Dallas Mavericks guard Frank Ntilikina (thigh) won't be available for Friday's contest against Sacramento. The Mavericks are without a number of players and have suffered another blow here. Ntilikina has earned some starts lately and he's put in some good performances. Jalen Brunson will continue to carry the backcourt, and he'll be joined by Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kristaps Porzingis and Dwight Powell in the starting unit on Friday. Sterling Brown and Josh Green will play an active role off the bench.

Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Sterling Brown and point guard Frank Ntilikina remain in the starting lineup for Thursday's game against the Bucks with the team massively short-handed. Brown logged a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) across 33 minutes Tuesday, while Ntilikina delivered limited production in his 32 minutes. Without Kristaps Porzingis (toe), Luka Doncicand Tim Hardaway Jr. available, Dallas will have an all-hands-on-deck approach, which bodes well for the DFS upside of both Brown and Ntilikina. Neither has earned season-long consideration due to their limited respective roles within the second unit, but they will be on the radar while the Mavs seek offensive contributions.

NEW YORK (AP) — Leon Rose took over as Knicks president on March 2, which should have given him a month and a half of season to evaluate his team.He got a week and a half.The Knicks played only six games before the season was suspended because of the coronavirus. There will be no more for them, because they are not among the 22 teams who will resume in Florida.So with another losing season over, the longtime player agent can begin making changes that can perhaps finally move the Knicks in a positive direction.The Knicks finished 21-45, extending the worst stretch in franchise history by missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season.The turmoil started early, even by Knicks standards. Coach David Fizdale was fired just 22 games into his second season and Steve Mills was dismissed as president in February. Mike Miller guided the team as interim coach after Fizdale's departure and had the Knicks defending and competing much better, but Rose is likely to search for yet another new coach.His... [More]

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Marcus Morris talked tough in the preseason, when the New York Knicks made their annual boasts that things were going to be different.He spoke softly Friday, apologizing for his misplaced machismo on another night the Knicks embarrassed themselves on the court and in the locker room.Exactly a year after trading Kristaps Porzingis, it’s the same old basketball story in New York, nothing more than a rumored stop for superstars in the offseason, and the site of very little success in the regular season.The latest low point was Wednesday, when the Memphis Grizzlies rolled to a 127-106 victory in a game that featured an altercation in the final minute after New York’s Elfrid Payton shoved Jae Crowder as he was attempting a shot, and frustrated fans chanted “Sell the team! “Sell the team!” with owner James Dolan sitting in his baseline seat.Things got even worse afterward, when Payton said he’d do the same thing again and Morris mocked Crowder for playing with “female... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks have exercised their contract options on Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr. and Kevin Knox.The options picked up Monday are on the fourth year of the contracts for Ntilikina and Smith, and the third year of Knox's deal.Ntilikina and Smith were taken one pick apart in the 2017 draft. The Knicks selected Ntilikina with the No. 8 pick and Smith went ninth to Dallas, which traded him to New York last season in the deal for Kristaps Porzingis.They are competing along with Elfrid Payton to be the Knicks' starting point guard.Knox averaged 12.8 points last season as a rookie. The Knicks drafted him with the No. 9 pick in 2018.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Free agency was only a few hours old when the New York Knicks acknowledged their fans' disappointment.Three months later, the Knicks have changed their tune.Not only was free agency a success, they say, but fans are going to forget about who the Knicks didn't get because they're going to love who they did."These are guys that our fans are going to like, the toughness that they bring every day when they come to the court to play for the Knicks," team President Steve Mills said Monday.The Knicks signed seven new players in free agency, adding Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, Marcus Morris, Elfrid Payton, Wayne Ellington and Reggie Bullock. But by that time, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had already committed to Brooklyn in the early hours of free agency, and Mills released a statement that night saying he understood that fans could be disappointed but that the team remained confident in its plans.And though the Knicks had enough money to afford two top free... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — It was the 80th game of one of the most miserable seasons in New York Knicks history, and it sounded like the playoffs.A sellout crowd of 19,812 roared as the Knicks charged back from 10 points down after three quarters to beat the Washington Wizards for what turned out to be their last home victory of the season.New York took the floor to start the final period with a lineup that included Henry Ellenson, John Jenkins and Luke Kornet.Imagine what it will sound like when the Knicks finally have some NBA stars playing for really big stakes?"All year we had a great fan base for a team that's struggled and gone through a lot of losses," coach David Fizdale said. "Our fans have come out every night and really supported us. So yes, I think about the days when we put it together, how this place is going to be."It could even be next season.If things go right, those former G League players could be replaced by the likes of Zion Williamson, Kevin Durant and another All-Star. The Knicks... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina is expected to miss the rest of the season with a groin injury, ending a disappointing second year for the former lottery pick.Ntilikina had just returned from a nearly two-month absence but left again during a loss to the Clippers on Sunday because of more soreness. The Knicks say Friday that after a subsequent evaluation, the team's medical staff recommends he not play again this season.Ntilikina has appeared in just 43 games, averaging 5.7 points. The No. 8 pick in the 2017 draft was the final selection made by Phil Jackson as team president.The native of Belgium played professionally in France. However, he hasn't developed an offensive game and struggled to crack first-year coach David Fizdale's lineup even when healthy.