3:27 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Amid a renaissance start to the season for both the Los Angeles Lakers as a successful franchise and LeBron James as a dominant player, James has no plans to miss games due to load management in anticipation of a postseason run. “If I’m hurt, I don’t play. If not,

12:52 AM ET Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard scored a career-high 60 points for Portland in the Trail Blazers’ 119-115 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 34 points and Kyrie Irving had 33 for Brooklyn to help send Portland to its fourth straight victory. Lillard set a franchise

4:17 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN CHICAGO — A key contributor won’t be in the lineup for the Chicago Bulls when they tip off against Houston on Saturday. Swingman Otto Porter Jr. has been ruled out against the Rockets with a left foot sprain, with no timetable for his return. “It’s a soft-tissue injury, so it’s

11:17 PM ET Nick DePaulaESPN Rui Hachimura made history before ever stepping on an NBA court. The 6-foot-8 forward became the first player born in Japan to be drafted when the Washington Wizards selected him with the No. 9 overall pick this June. His popularity in his home country is unmatched, making him unique among

12:38 AM ET PHOENIX — Justise Winslow was placed in the NBA concussion protocol, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra confirmed, after a 124-108 win over the Phoenix Suns Thursday. Winslow took a blow to the head in a collision with Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap in the Heat’s loss Tuesday. The Heat said he was

2:26 PM ET Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin has been cleared to participate in all basketball-related activities, putting him on track for a return to game action, the team announced Thursday. Griffin has yet to play this season due to what the team is calling left hamstring and posterior knee soreness. The Pistons are calling

7:20 AM ET After an offseason of furious player movement — including eight 2019 All-Stars changing teams — one intriguing storyline of this NBA season will be how players are received by fans when they return to the cities they left. Some will be easier to predict than others. Kyrie Irving in Boston? Won’t be

10:23 PM ET 76ers guard Ben Simmons did not return for the second half Wednesday at Utah because of what the team called a minor sprain in his AC joint in his right shoulder and will be re-evaluated Thursday in Denver. Simmons appeared to injure the shoulder in the first quarter when he collided with

4:21 PM ET Despite All-NBA star Kawhi Leonard sitting out consecutive national television games one week apart, the league said that the LA Clippers are in compliance of its rules on resting players. Leonard will miss Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks on ESPN, his second straight week that a national TV absence fell

1:24 AM ET CHICAGO — With LeBron James catching his breath after playing nearly the entire third quarter and Anthony Davis sitting on the bench right beside him, saddled with four fouls, the Los Angeles Lakers relied on an unlikely lineup to key a fourth-quarter comeback against the Chicago Bulls. When Kyle Kuzma, Quinn Cook,