Basketball

PHOENIX (AP) — The Phoenix Suns will host the 2027 NBA All-Star game, the league announced Thursday, giving owner Mat Ishbia a marquee event for the city roughly one year after he purchased the franchise.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson will miss Friday night's game at Memphis because of a sprained right ankle. Johnson was injured in the third quarter of a victory over Cleveland on Wednesday.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Hornets are finalizing a deal to make Atlanta Hawks executive Dotun Akinwale their new assistant general manager, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Simmons will miss the remainder of the season, the third straight year the former All-Star's season has ended early because of back problems.

A capsule look at the eight teams competing in the U Sports men's basketball Final 8 in Quebec City.

The time has arrived for Diego Maffia and the Victoria Vikes. Victoria enters the U Sports men’s basketball Final 8 as the top seed for the second year in a row and is coming off its third consecutive Canada West title.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mike Brown is starting to run out of adjectives to describe De’Aaron Fox. The Sacramento Kings coach might need a thesaurus with the type of season his high-scoring guard is having.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 37 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off a late rally by the Portland Trail Blazers for a 128-120 victory on Wednesday night.

Chicago Bulls (30-32, ninth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Golden State Warriors (33-28, ninth in the Western Conference) San Francisco; Thursday, 10 p.m. EST FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE : Warriors -6.

Atlanta Hawks (28-34, 10th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (22-41, 13th in the Western Conference) Memphis, Tennessee; Friday, 8 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Memphis looks to end its four-game home skid with a victory over Atlanta.