Basketball

NEW YORK (AP) — No Kevin Durant on one side, no Jaylen Brown on the other. When the fourth quarter arrived, Kyrie Irving seemed to take it upon himself to pick up the missing offense for the Nets.

MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Heat were short-handed. The Milwaukee Bucks were short-handed. The Heat got the better of it all.

MIAMI (AP) — Upon hearing that the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors will have an NBA-record crowd of about 68,000 fans at their game Friday night, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra set a new goal. He’d like to see 100,000 at a game.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ricky Rubio played for Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night for the first time since injuring his knee more than a year ago.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jaylen Brown is not playing for the Boston Celtics against Brooklyn, a night after he scored a season-high 41 points in a victory over New Orleans. The Celtics said Brown has right adductor tightness.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — NBA assist leader Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers will miss about two weeks, and possibly more, due to a left elbow sprain and a mild left knee bone bruise, the team said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bradley Beal has been cleared to resume full basketball activities for the Washington Wizards. The team said Thursday that Beal had his left hamstring strain reevaluated, and his return will depend on his progress.

NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is well on his way to catching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on more than the NBA’s career scoring list .

Houston Rockets (10-31, 15th in the Western Conference) vs. Sacramento Kings (22-18, fourth in the Western Conference) Sacramento, California; Friday, 10 p.m.

Golden State Warriors (20-21, eighth in the Western Conference) vs. San Antonio Spurs (13-29, 14th in the Western Conference) San Antonio; Friday, 7:30 p.m.