CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen will miss the rest of the season after experiencing a rapid heart rate and fatigue.The Bulls say tests to determine the cause of the problem have come back normal. He will continue to be evaluated over the next 10 to 14 days for precautionary reasons.Markkanen did not play Wednesday night in the Bulls' loss to Portland. The teams announced afterward he will miss the remaining six games."The long-term health of our players is always our organization's top priority," Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said. "We will continue to monitor Lauri's condition and work with our medical staff and doctors to provide him with everything he may need."Markkanen remained overnight in Toronto after exiting Tuesday night's loss to the Raptors with what the team called "extreme fatigue." He was evaluated in the training room by the Bulls' medical staff and Toronto's team physician and underwent more tests at a hospital.He... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago forward Lauri Markkanen missed the Bulls' game Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers after remaining overnight in Toronto because of what the team called "extreme fatigue."Markkanen was evaluated in the training room by the Bulls' medical staff and Toronto's team physician after exiting in the first half Tuesday night in a loss to the Raptors. He underwent more tests at a hospital following the game and remained in Toronto overnight.Coach Jim Boylen said Markkanen was in his office at 2 p.m. Wednesday after being examined in Chicago and wanted to play against Portland. Boylen would not say which tests Markkanen underwent."Lauri's tough," Boylen said. "He's a competitive guy."The 7-foot forward from Finland is averaging 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in his second season.Markkanen's injury is the latest in a long line for the Bulls this season. Leading scorer Zach LaVine (bruised right thigh, right knee tendinitis), Otto Porter Jr. (strained right rotator cuff) and Kris Dunn (back) were also unavailable on Wednesday. Wendell Carter Jr., Chandler Hutchison and Denzel Valentine are recovering from season-ending injuries.The Bulls had veteran center Robin Lopez starting along with guards Antonio Blakeney and Shaquille Harrison and forwards Brandon Sampson and Wayne Selden Jr. starting on Wednesday.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHOENIX (AP) — Robin Lopez scored 24 points to help the Chicago Bulls beat the Phoenix Suns 116-101 on Monday night, snapping a five-game losing streak.Zach LaVine had 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Lauri Markkanen added 17 points and nine boards for Chicago. Lopez shot 11 for 14 from the field as the Bulls were 52 percent (46 for 89).Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Devin Booker also scored 25 for Phoenix, which has lost three of four after a 5-2 stretch.The Suns played without one of their top scorers and main contributors to their recent run of improved basketball, as Kelly Oubre Jr. missed the game with a left thumb sprain. Guard Tyler Johnson did not play due to a sore knee, missing his third straight game, and forward T.J. Warren hasn't played since Jan. 22 due to an ankle injury. Backup center Richaun Holmes also sat out with a quadriceps strain, his second straight game missed.Lopez hit four different types of hook shots in the first quarter, helping... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Robin Lopez scored 24 points to help the Chicago Bulls beat the Phoenix Suns 116-101 on Monday night, snapping a five-game losing streak.Zach LaVine had 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Lauri Markkanen added 17 points and nine boards for Chicago. Lopez shot 11 for 14 from the field as the Bulls were 52 percent (46 for 89).Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Devin Booker also scored 25 for Phoenix, which has lost three of four after a 5-2 stretch.The Suns played without one of their top scorers and main contributors to their recent run of improved basketball, as Kelly Oubre Jr. Oubre missed the game with a left thumb sprain. Guard Tyler Johnson did not play due to a sore knee, missing his third straight game, and forward T.J. Warren hasn't played since Jan. 22 due to an ankle injury. Backup center Richaun Holmes also sat out with a quadriceps strain, his second straight game missed.Lopez hit four different types of hook shots in the first quarter,... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls have signed guard Antonio Blakeney to an NBA contract.Undrafted out of LSU in 2017, Blakeney signed a two-way deal with the Bulls and averaged 7.9 points in 19 games while splitting time between Chicago and the G League's Windy City Bulls. He was the G League's Rookie of the Year, averaging 32.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.9 assistsThe Bulls announced the move Thursday.___For more AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NBA Summer League has its elite eight.The quarterfinals were set by the end of play Saturday, and include a few surprises.Philadelphia and Toronto, the two lowest seeds in the 30-team tournament, both pulled out close games Saturday to stay alive. Toronto, the No. 29 seed that was winless in the preliminary round, has put together two straight wins in the tournament and will face 12th-seeded Cleveland and rookie Collin Sexton, who like Lonzo Ball last year is a highly touted point guard trying to win a summer title.No. 27 Memphis is next up for Philadelphia. Detroit, the No. 25 seed, is also still alive.The top-seeded Lakers and No. 2 Portland had byes into the quarterfinals. No other single-digit seeds remain in the field.Saturday's results:76ERS 91, BUCKS 89Furkan Korkmaz scored eight of his 19 points in the final 40 seconds, including the go-ahead points on a three-point play with 3.6 seconds left for the No. 30 seed 76ers (2-3).Jonah Bolden added 13 points and eight... