7:11 PM ET As coronavirus-infected players, contact tracing quarantines and ancillary injuries thin rosters of available players, the NBA has no plans to pause the season, a league spokesman told ESPN. “We anticipated that there would be game postponements this season and planned the schedule accordingly,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement.
NBA
4:50 PM ET After missing the past three games because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols, Kevin Durant is set to return Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team announced. Kyrie Irving, however, will miss his third straight game for personal reasons. The Nets have elected not to elaborate on Irving’s absence, with
4:46 PM ET Sunday night’s game between the Celtics and Heat in Boston has been postponed, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Celtics were set to play with the minimum eight players after nine players were ruled out, including seven because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols. While Kemba Walker (knee) and Romeo Langford
3:23 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — The Boston Celtics will have the minimum eight players available for Sunday night’s game against the Miami Heat after announcing that nine players are out — including seven due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic. While Kemba Walker (knee) and Romeo Langford (wrist)
12:38 PM ET The Dallas Mavericks shut down their practice facility Sunday morning after power forward Maxi Kleber tested positive for COVID-19, the team’s second positive test in three days, sources told ESPN. Contact tracing is being done to determine whether any other players or staff members will be required to enter the NBA’s health
10:06 PM ET ESPN News Services CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LaMelo Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-105 on Saturday night for their third straight win. Ball, 19, replaced Markelle Fultz as the youngest
7:40 PM ET Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns returned to the starting lineup for Saturday night’s 125-122 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Towns missed the past six games with a left wrist injury suffered in a Dec. 27 win over the Utah Jazz. The Timberwolves have struggled without their star big man, losing
10:05 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Before the NBA season started last month, commissioner Adam Silver was asked on a conference call with reporters what it would take for the league to shut itself down again, like it did in March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “I think we are prepared for isolated cases,” Silver
7:14 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — The Boston Celtics could find themselves extremely short-handed for their game against the Miami Heat at TD Garden on Sunday as a result of the NBA’s health and safety protocols. In the team’s latest injury report, released around 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday, nine of the team’s 17 players
6:58 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will be inactive for Saturday night’s game against Cleveland with back spasms, coach Mike Budenholzer said. Antetokounmpo, 26, had a scary fall during Friday’s loss to Utah. He said he landed on his face and back, although he was able to return in the second
2:16 PM ET Associated Press The NBA’s Toronto Raptors and the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning won’t have fans at home games in Tampa, Florida, until at least Feb. 5. Vinik Sports Group, which owns the Lightning and Amalie Arena, announced Saturday that the organization wouldn’t admit fans because coronavirus cases in the area have “risen
12:12 PM ET As the Philadelphia 76ers prepared to take on the Denver Nuggets Saturday afternoon with seven healthy players, coach Doc Rivers said he believed the NBA should have postponed the game. “I don’t think we should [play], but it’s not for me to express that,” Rivers said, when asked whether he believed the
12:12 PM ET The Philadelphia 76ers‘ game against the Denver Nuggets will be played Saturday as scheduled, sources tell ESPN, after several Sixers players were part of contact tracing. The 76ers are expected to have nine eligible players for Saturday’s game, including three cleared from protocol: Joel Embiid, Danny Green and Paul Reed, sources tell
3:15 AM ET Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry scored 38 points in a 115-105 win over the LA Clippers on Friday night, bringing his team all the way back from a 22-point second half deficit while reminding the rest of the basketball world just how much more fun the game can be when
2:51 AM ET After the LA Clippers blew a 22-point lead in just over five minutes to suffer another second-half collapse, Kawhi Leonard said the Clippers “just have to change.” The Clippers led 85-63 with 3:15 remaining in the third quarter, only to drop a stinging 115-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Friday
11:30 PM ET The NBA is teetering on the season’s second coronavirus-related game postponement, as the Philadelphia 76ers await the league’s ruling on the submission of a contact-tracing report of several players who shared close proximity to guard Seth Curry, sources told ESPN. The Sixers’ list of seven players placed in the health and safety
9:47 PM ET After playing 14 minutes in the first half, Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas did not return for the second half of Friday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets because of health and safety protocols, the team said. Valanciunas, a starter who scored 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds, did not register a positive
7:39 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles‘ iron man streak ended in Milwaukee on Friday night after 384 consecutive regular-season games played. Ingles, who held the longest active streak in the NBA, missed Utah’s 131-118 win over the Bucks because of right Achilles soreness. He hadn’t missed a game since Dec. 16,