10:15 PM ET Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal left Thursday night’s 132-102 loss to the Detroit Pistons with right lower leg soreness, head coach Scott Brooks said. Beal exited with 5 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Wizards trailed 89-60 when Beal left, and Brooks said the team opted to leave him

12:47 PM ET The Dallas Mavericks are planning for Luka Doncic to make his return from a sprained right ankle on Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs, sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Doncic has missed the past four games and is listed as questionable. He ranks third in the NBA with 29.3 points and 8.9

2:01 AM ET LOS ANGELES — A collision with Patrick Beverley in the first quarter of the Lakers‘ 111-106 loss Wednesday night to the Clippers caused LeBron James to aggravate a nagging groin injury and could cause the Lakers star to miss some game time moving forward. “I felt healthy going into the game,” James

9:57 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr says James Harden‘s offensive brilliance has changed the way teams have to defend him night to night. In the wake of Golden State’s biggest win of the year, a 116-104 decision over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, the Warriors held Harden to just

2:09 PM ET Indiana Pacers All-Star guard Victor Oladipo is hopeful to return to the lineup by early February — and perhaps as soon as late January — from a ruptured right quad tendon, league sources tell ESPN. Oladipo’s looming return to the Pacers — which will partner him with All-Star candidate Malcolm Brogdon in

6:25 PM ET PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — It will be 65 days since the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers last faced each other. And when the two teams take to the Staples Center floor again on Christmas, Kawhi Leonard expects both to look very different than they did on opening night. “It was just

4:13 PM ET Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone has signed a contract extension through the 2022-2023 season, league sources tell ESPN. The Nuggets made official an agreement on Tuesday. Malone, 48, was awarded his second extension in consecutive years, reflecting a steady climb into Western Conference contention under his watch. Denver reached the playoffs for

1:49 PM ET DALLAS — Luka Doncic was a full participant in the Dallas Mavericks‘ Christmas Eve practice — his first since spraining his right ankle almost two weeks ago — and could return as soon as Thursday’s home game against the San Antonio Spurs. “He seems to be doing better every day,” Mavs coach

2:58 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — The Minnesota Timberwolves lost their 11th straight game in a 113-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday. After it was over, both players and coaches wore a look of frustration while trying to describe what it will take to get the group back on track, besides getting

7:21 PM ET The Utah Jazz have agreed to trade guard Dante Exum and two second-round picks to the Cleveland Cavaliers for guard Jordan Clarkson, league sources tell ESPN. The Jazz are hoping that Clarkson can deliver a boost to its bench scoring. Exum, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, has