Monty McCutchen's father raised an interesting point not long ago, and it resonated right away with the former NBA referee who decided to hang up his whistle earlier this season."He told me that no decision is real if it is easy," McCutchen said.McCutchen's move off the floor and into the NBA office was certainly not easy. But instead of calling a few games a week, McCutchen sees his job now as one where he could have a say in how they all get officiated. About a month into his job as an NBA vice president overseeing referee development and training, McCutchen is jumping in with both feet.He and fellow NBA executive Michelle Johnson are going to be instrumental in the league's plan to improve how players and referees get along. There's going to be more education, more studying, more explaining and more listening — and McCutchen truly believes it will work."I'm invigorated by the people I'm working with, Michelle Johnson," McCutchen said. "I'm invigorated by the people in our office who... [More]

Monty McCutchen's father raised an interesting point not long ago, and it resonated right away with the former NBA referee who decided to hang up his whistle earlier this season."He told me that no decision is real if it is easy," McCutchen said.McCutchen's move off the floor and into the NBA office was certainly not easy. But instead of calling a few games a week, McCutchen sees his job now as one where he could have a say in how they all get officiated. About a month into his job as an NBA vice president overseeing referee development and training, McCutchen is jumping in with both feet.He and fellow NBA executive Michelle Johnson are going to be instrumental in the league's plan to improve how players and referees get along. There's going to be more education, more studying, more explaining and more listening — and McCutchen truly believes it will work."I'm invigorated by the people I'm working with, Michelle Johnson," McCutchen said. "I'm invigorated by the people in our office who... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Curry will be able to stock his All-Star roster with plenty of Golden State teammates.Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were chosen as reserves Tuesday, giving the defending NBA champions a record-tying four All-Stars for the second straight year.The Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards also had two reserves selected, and they will go into the pool of players that Curry and fellow captain LeBron James can draft to comprise the teams for the Feb. 18 game in Los Angeles. Their rosters will be unveiled Thursday, though the selection process won't be televised.Minnesota's Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns were chosen from the Western Conference, along with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Portland's Damian Lillard.Besides Washington's John Wall and Bradley Beal, the rest of the Eastern Conference reserves were Boston's Al Horford, Cleveland's Kevin Love, New York's Kristaps Porzingis, Toronto's Kyle Lowry and Indiana's... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Curry will be able to stock his All-Star roster with plenty of Golden State teammates.Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were chosen as reserves Tuesday, giving the defending NBA champions a record-tying four All-Stars for the second straight year.The Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards also had two reserves selected, and they will go into the pool of players that Curry and fellow captain LeBron James can draft to comprise the teams for the Feb. 18 game in Los Angeles. Their rosters will be unveiled Thursday, though the selection process won't be televised.Minnesota's Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns were chosen from the Western Conference, along with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Portland's Damian Lillard.Besides Washington's John Wall and Bradley Beal, the rest of the Eastern Conference reserves were Boston's Al Horford, Cleveland's Kevin Love, New York's Kristaps Porzingis, Toronto's Kyle Lowry and Indiana's... [More]

Semi Ojeleye, Cedi Osman and Royce O'Neale have never started in an NBA game. Cameron Payne last played in April. Matt Costello has scored two points in his NBA career.They're not stars.Yet somehow, someone in an NBA locker room apparently thought they should start in this year's All-Star Game.Only 10 players will start in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, but 249 players — roughly half the league — were listed on at least one ballot in the player portion of the All-Star selection process. And while some of the results might suggest not everyone took it seriously, making the list seemed to leave Philadelphia's Amir Johnson genuinely moved."That's pretty cool, man," Johnson said Thursday night when told that he got a vote. "That shows you how together we are. ... It's just everybody against the world. It's us against everybody."So guys like Ojeleye, Osman, O'Neale, Payne and Costello all got a vote from at least one player. Andre Iguodala, a recent NBA Finals MVP, did not.The league is trying a new... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Team LeBron against Team Stephen is the NBA's new All-Star matchup.LeBron James and Stephen Curry will go head-to-head again, this time as captains who pick teams for the revamped NBA All-Star Game.James and Curry received the most votes from fans in their conferences Thursday night and will draft from a pool of the rest of the NBA's best for the Feb. 18 game in Los Angeles."Captain huh? Really Appreciate all the votes from the fans, media and players!" Curry wrote on Twitter .James will pick first as the player who received the most fan votes. He will make his 14th All-Star Game start, one behind Kobe Bryant for the most in league history.He could start his team with Kevin Durant, who teamed with Curry to beat James and the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Or maybe he could go with Kyrie Irving, a former All-Star Game MVP who asked to be traded away from Cleveland last summer and has led Boston to the best record in the East.Perhaps it will be Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo,... [More]

