SAN FRANCISCO – With the All-Star break only a few hours away, it would have been understandable if the Warriors’ effort was a bit lacking on Wednesday night against San Antonio.

But playing against one of the West’s top teams, the Steph Curry-less Warriors lost 126-113 to the Spurs in a game that was close for much of it.

Draymond Green...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate missing the first game of their respective four-game suspensions, the Charlotte Hornets were counting on rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner and veteran journeyman Grant Williams to step up in the final matchup before the NBA All-Star break. The results were mixed.

Kalkbrenner (five points) and ...Read more

EVANSTON, Ill.— Many have tried but nobody has been able to knock off the Michigan Wolverines in any game they’ve played away from home.

Add the Northwestern Wildcats to that growing list.

Behind a furious second-half rally, No. 2 Michigan overcame a 16-point deficit to keep its unbeaten road record intact and created some separation atop ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — The UConn men’s basketball team pulled away late in the second half to beat Butler, 80-70, as Solo Ball returned to form with six made 3-pointers in a full Hinkle Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

Ball, who scored a career-high 26 points in the first matchup against the Bulldogs in Hartford, sparked a 10-0 run in the last six ...Read more

TORONTO — Despite being without Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, the Detroit Pistons delivered one of their most dominating performances of the season. Led by Cade Cunningham, who came close to a triple-double, the Pistons achieved a wire-to-wire 113-95 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Cunningham led the...Read more

Jose Alvarado brought the ball up the floor, threw an entry pass to Karl-Anthony Towns, then cut off Towns’ right shoulder to the rim. Towns found Alvarado wide-open for what could have been an easy 2.

But what followed was a blur of reads and reversals that never let the ball stick. Towns hit Alvarado on a back cut. Alvarado drew the defense...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Nobody typifies how up and down the Minnesota Timberwolves can be emotionally than Julius Randle. He has admitted it, and this Wolves team knows there can be times where Randle is going through lulls in how he’s feeling.

But when he’s engaged and playing like he was in the 133-109 win over the Portland Trail Blazers at ...Read more

NEW ORLEANS – A 29-27 record hardly is optimal at the All-Star break for a team seeking to avoid the play-in round for a fourth consecutive season.

But at least it beats the .500 alternative.

So it is with that record that the Miami Heat into their extended break, after a 123-111 victory Wednesday night over the New Orleans Pelicans at ...Read more

NEW YORK — The kids had it, and then they didn’t. What looked like a feel-good sendoff into All-Star weekend turned into another reminder of how little room for error exists for a young team still learning how to finish.

The Nets fell to the Indiana Pacers, 115-110, on Wednesday night at Barclays Center, watching an 18-point third-quarter ...Read more

As the Los Angeles Lakers approach the All-Star break, LeBron James summed up their situation as well as anybody could.

“That’s a championship team right there,” he said of the Oklahoma City Thunder after the Lakers’ 119-110 loss to the defending champs on Monday night. “We’re not.

“We can’t sustain energy and effort for 48 ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Speaking at a fan engagement event Tuesday night in Ocoee, Magic guard Jalen Suggs called Wednesday’s game the toughest part of accomplishing Orlando‘s goal of going undefeated on its four-game homestand ahead of the NBA All-Star break.

And he wasn’t wrong.

Facing the Bucks for the second time in three days after it ...Read more

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics avoided a pre-All-Star letdown Wednesday night, closing out the unofficial first half of their season with a 124-105 dismantling of the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden.

Trade-deadline pickup Nikola Vucevic tallied a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double against his former team to help Boston bounce back from Sunday’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The takeaways were few and far between in Victor Wembanyama’s seemingly single-handed destruction of the Lakers on Tuesday night.

Without LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton on the floor, the Lakers avoiding double-digit defeat would have been a near-miracle considering the full-strength ...Read more

TORONTO — The Pistons’ altercation with the Charlotte Hornets during Detroit's 110-104 victory at Spectrum Center on Monday resulted in suspensions for key players Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart.

The NBA on Wednesday announced that Jalen Duren received a two-game suspension for initiating the altercation and fighting. Hornets forwards Miles...Read more

Even with essentially his entire starting lineup unavailable because of injuries, Lakers coach JJ Redick still looked forward to competing against a worthy opponent in the San Antonio Spurs.

Even facing a Spurs team with the second-best record in the Western Conference without LeBron James (left foot arthritis), Luka Doncic (left hamstring ...Read more