MARKIEFF MORRIS

Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane scored 21 points each, and the surging Memphis Grizzlies beat the Miami Heat 105-90.

Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo needs surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and is likely out until at least mid-January.

Jimmy Butler will miss the final three quarters of the Miami Heat’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers with a sprained right ankle.

The league has suspended Nuggets center Nikola Jokic one game for shoving Miami forward Markieff Morris from behind.

The fallout from the scuffle between reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Markieff Morris from the Miami Heat continues.

Jimmy Butler had 31 points to lead the Heat.

Russell Westbrook is realizing a childhood dream by coming home to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Carmelo Anthony realized the time was finally right to join forces with his friend LeBron James.

Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James have long wanted to be on the same team.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, free agent forward Markieff Morris is signing a deal with the Heat.

Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points, Marcus Morris added 23 and the Los Angeles Clippers finally won at home, finishing off the Dallas Mavericks 126-111 on Sunday in Game 7 of the first-round playoff series.

The Los Angeles Lakers simply need a rest after two NBA seasons that felt like one relentless grind only interrupted by a ring ceremony.

Devin Booker scored 30 points after two quiet games and the Phoenix Suns sent LeBron James to the locker room early, dismantling the Los Angeles Lakers 115-85 to take a 3-2 first-round series lead.

Dennis Schröder hit the tying basket to force overtime and finished with 25 points and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Utah Jazz 127-115 in a game between short-handed teams.

The Boston Celtics blew most of a 27-point lead in the fourth quarter before holding on for a 121-113 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Julius Randle had 34 points and 10 rebounds against his former team and the New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-96 for their third straight victory.

Andre Drummond had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Dennis Schroder scored 19 points before he and Kyrie Irving were ejected in the third quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Brooklyn Nets 126-101.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)NEW ORLEANS – Brandon Ingram scored a season-high 36 points, Zion Williamson had 27 points and nine rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 128-111 on Tuesday night. Pelicans guard Josh Hart — like Ingram an ex-Laker who was part of the trade that sent Anthony Davis to Los Angeles — grabbed 15 rebounds to go with five steals. New Orleans center Jaxson Hayes scored 15 points in 19 minutes, hitting four times inside and making all seven of his free throws. ... Dennis Schroder scored 15 points and Wesley Matthews had 14. Pelicans: Starting point guard Lonzo Ball missed his second straight game with a strained right hip flexor.

Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul gets fouled by Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder (17) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 21, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)PHOENIX – The LeBron-less Los Angeles Lakers are off to a predictably slow start. Los Angeles played without 17-time All-Star LeBron James for just the second time this season and fell to 0-2 in his absence. Los Angeles is also playing without All-Star forward Anthony Davis, who has missed a big chunk of the season with a right calf strain. TIP-INSLakers: Without James, Los Angeles went with a starting lineup of Wesley Matthews, Kyle Kuzma, Markieff Morris, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Schroder.

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers blew a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead in their first meeting against the Golden State Warriors. LeBron James scored 19 points in his 1,300th regular-season appearance as the Lakers routed the Warriors 117-91. He was one of six Los Angeles players to score in double figures in a game that was never in doubt. The Lakers were up 20 at the end of the first quarter and had a 73-44 lead at halftime. This is the first matchup between the teams this year after Los Angeles won all three games last season.

The Heat have talked since the NBA Finals started about a need to play almost perfect basketball against the Lakers. “One thing about this team that we are playing, they make you pay for every mistake,” James said after Game 5. So, we have to understand that.”James is about to set the record for NBA playoff game appearances. Nobody has had more 40-point NBA Finals games in a loss than he has — the record-setting fifth entry on that list coming Friday in Miami’s 111-108 win. “We’re motivated to win Game 6 and they are motivated to win Game 6,” Davis said.

James was trying to do everything it took to knock out the Miami Heat and deliver the Lakers a championship, but he needed one more chance. The Lakers took their last timeout after Jimmy Butler's free throws gave the Heat a 107-106 lead with 16 seconds to play. A third defender came and so with three guys on you, he made the right play. James had never missed a chance to close out an NBA Finals series after getting to three wins. There's been only one 3-1 lead overcome in the NBA Finals, and James was the catalyst that time with Cleveland in 2016.

James and the Lakers are back in control of these NBA Finals, one win away from the franchise's 17th championship. James finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, Anthony Davis' 3-pointer with 39.5 seconds left finally settled matters and the Lakers beat the Miami Heat 102-96 in Game 4. The Lakers lead 3-1 and can win the title when the series resumes Friday. 3-1 LEADSThis is the 36th time that a team has held a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. It was just the third time in the last 26 NBA Finals games that neither team reached 50 points in the first 24 minutes.

With a triple-double, he joined NBA Finals lore — and the short-handed Miami Heat might have made this title matchup a series after all. The last punch went to Miami, Butler simply unwilling to let his team go down 3-0. It’s going to be a tough game, Game 4," Herro said. ... Nick Aquilino, the son of Heat neuromuscular therapist Vinny Aquilino, performed the anthem -- a recording from a Heat game with fans in Miami. BUTLER’S TRIPLE-DOUBLEButler became the 21st player to have a triple-double in the NBA Finals — and four of the 21 were part of Sunday’s game.

The NBA Finals are halfway to a coronation. And the last time the Lakers’ franchise has wasted a 2-0 lead was in the 1969 finals against Boston. The Heat have rallied from a 2-0 series hole only once in eight previous tries, that one being the 2006 NBA Finals. ... James, in his 10th NBA Finals, has a 2-0 lead in the title series for the first time. YOUNGEST STARTERHerro, at 20 years, 256 days, became the youngest player to start an NBA Finals game.

James scored 29 points and the Lakers wrapped up their first trip to the Western Conference finals since 2010 by topping the Houston Rockets 119-96 on Saturday night in Game 5 at Walt Disney World. Kyle Kuzma scored 17 points, Markieff Morris had 16, Danny Green added 14 and Anthony Davis finished with 13 for the top-seeded Lakers. James is going to the conference finals for the 11th time overall — six with Cleveland, four with Miami and now with the Lakers. The Lakers scored the next 15 points, and the lead was 95-69 going into the final quarter. Lakers: Los Angeles went seven years without a conference-final appearance from 1991 through 1998, the team's longest drought before this 10-year run.

Markieff Morris scored 16 points for the Lakers. James took only 15 shots in Game 1 and was scoreless in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 112-97 loss, but he was dominant on both ends in the final period of this one. He had eight points in the quarter and a powerful blocked shot on Russell Westbrook that flew far out of bounds. James Harden scored 27 points and Eric Gordon made six 3-pointers and added 24 for the Rockets, who made 22 3-pointers. Tucker had 18 points and Robert Covington 17, but Westbrook finished only 4 for 15 while scoring 10 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.