T.J. WARREN

Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant slipped on the floor during pregame warmups and was ruled out Wednesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of left ankle soreness.

Kevin Durant’s time in Brooklyn has ended.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 43 points, 14 rebounds and five assists as the Milwaukee Bucks went on a lopsided run after Brooklyn coach Steve Nash was ejected in the third quarter and beat the Nets 110-99.

It wasn't a surprise that Kawhi Leonard was in the Los Angeles Clippers’ facility on Monday.

LeBron James made the tiebreaking 3-pointer in overtime and followed with a back-breaking 3 in his return from the first suspension of his career to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat Indiana 124-116 on Wednesday night.

New Dallas coach Jason Kidd is already thinking of ways to tell Luka Doncic he has help on the roster.

Russell Westbrook nearly had a triple-double and Bradley Beal scored 25 points in just 29 minutes to help the Washington Wizards reach the NBA playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed by overwhelming the Indiana Pacers 142-115 in the play-in round.

Domantas Sabonis had 14 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists, and the short-handed Indiana Pacers routed the Charlotte Hornets 144-117 in the Eastern Conference’s first play-in game.

The Indiana Pacers will be without starting forward Caris LeVert when they face the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA's first play-in game.

Domantas Sabonis had his ninth triple-double of the season and Caris LeVert added 24 points to help Indiana rally past Philadelphia 103-94, ending the 76ers eight-game winning streak.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)INDIANAPOLIS – Caris LeVert said Tuesday he was awaiting additional test results on a small mass in his left kidney before establishing a treatment plan or a timeline for his Indiana Pacers debut. Indiana acquired LeVert as part of a four-team, blockbuster trade that sent All-Star James Harden from Houston to Brooklyn. The Rockets sent the 6-foot-6 guard to the Pacers in exchange for Victor Oladipo. Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard announced the results of the physical Saturday. LeVert spent his first 4 1/2 seasons with Brooklyn after the Pacers selected him in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft.

Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert (22) brings the ball upcourt in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers will be without newly acquired Caris LeVert indefinitely after an MRI showed a mass on his left kidney during a physical to complete this week's blockbuster four-team trade. “On behalf of my family and myself, we want to thank the Indiana Pacers for their support and guidance," LeVert said in a statement. LeVert was expected to replace Oladipo and help replace forward T.J. Warren, who is out indefinitely after having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. “We acquired Caris because of who he is as a young man first and foremost," Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said. Plus, LeVert is signed through 2022-23 as are three other Pacers starters.

Tyler Herro had 16 points and Bam Adebayo added 14 points and 19 rebounds for the Heat, who made it out of the first round for the first time since 2016. Victor Oladipo had 25 points and Myles Turner added 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Pacers, who have dropped four straight postseason series to the Heat since 2012. Dragic's layup at the end of the third quarter gave the Heat an eight-point lead and the Pacers never mounted a serious comeback in the fourth. Heat guard Jimmy Butler left the game in the first quarter with a left shoulder strain. Pacers: T.J. Warren had 21 points for Indiana.

Phoenixs Monty Williams, who led the Suns to a perfect 8-0 record in the bubble, was chosen as the top coach of the seeding-game schedule. Joining Lillard on the first team for games played at Disney between July 30 and Fridays end of the seeding-game season was Phoenix's Devin Booker, Indiana's T.J. Warren, Dallas' Luka Doncic and Houston's James Harden. Booker was second in the Bubble MVP race, with Warren third. Second-team selections were Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Los Angeles Clippers' Kawhi Leonard, Brooklyn's Caris LeVert, Denver's Michael Porter Jr. and Dallas' Kristaps Porzingis. ___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Warren scored 18 in the first quarter, one off the franchise record he tied in a bubble-opening win over Philadelphia a week ago, before getting held without a shot in the second quarter. TIP-INSLakers: After Justin Holliday opened the second quarter with a 3 that pushed the Pacers' lead to 13, the Lakers went on a 22-5 run for a 46-42 lead. James scored six straight points on layups to start the run and later hit a 3. Pacers: Indiana's JaKarr Sampson had back-to-back putback dunks in the first quarter to finish a run to a 32-17 lead. ... Aaron Holiday had seven points and matched James with a game-high seven assists.

Scoring numbers are soaring inside the NBAs bubble, where the restarted season is happening at Walt Disney World. Games on average have seen nine points more than what had been the norm this season. There was a six-game NBA schedule on Feb. 21, 1988, and all the teams playing that night scored at least 110 points. That hadnt happened, on a day of five or more games, again in the NBA until July 31 the second day of bubble games. And the fact that, you know, the skill sets of NBA players are increasing exponentially by the month.

If that wasnt enough, the quality of play is so good that its almost like the NBA hadnt stopped playing for 4-1/2 months. In all honestly, its better than I was expecting ... talking about all the teams in general, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. So, you see some of the talents these guys have are coming out.The numbers inside the bubble are ridiculous. Try 36 points again, 18 rebounds and eight assists in the Bucks loss to Houston on Sunday night. The Rockets beat the Mavs 153-149 in overtime Friday and then tried 61 3-pointers to tie an NBA regulation-game record Sunday.

I just wanted to be aggressive, do what I do best, Warren said. Tobias Harris scored 30 points for Philadelphia, and Ben Simmons had 19 points and 13 rebounds. But the leading trio for the Sixers wasn't enough to overcome Warren, who matched a franchise record with 19 points in the first quarter. He punished us tonight from the beginning of the game on.The Pacers got the restart-opening win without two starters. The Sixers were down 35-29 after the first and had eight turnovers, including two each from Embiid and Milton.