5:39 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Minnesota Timberwolves forward Taj Gibson has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for aggressively pursuing and directing an obscene gesture toward an official. NBA executive Kiki VanDeWeghe announced the punishment on Saturday. Gibson grew frustrated after he was called for a foul when Utah’s Joe Ingles drove
NBA
6:00 PM ET Malika AndrewsESPN CHICAGO — Bulls rookie Chandler Hutchison has a fractured right toe, the team announced Saturday. He will be placed in a walking boot for two to four weeks and reevaluated after the All-Star break. According to the team, the injury was to a sesamoid bone in his right foot and
4:52 PM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN The representative for Milwaukee Bucks center Thon Maker has told management that he’d prefer the franchise find a trade to a team that would provide a larger role for the former lottery pick, league sources told ESPN. As Maker’s playing time has diminished under new coach Mike Budenholzer in the
4:24 PM ET Associated Press EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — LeBron James is back in full-contact defensive drills in practice with the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time since the four-time NBA MVP strained his groin. Will LeBron’s lingering injury spur changes in the way the NBA reports player injuries in the future? Kevin Pelton
11:53 AM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie will undergo surgery Monday to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb, league sources told ESPN on Saturday. Dinwiddie, engaged in a career season for the surging Nets, is expected to miss three to six weeks, league sources told ESPN. Dinwiddie met with two New
7:23 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — When this season began, the Boston Celtics seemed destined for greatness. The team was within a few possessions of reaching the NBA Finals without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward last season, and with those two back — and LeBron James having abdicated his throne atop the East —
8:24 AM ET Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — It took a bear — Jazz Bear — to catch a bat and leave the high-flying hijinks to the NBA players. A wayward bat flew around the court inside the Vivint Smart Home Arena about an hour before Utah’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday,
3:37 AM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry plans to join his brother Seth Curry of the Portland Trail Blazers in the All-Star Weekend 3-point contest in Charlotte, Stephen told ESPN on Friday night. The competition will take place in Charlotte on Feb. 16. The Currys grew up in Charlotte, and Stephen
2:45 AM ET If the regular season ended Friday night, the Milwaukee Bucks would host the Charlotte Hornets in a No. 1 vs. No. 8 Eastern Conference quarterfinals postseason matchup. For a moment, it seemed like the Hornets wouldn’t mind that. The Bucks defeated the Hornets in both teams’ season opener, but only by a
1:40 AM ET HOUSTON — Coach Nick Nurse came up with a simple strategy during a timeout when the Toronto Raptors had a chance to complete a wild comeback: Target James Harden. The Raptors, who trailed by 19 points with five minutes, 35 seconds remaining and 11 with one minute, 14 seconds left, executed the