Dallas Mavericks acquisition Kyrie Irving does not want to be constantly asked about committing long term to his new franchise, which he says is "very emotionally draining".

Irving was unveiled by the Mavericks to Dallas media alongside Markieff Morris following their trades from the Brooklyn Nets prior to their home debuts against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

The Mavericks have made it clear their move for Irving was geared towards chasing an elusive NBA title and the 30-year-old point guard proactively requested that reporters not ask him about his future beyond this season.

"It puts unwarranted distractions on us and our team," Irving told reporters. "I've dealt with it before, and it's very emotionally draining to ask questions like, 'What's the long term? What's the long term?'

"I will say that from the start, from when I came here, there's been nothing but a warm embrace, nothing but genuine love and nothing but a familiarity of relationships that I can really look to in times of questioning or confusion.

"There's just a positive note there. I'm just taking it one day at a time. That's all I can do in this life.

"What the future holds is really only going to be dictated on what I do right now and how I prepare for those next steps, and that's being the best teammate that I can be in that locker room and a great leader out here and within the Dallas community and within the NBA. I'll just continue to be myself.

"I'm just putting that to bed and just focusing on what we have ahead of us as a team."

Irving has started life with the Mavs well, averaging 25.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists across three games where they have won two.

The eight-time All-Star's acquisition does come with question marks given the off-court issues he has caused over the past few years, but Mavs general manager Nico Harrison downplayed any risk.

"I don't see any risk involved," said Harrison, whose relationship with Irving dates back to high school. "I've known Kyrie for a long time. I know his core. I know what kind of person that he is.

"I think anybody that's ever watched him play basketball knows the type of basketball player he is. I don't see the risk involved. I actually see the risk in not doing the deal."

Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone believes his side should have been rewarded with more than one All-Star selection after building such a commanding lead in the Western Conference.

The Nuggets came into Monday's play at 39-18, owners of a 4.5-game lead atop the West, but their only All-Star is reigning back-to-back league MVP Nikola Jokic.

Jokic, the favourite to win again this year and earn the first three-peat since Larry Bird from 1984-86, was an obvious selection, but the Nuggets had been campaigning for Aaron Gordon's first selection early in the season, before Jamal Murray also found his footing in the past couple months after an injury-impacted start to the campaign.

Gordon has started 49 of his side's 57 games – the same number as Jokic – while functioning as the team's top defender and averaging 17.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists on career-best efficiency. In fact, his field goal percentage of 58.7 per cent is the fifth highest in the league among players attempting at least 10 shots per game.

Meanwhile, after a slow start, Murray is averaging 25.9 points, 7.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals on shooting splits of 49/41/91 across his past 15 games.

Speaking to the media ahead of Monday's game against the Miami Heat, Malone said he would have liked to see the best team get rewarded in the All-Star Game for their dominance.

"It definitely bothers you, when you are in first place in the West by four games and you have the second-best record in the NBA," he said. 

"Yes, Nikola is a great player and he's on his way to potentially winning three MVPs in a row, but we have other great players as well. 

"A guy like Aaron Gordon, like Jamal Murray, you would hope they would be given some respect, if you will.

"But we're not going to focus on that because I know for Aaron, for Jamal, for everybody in that locker room, our goals are much bigger than the All-Star game."

There have already been two replacement All-Stars named in the West after it became clear Zion Williamson and Stephen Curry were not going to be able to participate, but those reserve selections went to Minnesota Timberwolves rising star Anthony Edwards and Sacramento Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox.

The Washington Wizards' second all-time leading scorer Bradley Beal was issued a $25,000 fine on Monday after he was found guilty of making contact with an official during Saturday's win against the Indiana Pacers.

The incident occurred when Beal tried to intercept a long-range pass near the sideline, accidentally bumping his face into referee John Butler's shoulder, before appearing to push Butler away in an immediate response.

Butler fell into some empty seats courtside, and the game proceeded without any technical foul as a result of the contact.

The three-time All-Star – who needs only 577 more points to overtake Elvin Hayes as the Wizards' all-time leading scorer – may have thought he had gotten away with it, but the fine was picked out during the review process.

He will not miss any time for the 26-29 Wizards, who entered Monday's game against the Golden State Warriors sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference.

The Los Angeles Lakers will be without LeBron James yet again when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.

James, 38, will make it three missed games in a row since breaking the all-time scoring record against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, officially listed out with an ankle injury.

