Derrick Rose will likely have no more than just a few practices to get ready for opening night with the New York Knicks.
Rose and two friends were cleared Wednesday in a $21.5 million lawsuit that accused them of raping his ex-girlfriend, jurors in Los Angeles needing less than four hours to reach their decision. Rose has been away from the team while dealing with the trial, and the Knicks are ready to welcome him back with open arms.
“It’s a tough thing he went through,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said in Boston on Wednesday night, before New York beat the Celtics in a preseason matchup. “But now it’s over. Now he can focus on basketball. I know that’s what Derrick wants, to get back to do. We’re just all glad it’s done with and now he can get back here and focus on basketball.”
Hornacek said he did not expect Rose to play in the preseason finale in Brooklyn on Thursday, though did not completely rule it out. Rose and the Knicks open the season Tuesday in Cleveland, when the Cavaliers will get their championship rings - and at the same time, next door at Progressive Field, the Indians will host Game 1 of the World Series.
Teams traditionally don’t practice coming off a back-to-back, so that would suggest the Knicks might only have three practices with their point guard before the opener. Rose played in one preseason game.
“We have to get him up to speed on some of the things we’ve put in,” Hornacek said.
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WARRIORS 123, LAKERS 112
SAN DIEGO - Stephen Curry scored 32 points, Kevin Durant scored 27 and Klay Thompson finished with 19 points and eight assists for Golden State.
Curry was 11 for 19 from the floor, 6 for 12 from 3-point range.
Brandon Ingram led Los Angeles with 21 points, 14 of those coming in the fourth quarter. Nick Young scored 19 and D’Angelo Russell had 16 points and nine assists for the Lakers.
WARRIORS: Golden State coach Steve Kerr spent part of the game engaged in conversation with first-year Lakers coach Luke Walton, his former top assistant with the Warriors and close friend. “He’s upset with me because we stole a lot of their plays,” Walton told ESPN’s Mike Breen during the broadcast. … The Warriors scored the game’s first 12 points and shot 24 for 25 from the line.
LAKERS: Timofey Mozgov left in the third quarter after an awkward fall and landing hard on his back. … Luol Deng (rest) got the night off. … Young had two assists in the third quarter. He had four instances of a two-assist quarter last season.
UP NEXT: Golden State (5-1) hosts Portland Friday. The Lakers (2-5) play Phoenix in Anaheim, California on Friday.
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RAPTORS 103, PISTONS 92
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Toronto guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan look ready for the season. Lowry scored 27 points, DeRozan added 26, and neither All-Star played more than 28 minutes.
Andre Drummond scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Detroit. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also scored 16, while Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris each had 14 for the Pistons.
RAPTORS: Lowry was 5-for-8 from 3-point range. … Cory Joseph scored 10 points and Jonas Valanciunas grabbed 12 rebounds.
PISTONS: Drummond played in five preseason games, with five double-doubles. … Harris played with a mask to protect his broken nose. Aron Baynes, who didn’t play Wednesday while recovering from surgery to repair his broken nose, is expected to wear a mask in the regular-season opener.
UP NEXT: Toronto (4-2) visits Washington Friday. Detroit finished the preseason 3-3, and visits Toronto in its regular-season opener Oct. 26.
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KNICKS 121, CELTICS 96
BOSTON - Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points for New York, which got 13 from Kyle O’Quinn and 12 apiece from Sasha Vujacic and Ron Baker.
Jaylen Brown scored 17 for the Celtics, who lost Marcus Smart to a sprained left ankle in the second half.
KNICKS: Joakim Noah had two points in 14 minutes. … Courtney Lee and Justin Holiday each scored 11 for New York. … The Knicks had 33 assists on 45 field goals.
CELTICS: Boston gave Al Horford, Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder the night off. … Terry Rozier scored 13 points in 14 minutes.
UP NEXT: New York (3-2) visits Brooklyn Thursday. Boston finished the preseason 5-2, and hosts Brooklyn in its regular-season opener Oct. 26.
