BOSTON —Just as they got Jayson Tatum back from Achilles surgery, the Celtics lost another veteran contributor to injury.

Center Nikola Vucevic suffered a fractured right ring finger during the first quarter of Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden. He will undergo surgery and is expected to miss “approximately one ...Read more

BOSTON — At 7:09 p.m. on Friday, TD Garden public address announcer Eddie Palladino shouted the words Celtics fans had waited nearly 10 months to hear:

“Aaannd from Duke, No. 0, Jayyyson Taaaatum!”

Two hundred ninety-eight days removed from Achilles surgery, the Celtics’ All-NBA superstar was officially back. And though he didn’t ...Read more

Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas has never been shy when making his points.

As one of several high-profile speakers at the funeral for Rev. Jesse Jackson in Chicago on Friday, Thomas mentioned the "five" former presidents in attendance. It wasn't a slip of Thomas' tongue.

Thomas went on to call them "President Harris" and "President Clinton...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Russell Westbrook doesn’t shy from confrontation. He made that clear again after the Kings’ loss Thursday night, this time in the media room.

“What I don’t like,” Westbrook said near the top of a roughly 6-minute media availability, “and I’ve been around the league a long time, and I’ve been around a lot ...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Caleb Wilson’s freshman season at UNC has come to an abrupt end.

The school announced Friday afternoon that Wilson broke his right thumb during a non-contact drill in practice on Thursday. The injury requires surgery and Wilson will miss the rest of the season, per UNC. ESPN first reported the news.

Wilson was injured ...Read more

BOSTON — It’s official: Jayson Tatum will make his long-awaited season debut Friday night at TD Garden.

Hours before their 7 p.m. tipoff, the Celtics upgraded Tatum from questionable to available for their game against the Dallas Mavericks, clearing him to return to action nearly 10 months removed from Achilles surgery.

Tatum missed Boston...Read more

DENVER — LeBron James is king of another NBA record once held by Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

James broke Abdul-Jabbar’s record for the most career field goals in the regular season Thursday against the Denver Nuggets, but an elbow injury limited his contributions in crunch time of the Lakers’ 120-113 loss.

After ...Read more

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Up by as much as 19 points in the second half, Michigan State appeared on course for its usual senior night festivities on Thursday. But a Rutgers comeback made things tight at the end.

Coen Carr and Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 21 points each to lead No. 8 Michigan State out of a trap against Rutgers in a 91-87 win. A 21-8 ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The third quarter of the Timberwolves’ 115-107 victory over Toronto on Thursday at the Target Center was evidence that the type of team the Wolves thought they could be was still in there, lurking below the surface and perhaps gearing up for the stretch run.

The Wolves won the third quarter 35-22, and they took over the game ...Read more

MIAMI — On many other nights, the Miami Heat might have reached the point of peril.

Against the Brooklyn Nets, adversity merely proved to be an inconvenience Thursday night for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

So even with Bam Adebayo in foul trouble, with Norman Powell sidelined, and with an unexpected deficit in the third period, ultimately a 126-...Read more

HOUSTON — Warriors coach Steve Kerr did not mince words before his Warriors hobbled into the game against the host Rockets at Toyota Center on on Thursday.

“This is probably as beaten up a team as I’ve ever been around in my 12 years with the Warriors,” Kerr said. “I look at it as a great challenge, but also a great opportunity for ...Read more

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Wolverines had a chance to become the first Big Ten team in 50 years to go undefeated on the road during league play.

They didn’t let the historic opportunity go to waste, but they certainly had to work for it.

No. 3 Michigan prevailed in a dogfight that went down to the wire against Iowa, 71-68, Thursday at Carver-...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Ten days ago, the Detroit Pistons lost to the San Antonio Spurs, and they believed the lessons learned from that defeat would have benefited them in their rematch at Frost Bank Center on Thursday. This is particularly true when it came to gaining experience from playing against Victor Wembanyama.

In what could have been another ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Gap year, huh? Who cares! No one is turning down the volume on the Lakers. No one is turning down the heat.

The scrutinizing and psychoanalyzing continues like Luka Doncic screaming at the refs — incessantly, and with impressive stamina. About as loudly too. “Our losses,” Lakers coach JJ Redick recently said, “are louder...Read more

CHICAGO — Early in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Josh Giddey stood at the scorer’s table with a resistance band and a towel tucked into one hand, his eyes tracking every movement on the court.

Barely 15 minutes before, the guard could barely hobble off the court. Giddey turned his ankle on an offensive...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Searching to finish its longest remaining homestand of the season on a high note after a 1-2 start, the Magic found themselves in a tight back-and-forth contest against the Mavericks on Thursday night at Kia Center.

Dallas led by as many as 14 points in the first half before Orlando punched back to take an 11-point lead in the...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — UNC coach Hubert Davis said freshman forward Caleb Wilson is “progressing” but has yet to compete in five-on-five play in team practices ahead of the No. 17 Tar Heels’ trip to Durham to play No. 1 Duke on Saturday.

“He’s been doing individual workouts ... he’ll do more today (in practice),” Davis said at a ...Read more

BOSTON — Friday could be comeback day for Jayson Tatum.

On their latest injury report, the Celtics upgraded Tatum from out — his designation on every prior report as he worked his way back from Achilles surgery — to questionable for Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden (7 p.m.; ESPN).

If he is activated, it would be ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Andre Drummond was in the Philadelphia 76ers’ locker room after shootaround on Tuesday when a couple of his younger teammates approached the center about his recent shoe deal news.

“All the young guys are already asking me for shoes like, ‘Yo, you signing guys?’” Drummond said with a laugh during a video call with The...Read more

NEW YORK — The Oklahoma City Thunder were without their star second option — Jalen Williams — for the ninth straight game.

But another one of the team’s stars made up for it. And he looked like he could fill the No. 2 role full-time for Mark Daigneault’s squad if needed.

Chet Holmgren entered Madison Square Garden with a shooting ...Read more