It may be a case of the Lakers trying to give their star an extended rest leading into the All-Star break in the hope he will come out the other side refreshed and ready to attack the home stretch, having averaged over 30 points per game in the 30 games he has played since the beginning of December.

But unfortunately for Los Angeles, they are running out of wiggle room.

With a 26-31 record, the Lakers are 13th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference, and although they sit only four games behind the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers, there are a host of competitive teams in the play-in race with the same goal.

The Lakers are 5-8 in the 13 games James has missed this season, including just two wins from their past eight attempts.

Making matters even more precarious is the fact that fellow star Anthony Davis is also listed as day-to-day, and there has been no confirmation that he will suit up either, although it is likely the Lakers would have ruled him out at the same time as James if they were going to do so.

It will be another chance for the Lakers' new additions to prove their worth, with D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt immediately impressing after arriving in the Russell Westbrook trade, while Malik Beasley could also prove himself to be a valuable shooter off the bench in a team lacking much of a threat from outside.

The Trail Blazers will also be undermanned as their top wing, Jerami Grant, has been ruled out with a concussion.

The Golden State Warriors will approve the four-team trade they agreed to at the deadline, but not before filing a complaint to the NBA about Gary Payton II's injury not being disclosed.

Payton, who was a member of the Warriors' championship-winning team in 2022, left the franchise to sign a free agent deal with the Portland Trail Blazers in the offseason.

He had been battling a number of injuries that kept him out of action until the new year, but he has managed 15 appearances since January 2.

Payton's return to action had the Warriors believing his injury problems were behind him, and they were given no indication during negotiations that he was still struggling.

However, their medical examination of him revealed a core muscle injury that the Warriors' medical staff believe will take months to heal.

It meant the Warriors had the ability to void the deal – which was a complicated four-team trade that also sent James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons, while the Atlanta Hawks received Saddiq Bey – but with the deadline already passed, Golden State would not be able to make any further moves.

That is a crucial point because while the acquisition of Payton was important, the Warriors were just as interested in parting ways with Wiseman. 

The Athletic reported that because of Golden State's status as a luxury tax repeater, the franchise were going to have to pay over $50million for Wiseman's $9m salary this season, and over $80m for his $12m salary in 2023-24.

With how little the former number two draft pick has proven, the Warriors decided his time with the team had run out, and they would prefer the playoff-proven Payton on a cheaper contract.

While they are still going through with the trade, the Warriors filed a complaint to the league about the Trail Blazers providing misleading information about Payton's injury status, prompting the league to launch a review.

It is also being reported that Payton was being pushed by Portland's training staff to play through his injury with the help of pain relief medication.

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown says he is "day to day" in his recovery from a facial fracture and has not ruled himself out of next weekend's All-Star Game.

Brown suffered the injury when he collided with the elbow of team-mate Jayson Tatum during last Wednesday's 106-99 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The two-time All-Star was ruled out indefinitely by the Celtics, but Brown offered an update on his status prior to Sunday's 119-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

"I'm taking it day to day right now," Brown said. "I'm just letting the swelling go down, letting the pain subside, and then I'll kind of go from there. I can't make any determinations long-term because I'm just taking it day to day."

Brown, who was voted into the upcoming All-Star Game as a reserve by the league's coaches, confirmed he had avoided surgery and was on the mend.

"Feeling a lot better for sure," Brown said. "Still having a little bit of pain but feeling better from the first couple days.

"Had to get a couple scans, see a bunch of specialists and different doctors to get all the info. But they came to the determination I don't have to have surgery, so that's the good thing.

"I'm just happy that I don't have to go through that process because I probably would have missed a lot more games. I don't think it'll be too long. I figure I'll be fine."

Brown is enjoying an outstanding season, with career-high averages for points (26.5), rebounds (7.0) and field goal percentage (48.7 per cent).

The Golden State Warriors will approve the four-team trade they agreed to at the deadline, but not before filing a complaint to the NBA about Gary Payton II's injury not being disclosed.

Payton, who was a member of the Warriors' championship-winning team in 2022, left the franchise to sign a free agent deal with the Portland Trail Blazers in the offseason.

He had been battling a number of injuries that kept him out of action until the new year began, but he has since managed 15 appearances since January 2.

Payton's return to action had the Warriors believing his injury problems were behind him, and they were given no indication during negotiations that he was still struggling.