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BUCKS 111, PACERS 103
MILWAUKEE - Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 20 points and Jabari Parker finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee, which trailed by 10 late in the third quarter.
Paul George scored 18 points for Indiana, which got 16 from Myles Turner.
PACERS: Indiana turned 24 turnovers into 29 points. … Glenn Robinson III and Al Jefferson combined for 23 points off the bench.
BUCKS: Newly acquired Tony Snell was inactive. … Matthew Dellavedova made all four of his shots, finishing with nine points and seven assists.
UP NEXT: Both teams finished the preseason with 3-3 records. Indiana opens the regular season Oct. 26 at home against Dallas. Milwaukee opens the regular season Oct. 26 at home against Charlotte.
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TIMBERWOLVES 101, GRIZZLIES 94
MINNEAPOLIS - Karl-Anthony Towns had 31 points and nine rebounds and Minnesota led by 40 points in the third quarter.
Towns shot 7 for 10 from the field and 17 for 17 at the free throw line in 25 minutes, having his way with defensive stalwart Marc Gasol.
Gasol had six points and four rebounds in 19 minutes for Memphis, an encouraging sign after the star center suffered a bone bruise on the same foot that was surgically repaired in February.
GRIZZLIES: Rookie second-round pick Deyonta Davis (left foot) made his preseason debut after sitting out the first five games. He had three points and five rebounds in 13 minutes. … Coach David Fizdale said he had his fingers crossed that Chandler Parsons, who hasn’t played in the preseason while recovering from right knee surgery, could be ready by the opener. “I’d rather have him for 75 games than for five,” he said.
TIMBERWOLVES: Andrew Wiggins (allergic reaction) sat out, as did Shabazz Muhammad (right hip). … Gorgui Dieng had 19 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes and Zach LaVine scored 18 points. … Brandon Rush started in Wiggins’ place and had nine points and five assists. … Rookie Kris Dunn had another rough night offensively, going scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting.
UP NEXT: Minnesota (4-2) hosts Charlotte Friday. Memphis (4-2) is finished with the preseason and opens the regular season at home against Minnesota Oct. 26.
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ROCKETS 106, MAVERICKS 91
DALLAS - James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists, including 12 and four while playing most of the third quarter, to lead Houston.
Wesley Matthews led Dallas with 15 points.
The Rockets started on an 18-2 run and led 23-7 when some starters were subbed out. With backups involved, the Mavericks outscored Houston 15-4 to finish the first quarter.
ROCKETS: G Pablo Prigioni sat with a left shoulder sprain, but coach Mike D’Antoni said he is expected to be available for the preseason finale. … G Eric Gordon, expected to open the season as a starter while Patrick Beverley recovers from left knee injury, had 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting. … Clint Capela had 12 points and 13 rebounds. … Ryan Anderson hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.
MAVERICKS: G J.J. Barea was out with a sprained left elbow. Coach Rick Carlisle is hopeful he will be ready for the opener next Wednesday at Indiana. … Harrison Barnes was 1 of 9 from the field, putting him at 24 percent (12 of 51) in the preseason. He signed a max deal at four years, $94 million in the offseason. … Dirk Nowitzki had 12 points and five rebounds.
UP NEXT: Both teams have their preseason finales on the road Friday: Houston (5-1) at San Antonio and Dallas (2-4) at Denver.
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TRAIL BLAZERS 88, JAZZ 84
SALT LAKE CITY - Damian Lillard scored 27 points in 27 minutes for Portland.
Evan Turner finished with 15 points for the Trail Blazers. George Hill scored 16 points and Rudy Gobert added 15 for Utah.
TRAIL BLAZERS: Lillard made eight of his final nine shots. … C.J. McCollum scored 11 points.
JAZZ: Trey Lyles scored 11 for Utah, which once trailed by as many as 15. … Utah’s starters had only three turnovers.
UP NEXT: Portland (4-2) visits Golden State on Friday in the preseason finale. Utah finished the preseason 3-3, and opens the regular season at Portland on Tuesday.
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