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NBA Summer League is nearing its elite eight.The quarterfinals would be set by the end of play Saturday, and will include a few surprises.Philadelphia and Toronto, the two lowest seeds in the 30-team tournament, both pulled out close games Saturday to stay alive. The Raptors, the No. 29 seed that was winless in the preliminary round, has put together two straight wins in the tournament and will face 12th-seeded Cleveland and rookie Collin Sexton, who like Lonzo Ball last year is a highly touted point guard trying to win a summer title.Detroit, the No. 25 seed in the 30-team field, is also still alive.Saturday's results:76ERS 91, BUCKS 89.Furkan Korkmaz scored eight of his 19 points in the final 40 seconds, including the go-ahead points on a three-point play with 3.6 seconds left for the No. 30 seed 76ers (2-3).Jonah Bolden added 13 points and eight rebounds and Isaiah Miles scored 12 points for Philadelphia.Christian Wood had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the 14th-seeded... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NBA Summer League is nearing its elite eight.The quarterfinals would be set by the end of play Saturday, and it will include at least a couple of surprises.Toronto, the No. 29 seed that was winless in the preliminary round, has put together two straight wins in the tournament and will face 12th-seeded Cleveland and rookie Collin Sexton, who like Lonzo Ball last year is a highly touted point guard trying to win a summer title.Detroit, the No. 25 seed in the 30-team field, is also still alive.Saturday's results:CAVALIERS 92, ROCKETS 87Collin Sexton shook off a 5-for-17 night to score 17 points for the Cavaliers (4-1). The No. 8 pick in the draft had scored 25 in the first round of the tournament.Scoochie Smith also scored 17, Jamel Artis had 13 and Billy Preston 12 for Cleveland.Danuel House finished with 30 points for the fifth-seeded Rockets (4-1) in their first loss of the summer.RAPTORS 87, HORNETS 84, OTRawle Alkins made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 32 seconds left... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls say guard Antonio Blakeney will miss the remainder of the season because of a broken bone in his left wrist.Blakeney was injured in Monday's loss at New York. He scored six points on 3-for-10 shooting in Wednesday's loss to Denver after being listed as questionable. The Bulls say an MRI on Thursday confirmed the fracture.Blakeney averaged 7.9 points in 19 games.___For more NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

NEW YORK (AP) — After 20 years in the NBA, Dirk Nowitzki can't be fooled.He knows when teams aren't giving an honest effort, when they are out there playing but not playing to win."It's pretty obvious," Nowitzki said.While easy to spot, tanking is not so easy to stop, the NBA is finding.It's a problem for the league office, which has fined owners, chastised teams and sent out league-wide memos on the topic. And with big brother watching, teams are abiding by the letter of the law, but arguably not the spirit of its intent.Tanking is viewed as a solution — sometimes the only one — for some teams and their fans, hoping something good can come from being bad if they cash in at the lottery and land a top draft pick.Nearly a third of the 30 NBA teams are brutally bad this season, and it's hard to believe some aren't losing on purpose. Phoenix, Memphis, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Chicago and New York are all on track to lose 50 or more games, and only the Nets aren't motivated... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — After 20 years in the NBA, Dirk Nowitzki can't be fooled.He knows when teams aren't giving an honest effort, when they are out there playing but not playing to win."It's pretty obvious," Nowitzki said.Easy to spot, the NBA is finding tanking not so easy to stop.It's a problem for the league office, which has fined owners, chastised teams and sent out league-wide memos on the topic. And with big brother watching, teams are abiding by the letter of the law, but arguably not the spirit of its intent.Tanking is viewed as a solution — sometimes the only one — for some teams and their fans, hoping something good can come from being bad if they cash in at the lottery and land a top draft pick.Nearly a third of the 30 NBA teams are brutally bad this season and it's hard to believe some aren't losing on purpose. Phoenix, Memphis, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Chicago and New York should all lose 50 or more games, and only the Nets aren't motivated to lose — they... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — After 20 years in the NBA, Dirk Nowitzki can't be fooled.He knows when teams aren't giving an honest effort, when they are out there playing but not playing to win."It's pretty obvious," Nowitzki said.Easy to spot, the NBA is finding tanking not so easy to stop.It's a problem for the league office, which has fined owners, chastised teams and sent out league-wide memos on the topic. And with big brother watching, teams are abiding by the letter of the law, but arguably not the spirit of its intent.Tanking is viewed as a solution — sometimes the only one — for some teams and their fans, hoping something good can come from being bad if they cash in at the lottery and land a top draft pick.Nearly a third of the 30 NBA teams are brutally bad this season and it's hard to believe some aren't losing on purpose. Phoenix, Memphis, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Chicago and New York should all lose 50 or more games, and only the Nets aren't motivated to lose — they... [More]