However, their medical examination of him revealed a core muscle injury that the Warriors' medical staff believe will take months to heal.

It meant the Warriors had the ability to void the deal – which was a complicated four-team trade that also sent James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons, while the Atlanta Hawks received Saddiq Bey – but with the deadline already passed, Golden State would not be able to make any further moves.

That is a crucial point because while the acquisition of Payton was important, the Warriors were just as interested in parting ways with Wiseman. 

The Athletic reported that because of Golden State's status as a luxury tax repeater, the franchise were going to have to pay over $50million for Wiseman's $9m salary this season, and over $80m for his $12m salary in 2023-24.

With how little the former number two draft pick has proven, the Warriors decided his time with the team had run out, and they would prefer the playoff-proven Payton on a cheaper contract.

While they are still going through with the trade, the Warriors filed a complaint to the league about the Trail Blazers providing misleading information about Payton's injury status, prompting the league to launch a review.

It is also being reported that Payton was being pushed by Portland's training staff to play through his injury with the help of pain relief medication.

The Boston Celtics received terrific performances from Derrick White and Robert Williams III to defeat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 119-109 on Sunday.

With Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown out of action due to a broken bone in his face, and Jayson Tatum struggling on his way to a three-of-16 shooting performance, it was up to the role players to step up in what was a playoff-quality matchup.

After his best game of the season on Friday – scoring a season-high 33 points with 10 assists – White followed it up with another terrific showing. He led the Celtics with 23 points on eight-of-20 shooting and a game-high 10 assists.

Meanwhile, Williams – who set a season-high with 16 rebounds on Friday – matched that figure again, including five on the offensive end, while the Grizzlies only grabbed three offensive rebounds as a team. 

Tatum ended up salvaging a respectable stat line of 20 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks, but he was nowhere to be found in a close fourth quarter.

Instead, it was Al Horford providing the game-winning scoring burst, with 11 of his 16 points coming in the final five minutes to repel any late Grizzlies charge.

Ja Morant led the visitors with 25 points (nine-of-18 shooting), seven assists and six rebounds.

With the win, the Celtics improved their league-leading record to 41-16, while the Grizzlies sit second in the Western Conference at 34-22.

VanVleet and Siakam lead Raptors to victory

The combination of Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam provided the scoring punch in the Toronto Raptors' 119-118 home win against the Detroit Pistons, but a new addition held things together defensively.

VanVleet led all scorers with 35 points (12-of-26 shooting) and eight assists, while Siakam put together a strong performance with 28 points (10-of-19 shooting), six assists and two blocks.

On the defensive end, it was trade acquisition Jakob Poeltl showing exactly why the Raptors traded a first-round pick for him at the deadline, leading the game in both blocks (three) and steals (two) before fouling out in 25 minutes. Toronto were plus 11 with him on the court, and minus 10 while he was on the bench.

The New Orleans Pelicans were hopeful they would be getting star Zion Williamson back shortly after next week’s All-Star break, but that will no longer be the case.

Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said Sunday that Williamson suffered a setback during his rehab for a hamstring injury and will miss several weeks after the All-Star Game.

Williamson, who missed the entire 2021-22 season with a broken foot, has been sidelined since injuring the hamstring in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on January 2.

The 22-year-old had been participating in three-on-three work as part of his rehab, and his latest setback occurred while on the court, according to Griffin.

He will be re-evaluated after next Sunday’s All-Star Game.

The former number one overall draft pick was voted an All-Star starter after averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 29 games.

The Pelicans were 23-14 and had the Western Conference’s third-best record at the time of Williamson’s injury, but have gone just 6-14 since to drop into seventh place in the West.

Terrence Ross plans to sign with the Phoenix Suns after finalising his contract buyout with the Orlando Magic, according to reports.

Ross will be able to sign with a new team upon clearing waivers and becoming a free agent in the coming days, and will be eligible for any suitors' playoff roster if he agrees the buyout by March 1.

The Dallas Mavericks were reported as frontrunners to acquire Ross on Saturday, but the championship-chasing Suns are now in pole position, according to an ESPN report.

The Suns acquired Kevin Durant, as well as T.J. Warren, in a huge trade with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week, sending Cameron Johnson, Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder the other way alongside four first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap.

Ross' addition would provide cover for Durant in Phoenix after the Suns lost Johnson and Bridges to the Nets.