Gregg Popovich was the coach nobody wanted.It's hard to fathom now, after five NBA championships as coach of the San Antonio Spurs and with him now alone in fifth place on the league's all-time victory list. But it's true — Popovich's decision to fire Bob Hill and make himself coach and general manager in December 1996 was horribly received at first, leaving even some of his own players baffled.The San Antonio Express-News took a poll after that season and found that 92 percent of Spurs fans wanted Popovich fired.As Popovich would suggest now (on politics, one of his favorite topics), sometimes voters get it wrong."The pressure is always there for any coach," Popovich said. "You've got to get the job done. If you don't, you're not there. If you do get it done, you get to stay."He said those words in 1997. He was right.Popovich now has 1,176 wins. He's 34 away from No. 4 Pat Riley, 45 shy of No. 3 Jerry Sloan, and should catch both next season. He would need 156 to catch No. 2 Lenny Wilkens,... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Rockets star James Harden will miss at least two weeks with a left hamstring strain.The team announced Monday that the NBA's leading scorer has a grade 2 strain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.Harden was injured on a missed layup late in the fourth quarter of Houston's 148-142 double-overtime win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. He said after the game that he didn't think the injury was serious, but the guard was walking with a pronounced limp.The Rockets have the second-best record in the Western Conference behind Golden State at 26-9, and Harden leads the NBA with his scoring average of 32.3 points per game. He also is averaging 9.1 assists, ranking third in the league.Harden, who has played every game this season, has been extremely durable during his career, missing just two games since the start of the 2014-15 season.

G James Harden scored 40 points in Sunday's 148-142 double overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He also exited the game with a left hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated before Wednesday's game at Orlando. Harden departed with 44.9 seconds left in the fourth, clutching his hamstring following a miss on a driving layup. He was listed as questionable for Sunday's game with a right foot contusion.

G James Harden scored 34 points while shooting 7 of 27 from the field, 5 of 15 from 3-point range and 15 of 15 from the free-throw line. Four of the foul shots came on one possession thanks to a pair of technical fouls.Harden also posted 10 assists.

G James Harden, who had scored 50-plus points in consecutive games, finished with 29. He was 7 of 18 from the floor including 3 of 11 from behind the 3-point line. Harden also had 14 assists."We had several chances, we just couldn't convert and we couldn't get stops when we needed to," Harden said.

G James Harden is having his minutes monitored closely with others injured, including G Chris Paul. In the 14 complete games Paul played upon his return from a knee injury, Harden averaged 35.3 minutes, which would represent his lowest total in six seasons with Houston. Harden logged 41 minutes on Friday with Paul out with a left abbuctor strain.

G James Harden passed Elvin Hayes (11,762) for fourth place in franchise history. Harden has scored 11,781 points over 425 games with Houston.

G James Harden chipped in 26 points, six rebounds and six assists and Monday's win over the Jazz.

NEW YORK -- Michael Beasley had 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field to lead six New York players in double figures as the Knicks spoiled Carmelo Anthony's return to Madison Square Garden with a 111-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.Anthony, who was with the Knicks for nearly seven seasons and ranks as the seventh-leading scorer in franchise history, finished with 12 points -- including zero in the second half -- on 5-of-18 shooting in his first game back in New York since being traded during the offseason for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a second-round draft pick.Anthony received a mostly warm reception from the MSG crowd during a highlight video played during introductions. While there were loud cheers for Anthony, who averaged nearly 25 points during his nearly seven-year run but had little playoff success, there was also a smattering of boos.Heat 90, Clippers 85MIAMI -- Erik Spoelstra became the Miami franchise leader for coaching victories in a... [More]

G James Harden disregarded right knee discomfort as Houston extended its NBA-leading winning streak to 13 games with a gritty 115-111 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks at Toyota Center.Harden played through pain after sustaining his injury Friday against San Antonio. Harden also had six rebounds and five assists.

G James Harden (28 points, seven rebounds, six assists) struggled with his shot, but the Spurs failed to keep him off the line, with Harden sinking 14 of 16 free throws to offset his 2-of-11 3-point shooting.

G James Harden scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and matched his career high of 17 assists. Harden matched the franchise record for assists in a half with 14 prior to the intermission. He also had 14 in the first half of the 2016-17 season opener against the Lakers. John Lucas had 14 in the second half at Milwaukee on Oct. 27, 1977.

G James Harden's career scoring high is 56 points. He had 48 points Saturday against the Trail Blazers.

MEXICO CITY -- Caris LeVert recorded his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 assists as the Brooklyn Nets rallied from a 16-point deficit and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-95 on Thursday night at Ciudad de Mexico Arena.On the first anniversary of his NBA debut, LeVert saw extensive time at point guard because of Spencer Dinwiddie's foul trouble. In 30 minutes, Levert shot 6 of 10 and also played effective defense on Russell Westbrook down the stretch.Westbrook finished with 31 points but shot 10 of 27 from the field. He scored only five points in the fourth quarter and was also forced into a turnover by LeVert with 2:11 remaining.Oklahoma City missed three consecutive shots in a span of seven seconds, and LeVert iced Brooklyn's fourth win in six games by hitting four foul shots in the final 18 seconds.Lakers 107, 76ers 104PHILADELPHIA -- Brandon Ingram hit a 3-pointer with eight-tenths of a second left to lift Los Angeles over Philadelphia.Ingram led the Lakers with 21... [More]