HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Rockets are finally healthy and have won a season-high nine straight heading into their final regular-season meeting against the Golden State Warriors.Despite the surge, James Harden & Co. still trail first-place Golden State, which has lost six of 10 capped by a loss to the lowly Suns, by 3½ games in the Western Conference standings. Houston has won all three games against the Warriors this season, but win or lose on Wednesday night, the Rockets have much bigger goals."We beat them four times or three times in the regular season ain't nobody going to remember in about a month," Chris Paul said.Indeed.The Rockets not only want to finish out the season strong to try to pass Golden State and second-place Denver for the top seed in the West. They also have their eyes on finally toppling the Warriors after Golden State has eliminated Houston from the playoffs in three of the last four seasons. They've twice lost to them in the Western Conference finals, including... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — For the Brooklyn Nets, familiarity breeds continuity.They hope that will lead to a few more wins.Growth was the overarching theme during media day at the Nets' practice facility Monday. Entering its third season under general manager Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn has won 48 of 164 games. In the first season under the new regime, the Nets won 20 games. Last year, that number increased to 28.So the goal for this season is progression."Knowing how the rebuild process goes, we're going to have to slowly get back," Jarrett Allen said. "It's just small steps we're taking."Ten of the 19 players the Nets have on their preseason roster have five or fewer years of NBA experience, including five rookies.But there are questions about how long and how many of the Nets' young pieces will remain in Brooklyn. The Nets will have plenty of money for free agency next summer, but they may not want to wait if they could trade for Minnesota's Jimmy Butler or another All-Star player.Spencer... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Brooklyn Nets have acquired forwards Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur along with a 2019 first-round pick from the Denver Nuggets.The Nets also received a second-round pick in 2020 in the trade announced Friday. They sent guard Isaiah Whitehead to Denver.Denver, looking to cut costs after giving new deals to Nikola Jokic and Will Barton, subsequently waived Whitehead.Faried averaged 11.4 points and 8.2 rebounds in seven seasons in Denver, though his playing time declined and he appeared in just 32 games last season. Arthur has spent nine seasons in the NBA, first with Memphis and the last five with Denver.Both players are in the final years of their contracts. Faried is due $13.8 million next season and Arthur $7.5 million.Whitehead, a second-round pick in 2016, appeared in 89 games over two seasons for Brooklyn.___More AP basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic only had a basic outline of his offseason plans: Rest, work out in Denver, return home to Serbia and rest some more.It's not more elaborate since the Nuggets big man figured he'd be working for a while longer.The Nuggets won six more games than a year ago and yet finished in the same position — a spot out of the playoffs. This season even came down to a winner-take-all scenario in Minnesota, where the Nuggets came up short in overtime to miss out on the playoffs for a fifth straight season."I'm not mad. I'm not sad, because I think we played good," Jokic said Thursday. "We're not making the playoffs because we were not focused the whole season, every game."Still, the Nuggets won six straight down the stretch to climb into contention for a spot, before losing to the Timberwolves in a spirited game."If we play with that sense of urgency that we did at the end, then we wouldn't have even been in this position," Will Barton said. "It's all a part of growing."Veteran... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS -- Victor Oladipo scored 33 points to help the Indiana Pacers top the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-102, snapping their league-leading 13-game winning streak on Friday night.The Pacers made 15 3-point shots. Oladipo made 6 of 13 treys. Myles Turner added 15 points for Indiana.LeBron James paced the Cavaliers with 29 points on 12-of-22 shooting and also had 10 rebounds and eight assists. Kevin Love added 20 points and J.R. Smith 15 for the Cavs.The Pacers shot 44.2 percent (38 of 86) overall while the Cavs were at 43 percent (37 of 86).Warriors 102, Pistons 98DETROIT -- Kevin Durant had a season-high 36 points to go with 10 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks and Golden State won its sixth straight.Durant came up a few assists shy of a second consecutive triple-double after a 35-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance at Charlotte on Wednesday. The Warriors became the 11th team in league history to sweep a six-game road trip. The last team to achieve that feat was the Los Angeles... [More]

F Kenneth Faried scored a seaso-high 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots to lead the Nuggets to a road win on Friday night. "It felt great to get one away from home tonight," he said. "I think we just said to ourselves, 'Let's do it like we do it at home.' It's just one win, but maybe it's the start of something good."

F Kenneth Faried had 11 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 106-77 loss at Utah.

F Kenneth Faried had 14 points and nine rebounds to help Denver improve to 8-2 at home this season.

F Kenneth Faried did not play for the first time this season. Coach Mike Malone said he did not want to pair Faried and F/C Mason Plumlee together.

F Kenneth Faried scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Denver.

F Kenneth Faried, F Danilo Gallinari and G Jameer Nelson were shut down for the rest of the season.

F Kenneth Faried has now missed 13 games this season with lower back issues. He missed nine games in February and March and three in January.

F Kenneth Faried had 18 points and 13 rebounds Friday.

F Kenneth Faried had his best game after missing nine with back spasms, finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds in 19 minutes.Nine of his points came in the final 5:14 of the third quarter when Cleveland trimmed a 20-point lead to five.

F Kenneth Faried returned from a nine-game absence due to back spasms. Faried scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds in 18 minutes.Faried came off the bench, which gave Mason Plumlee the chance to start alongside Nikola Jokic. Plumlee blended seamlessly with Denver's young star and came within two assists of also notching a triple-double.

F Kenneth Faried (back), F Wilson Chandler (groin) and G Darrell Arthur (left knee soreness) all sat out the Monday game against the Lakers.

F Kenneth Faried sat out for the seventh straight game with spasms in his lower back. There has been no timetable for his return.

F Kenneth Faried missed his sixth straight game with lower back spasms. Faried missed nine total games this season with lower back issues.

F Kenneth Faried missed his fifth consecutive game due to lower back spasms, but he is improving. "The spasms have greatly reduced, but he's in no shape to play," coach Michael Malone said.

F Kenneth Faried missed his fourth straight game with lower back soreness and could miss a few more days, coach Michael Malone said. "The back is a tricky thing, but hopefully with the treatment he is getting at some point it will turn and get better," Malone said. "As of right now, he's in rough shape."