INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon and Sacramento Kings forward Jabari Parker both revealed Wednesday that they have tested positive for the coronavirus.Both made announcements in the forms of statements released by their teams. And Brogdon and Parker both believe they will be with their teams when the NBA season resumes at the Disney complex near Orlando, Florida, next month.“I recently tested positive for the COVID virus and am currently in quarantine," Brogdon said in his statement. “I’m doing well, feeling well and progressing well. I plan to join my teammates in Orlando for the resumption of the NBA season and playoffs.”All 22 NBA teams that will be part of the resumed season began mandated testing Tuesday. League officials have expected that positive tests would be inevitable, and believed that starting a testing regimen now — roughly five weeks before games begin at Disney — will give players with positive results time to recover and get back with their teams... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon said Tuesday he has been quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus.Team officials made the announcement by posting Brogdon's statement on Twitter.“I recently tested positive for the COVID virus and am currently in quarantine," the statement read. “I’m doing well, feeling well and progressing well. I plan to join my teammates in Orlando for the resumption of the NBA season and playoffs.”Indiana began testing players earlier this week and is scheduled to arrive in Orlando in early July to resume full practices.NBA officials have announced they will quarantine teams for 24 hours before practices can begin. It's also not the first time the Pacers organization has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Myles Turner's father was hospitalized in Texas with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, but has recovered.Brogdon wasn't healthy before the season was suspended, sitting out with a leg and hip muscle injury. But the stoppage... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Oladipo was just rounding into form when the NBA season was suspended.His expected increased playing time, his hopes of chasing a home playoff series and taking the Indiana Pacers on a deep postseason run went on hold — at least a few more weeks.Now, 14 months after suffering a serious knee injury, he's back home in Miami again, away from teammates again, doing what he can to be ready when games resume.“It hurt just because it took me a while to come back and then, obviously, this happens and now you miss more," Oladipo said Thusday on a conference call. “I was out there playing, going as best I can, as hard as I can. To say if I was 100 percent out there, I don’t know if I could say that. I’m just going to try and do my best to get better and get stronger."A year ago, the two-time All-Star Oladipo went home to rehab from surgery on a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee. The grueling recovery took a full year to make it back to NBA games and another another... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon will be out indefinitely with a torn left hip muscle, the team announced Saturday.He is listed as week to week.Brogdon left Wednesday's game at Milwaukee with a sore left hip, did not return and missed Friday's game at Chicago.It's yet another blow to the Pacers, who played without Doug McDermott (sore right big toe) on Friday and already have lost Jeremy Lamb with season-ending injuries to his left knee. Two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo also has missed four of the Pacers' last six games with lower back and right knee ailments.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Indiana guard Victor Oladipo missed Monday night's game against San Antonio after experiencing swelling in his right knee following the Pacers' morning shootaround.Oladipo returned to action Jan. 20 from a ruptured quad tendon that forced him to miss more than a full calendar year.Pacers coach Nate McMillan said it’s too early to know how long Oladipo will be out."He has swelling, so we decided to not play him tonight," McMillan said.Oladipo is averaging 12.0 points in 10 games this season for Indiana, which is a half-game behind Philadelphia for fifth in the Eastern Conference.The Spurs were without big men Jakob Poeltl and LaMarcus Aldridge, who is missing his third straight game with a sore right shoulder. Poeltl sprained his right MCL during the first quarter of San Antonio’s 114-113 victory over Orlando on Saturday.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Jeremy Lamb will miss the rest of this season with a left knee injury.Lamb was injured in the second quarter of the Pacers' 46-point loss Sunday at Toronto. Team officials announced Monday that he had a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a torn lateral meniscus and a lateral fracture in the bone. He will undergo surgery but no date has been determined.Lamb started 42 games this season and was averaging 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He joined the team as a free agent last summer and had been the staring guard until two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo returned from his knee injury in late January and reclaimed the job earlier this month.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Toronto coach Nick Nurse keeps imploring the defending NBA champions to fix their flaws.The bigger challenge, right now, might be identifying those errors.Two days after rallying from a 19-point deficit to extend their franchise-record winning streak, the short-handed Raptors used another late charge to pull away from Indiana 115-106 on Friday night for their 13th consecutive victory.“I thought we were into it the whole 48 minutes," Nurse said. "I thought we were playing well enough to maybe get away. You know how those games come down to somebody hits a couple at one end, somebody misses a couple at the other and all of a sudden the game's over."Lately, the Raptors seem to have had all the answers.They've won without Marc Gasol and Norman Powell, two key players who are injured. They won Wednesday when it looked as though they didn't have a chance. And this time, they delivered the decisive final flurry without six-time All-Star Kyle Lowry.Lowry missed the final 14... