in a game that included more than a half-dozen protests inside Capital One Arena over the NBA's ongoing rift with the Chinese government.Protesters handed out "Free Hong Kong" T-shirts on the street outside the arena before the exhibition game. The protesters, who said they were from Freedom House, held up signs reading, "Shame the NBA," ''South Park was right" and "Memo to the NBA: Principles over profit! No censorship! USA loves Hong Kong."The problems between the NBA and China began after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey posted a tweet last week that showed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.The NBA has not apologized for Morey's remarks.A Freedom House spokeswoman said some members were planning to protest inside during the game. A spokeswoman... [More]

Robin Lopez and Frank Mason III both scored 14 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over the Chicago Bulls 122-112 in preseason action on Monday night.Milwaukee didn't play most of its major contributors, including last year's league Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton.Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game that most of them had a good scrimmage on Sunday so he didn't want to play them in what was essentially a back-to-back stretch.All five of the Bucks' starters scored in double figures. Brook Lopez scored 13 points, Sterling Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds and Wesley Matthews scored 10.Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 16 points. Lauri Markkanen added 14 points, making 4 of 8 of his 3-point attempts.PELICANS 133, HAWKS 109Jrue Holiday led New Orleans with 21 points and Zion Williamson scored 16, including several highlight-reel dunks.Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick in June's draft, threw down his first preseason dunk, a tomahawk... [More]

Robin Lopez and Frank Mason III both scored 14 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over the Chicago Bulls 122-112 in preseason action on Monday night.Milwaukee didn't play most of its major contributors, including last year's league Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton.Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game that most of them had a good scrimmage on Sunday so he didn't want to play them in what was essentially a back-to-back stretch.All five of the Bucks' starters scored in double figures. Brook Lopez scored 13 points, Sterling Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds and Wesley Matthews scored 10.Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 16 points. Lauri Markkanen added 14 points, making 4 of 8 of his 3-point attempts.PELICANS 133, HAWKS 109Jrue Holiday led New Orleans with 21 points and Zion Williamson scored 16, including several highlight-reel dunks.Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick in June's draft, threw down his first preseason dunk, a tomahawk... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — First-year Magic coach Steve Clifford is aware that the most consistent them about his new NBA team over the last few years has been losing.Consider this: Four head coaches and dozens of players have come and gone since Nikola Vucevic arrived in Orlando six years ago in a four-team trade.The 7-foot center has been one of the positive constants, averaging 15.6 points and 10.5 rebounds in 405 games with the Magic. But Vucevic has never been in a playoff game, and this season could be his final shot in Orlando."Trade rumors have been part of my last three years and I've kind of grown used to it," Vucevic said. "I know it's the last year (of his contract) but I also don't focus on that. If you focus on things you can't control, it doesn't really work out for you."Vucevic prefers to focus on the young help he will have this season in the frontcourt.Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba, the Magic's first-round picks in the last two drafts, are the centerpieces of the team's new... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon figures it is time to take on some new responsibility now that is starting the season with a new coach and a new long-term contract.After signing a four-year, $76 million contract in July, the 23-year-old forward says the responsibility for turning around the fortunes of the Orlando Magic is on him as much as anyone."I'm here to spearhead, to make sure it's all-systems-go and make sure everybody is fighting every single night," Gordon said Monday at the team's media day. "I feel like I need to set the tempo, the energy. Energy is very contagious, and I know if my energy is low, then the next person's energy is low, and that's not how it's going to be."The Magic have had six straight losing seasons, four of them since drafting Gordon fourth overall in 2014. They are a long way from NBA respectability, but Gordon believes they can get there under new coach Steve Clifford."That's why I came back," he said. "It's to win with this franchise... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — In a story July 7 about the opening day of games from the NBA Summer League, The Associated Press, relying on information from the NBA, erroneously reported the final score and details of the Detroit-Milwaukee game. Milwaukee won 90-63.A corrected version of the story is below:Ayton gets 10 points in NBA debut at Summer LeagueDeandre Ayton got his first taste of NBA action, and it came in a Phoenix victoryBy TIM REYNOLDSAP Basketball WriterLAS VEGAS (AP) — Deandre Ayton pointed to the rim, asking for a lob. The pass came from Shaquille Harrison, and Ayton snared it in his right hand before slamming down a dunk.And thousands of Phoenix Suns fans roared.In that one moment, they saw a glimpse of what their team's future may look like. The No. 1 pick in this year's draft made his debut at the NBA Summer League on Friday night, and he walked off a winner as the Suns topped the Dallas Mavericks 92-85.Ayton played 22 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, with the alley-oop... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Deandre Ayton pointed to the rim, asking for a lob. The pass came from Shaquille Harrison, and Ayton snared it in his right hand before slamming down a dunk.And thousands of Phoenix Suns fans roared.In that one moment, they saw a glimpse of what their team's future may look like. The No. 1 pick in this year's draft made his debut at the NBA Summer League on Friday night, and he walked off a winner as the Suns topped the Dallas Mavericks 92-85.Ayton played 22 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, with the alley-oop in the opening minutes being his first basket. He also grabbed eight rebounds, blocked a shot and committed five fouls."A lot of energy," Ayton said, when asked for the takeaway from his first NBA game — albeit just of the summer variety. "I could feel the energy around."Davon Reed and Mikal Bridges made things easy for Ayton and the Suns, each shooting 4 for 5 from 3-point range. Reed led the Suns with 18 points, while Bridges added 14."They showed... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Deandre Ayton pointed to the rim, asking for a lob. The pass came from Shaquille Harrison, and Ayton snared it in his right hand before slamming down a dunk.And thousands of Phoenix Suns fans roared.In that one moment, they saw a glimpse of what their team's future may look like. The No. 1 pick in this year's draft made his debut at the NBA Summer League on Friday night, and he walked off a winner as the Suns topped the Dallas Mavericks 92-85.Ayton played 22 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, with the alley-oop in the opening minutes being his first basket. He also grabbed eight rebounds, blocked a shot and committed five fouls."A lot of energy," Ayton said, when asked for the takeaway from his first NBA game — albeit just of the summer variety. "I could feel the energy around."Davon Reed and Mikal Bridges made things easy for Ayton and the Suns, each shooting 4 for 5 from 3-point range. Reed led the Suns with 18 points, while Bridges added 14."They showed... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Deandre Ayton pointed to the rim, asking for a lob. The pass came from Shaquille Harrison, and Ayton snared it in his right hand before slamming down a dunk.And thousands of Phoenix Suns fans roared.In that one moment, they saw a glimpse of what their team's future may look like. The No. 1 pick in this year's draft made his debut at the NBA Summer League on Friday night, and he walked off a winner as the Suns topped the Dallas Mavericks 92-85.Ayton played 22 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, with the alley-oop in the opening minutes being his first basket. He also grabbed eight rebounds, blocked a shot and committed five fouls.Davon Reed and Mikal Bridges made things easy for Ayton and the Suns, each shooting 4 for 5 from 3-point range. Reed led the Suns with 18 points, while Bridges added 14.Jalen Jones scored 16 points and Dennis Smith Jr. added 14 for Dallas (0-1). Luka Doncic did not play for Dallas, as he still awaits his clearance from his Real Madrid... [More]