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Serge Ibaka had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Fred VanVleet added 20 points Friday night, leading the Toronto Raptors past the Indiana Pacers 115-106 for their franchise-record 13th consecutive win.The Raptors haven't lost since Jan. 15 and beat the Pacers for the second time in three days, winning their first game in Indianapolis in 13 months.Domantas Sabonis had 19 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Pacers. Victor Oladipo added 15 points and four assists in his first home start since returning from an injured right knee.Indiana has lost four straight and three in a row at home.Toronto took control with a 12-3 run late in the third quarter, using it to grab an 87-78 lead. But, after six-time All-Star Kyle Lowry left with what appeared to be an injured right shoulder or arm, the Pacers closed out the quarter by scoring five straight.Lowry did not return.Indiana got as close as 101-99 with 6:47 left, but Toronto pulled away with a 12-4 spurt spurt that made it 113-103... [More]

The All-Star Game is going to have plenty of new faces.The NBA released the list of the players Thursday voted by the league’s head coaches as reserves for the Feb. 16 game in Chicago, including six who will be All-Stars for the first time.Kyle Lowry of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors is headed back to the game, as are Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Houston’s Russell Westbrook and — for the first time since 2016 — Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul.The other reserves are all first-time selections: Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis, New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram and the Utah duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.“Definitely it is an honor,” Tatum said in a statement. “I am extremely blessed and grateful. Third year, to make the All-Star team, it is a surreal feeling. I’m just very excited and it is a dream come true.”Those six — combined with starters Pascal Siakam,... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Oladipo spent 12 months working, wondering and watching. He strengthened his body, his mind, his injured right knee and promised to return a better player.Now, he's finally healthy enough to start proving it.The All-Star guard expects to make his long-anticipated season debut Wednesday when the Indiana Pacers host Chicago.“I don't expect to do anything out there miraculous, I just expect to play basketball to the best of my ability,” he said Tuesday. “I know I'll get better as time goes on and I've got to be patient with my body and patient with the game. But I'm a competitor. I know it isn't going to be easy."Oladipo probably knew that much the moment he couldn't get up after crashing to the floor late in the first half of last January's game against Toronto. He left the court on a stretcher amid a crescendo of cheers from his adoring fans.Players around the league quickly took to social media to offer their encouragement, too.The next day, team officials announced... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo said Wednesday he hopes to return to game action Jan. 29 against the Chicago Bulls.At least that's the tentative plan.It's the first time since Oladipo sustained a season-ending knee injury last January that the team or the two-time All-Star has established a specific date.And though Oladipo acknowledges nothing is definite, he's confident he will be able to play against the Bulls.The two-time All-Star has spent nearly a year working his way back from a ruptured quad tendon that required season-ending surgery and an extensive rehab program. He's been working out with the team since training camp last fall.Indiana expects Oladipo to bring scoring and energy to a lineup that has played better than aniticipated without its star player.President of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard spent the offseason rebuilding the Pacers roster to compensate for what was expected to be a prolonged absence. He acquired guard Malcolm Brogdon in a trade with Milwaukee, small forward T.J. Warren from Phoenix, and added free-agent guards Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday.All four have played key roles for a team that started the night sixth in the Eastern Conference.Oladipo was averaging 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals when he was injured.___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers have temporarily assigned guard Victor Oladipo to their G League affiliate in Fort Wayne.It's largely a procedural move that gives the two-time All-Star an opportunity to get extra practice time. The Pacers played at Orlando on Sunday and did not hold a shootaround before Tuesday's game against Oklahoma City.Oladipo is working his way back from a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee. He suffered the injury in January and is not expected to return to game action until at least December.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers have signed power forward Domantas Sabonis to a four-year contract extension.Team officials completed the deal Monday, less than two hours before an NBA deadline would have allowed players with rookie contracts to become restricted free agents next summer.The Pacers did not announce financial terms of the deal though ESPN.com first reported it was worth $77 million in guaranteed money and Sabonis could make as much as $85 million with bonuses.A message was left by The Associated Press with Sabonis' agent, Greg Lawrence."I'm very excited to remain with the Pacers, this is where I wanted to be," Sabonis said in a statement. "I appreciate the organization showing their confidence in me, and I'm ready to be part of what's going to be a great year for our team."It's dramatic turnabout from last weekend when reports surfaced Sabonis soon could be on the trading block.But now the Pacers have four of this season's projected starters under contract through... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Oladipo spends most of his summers playing basketball and working on skills.Over the past few months, he's been working on his mind.The Indiana Pacers' two-time All-Star believes it will make him a stronger player when he returns from a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee."Rehab is pretty strategic," Oladipo said Friday at the team's annual media day. "But the mind is another muscle that you need to work on and so that's what I'm trying to do because that can help with the healing process and the overall process."While neither Oladipo nor team officials have established a target date for his return, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in June he was hopeful Oladipo could be playing again by December or January. Center Myles Turners, last season's league champion in blocked shots, believes Oladipo could be back even sooner."I just know how Vic's wired," Turner said. "He's been attacking the whole process. He's already doing stuff on the court.... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A person familiar with the negotiations says free agent guard Justin Holiday has agreed to a one-year contract worth $4.8 million with the Indiana Pacers.Holiday joins his younger brother, Aaron, with the Pacers, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because the move had not yet been announced.Justin Holiday started last season in Chicago, where he started 38 games and averaged 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals. He finished the season in Memphis, starting 39 of 44 games while averaging 9.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals.The six-year veteran adds depth on a team that expects injured All-Star shooting guard Victor Oladipo to miss at least the first two months.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard says Victor Oladipo continues progressing from a right knee injury but remains uncertain when the All-Star guard will practice.Oladipo suffered a season-ending ruptured quad tendon Jan. 23. He did not even return to Indiana until the Pacers' season-ending playoff loss to Boston on April 21.Pritchard told reporters at Wednesday's season-ending news conference that following surgery, Oladipo needed about 12 to 13 weeks before he could start physical therapy and that Oladipo is only beginning that second phase now.But after again declining to set a timetable for Oladipo's return to the court, Pritchard says he hopes to have more answers before free agency begins and that Oladipo promised to return as a better player.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — General manager Kevin Pritchard convinced himself the Indiana Pacers could contend for an Eastern Conference title by basically keeping the core rotation intact.Victor Oladipo's season-ending knee injury changed the whole equation.While the Pacers continued playing hard and won more often than many expected over the final two months, the absence of their All-Star guard prevented the Pacers from retaining one of the top four seeds or reaching the conference semifinals for the first time since 2014."Vic has been our closer for the last couple of years. To not have him on the court is big," point guard Darren Collison following Sunday's season-ending 110-106 loss to Boston. "Think about the playoffs he had last year and how amazing he was. Now, just imagine if we had that this year."It's hard not to.But even before Oladipo was wheeled off the court with a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee on Jan. 23, he struggled with a sore knee and it showed in the stats that were... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The stars have been stars in these playoffs.Kyrie Irving has Boston on the cusp of sweeping away Indiana Pacers. Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Golden State are coming off a game against the Los Angeles Clippers where the Warriors looked very much like the NBA champions again. Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook are going at each other big-time in the Portland-Oklahoma City series.And then there's Pascal Siakam.Toronto's surprise story is no surprise anymore.Siakam has been perhaps the biggest breakout player in these playoffs, adding to his breakout season for the Raptors — who lead the Orlando Magic 2-1 in their first-round matchup thanks largely to the 25-year-old from Cameroon and his 24.3 points and 10 rebounds per game in the series.It's easy to forget that Siakam only started playing organized basketball seven years ago."Seriously?" Raptors guard Danny Green asked, unaware of his teammate's unique background.Seriously.Raptors coach Nick Nurse was amused by... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic ignored those who doubted the Indiana Pacers last season.They're even more determined to prove them wrong in the playoffs.The veterans who helped the Pacers exceed expectations after losing Paul George in a trade and kept them together following Victor Oladipo's season-ending knee injury now insist they can help the Pacers overcome a 2-0 deficit against Boston."I think the biggest thing for us over the last couple of years is that we've always been a resilient team," Young said Thursday. "We continue to stay confident, continue to trust in one another, I think that helps put us in a better position to win games."It's a test they've faced, and passed, many times over the past 22 months.And every time, it seems the two soft-spoken forwards find themselves playing the calming role in the locker room."I can tell you we wouldn't be the No. 5 seed if not for those two guys," Doug McDermott said not long after the Pacers sang "Happy Birthday"... [More]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Blake Griffin's tone was serious, befitting a man who has had one of the best seasons of his career — but now faces the same old questions about his health.Griffin's status for Detroit's first-round series against Milwaukee isn't clear at the moment, but after he sat out the Pistons' crucial regular-season finale at New York on Wednesday night, it's clear his left knee problems are a significant issue heading into the playoffs. Detroit plays Game 1 at top-seeded Milwaukee on Sunday night."We're taking this day by day," Griffin said Saturday. "I'm not looking forward to a day that's not here right now in front of me. I'll sit with our training staff, and whoever else needs to be in on that decision, and make that each day."It's a tough situation for any athlete to go through — leading your team through the regular season, only to have your playoff participation threatened by an injury. This is the time of year when players and teams want to be at full strength,... [More]