The 32-year-old is in the final season of his four-year, $54 million contract in Orlando, with his 22.5 minutes and eight points per game his fewest in a single campaign since his rookie year in 2012-13.

The Suns are fifth in the Western Conference following Friday's 117-104 win at the Indiana Pacers, in which Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton had 21 and 22 points respectively.

Luka Doncic had fun linking up with Kyrie Irving for the first time in spite of the Dallas Mavericks going down 133-128 in overtime at the Sacramento Kings.

In his third game since being traded from the Brooklyn Nets, Irving scored 28 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, but it was not enough to beat the Kings at Golden 1 Center again, as the Mavs did on Friday.

Doncic did not play in that game, but he returned on Saturday for the second of a double-header against Sacramento, and linked up well with Irving as he finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

"Amazing, only our first game together, but I think it's so fun to play with this guy," the Slovenian said about lining up with Irving. "He's an amazing basketball player and I think it's going to be really fun and today, first game, it was really fun, too."

Mavs coach Jason Kidd was equally enthused by his new star partnership despite the loss, saying: "I thought it was good. It was just natural. Nothing forced.

"It's going to make us that much better. They did an incredible job."

De'Aaron Fox managed to outshine Doncic and Irving in Sacramento, scoring 36 points for the hosts, 26 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime, while Domantas Sabonis and Terence Davis also put up 22 points each, with the former recording 14 rebounds for a league-leading 44th double-double of the season.

Kings coach Mike Brown was understandably pleased with his team's work, saying: "Heck of a job by our guys. Defensively, we did a pretty good job in both second halves.

"We had a lot of great individual performances."

James Harden said he left the Brooklyn Nets "for a reason" after he and Joel Embiid starred in the Philadelphia 76ers' win over his former team, describing his time in Brooklyn as "frustrating".

Harden scored 29 points with six rebounds and six assists on his first appearance at Barclays Center since pushing for a trade to Philadelphia last year, helping the Sixers record a 101-98 win.

The 2018 NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star was criticised for his decision to seek a Nets exit just over a year after being acquired from the Houston Rockets.

Harden was keen to get a few things off his chest after Saturday's win over Brooklyn, who are working with a new-look roster after the recent departure of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Asked if he could have foreseen a situation where both of those stars followed him through the exit door, Harden said: "Yeah. I didn't just ask to leave for no reason. It wasn't right.

"I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn't have a chance to win a championship, but I was comfortable. 

"So for me to up and leave my family, all the things I created there, to come to Brooklyn for a year and a half to try to just get up and leave, it was for a reason, you know what I mean?" 

Pushed on whether the Nets could have done anything to keep him, the guard added: "Yeah, there was. Like, a lot of things.

"But it was just a lot of dysfunction, clearly. A lot of internal things that I'm not going to ever say or put in the media or anything. That was one of the reasons why I chose to make my decision.

"But now, fast-forward to this date, I don't look like the crazy one. I don't look like the quitter or whatever the media want to call me. 

"I knew what was going on and I just decided, 'hey, I'm not built for this'. I don't want to deal with that. I want to play basketball and have fun and enjoy doing it. Fast-forward to today, they've got a whole new roster."

Asked to sum up his time in Brooklyn, Harden described it as "frustrating", bemoaning his lack of game-time alongside Durant and Irving after the trio only played 16 times together.

"The reason I made that decision to get out of my comfort zone, to leave Houston and do everything that I did to get out of there was to come in and play with KD and Kyrie," he said.

"That didn't happen as much as I would like to or probably the organisation wanted to. It was just something where I knew it wasn't going to change. I had to make an individual decision for the betterment of my family and my career

 "It's a lot of what-ifs when you play less than 20 games together. So it's a little bit frustrating, but it is what it is. Hopefully, everybody's in a good place now and we can move on."

Joel Embiid and James Harden led the Philadelphia 76ers to a hard-fought 101-98 win against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Saturday.

The Nets, now shorn of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, had to face another of their former stars in Harden, who had no problem showing them the kind of form he rarely displayed in Brooklyn on his first appearance there since leaving last year, scoring 29 points with six rebounds and six assists.

Embiid had an even better outing, with the Cameroonian finishing with 37 points and 13 rebounds, making 12 of his 18 field-goal attempts.

Mikal Bridges scored 23 on debut for Brooklyn after his arrival as part of the Durant deal with the Phoenix Suns, with fellow debutant Cam Johnson adding 12, while Joe Harris managed 18 points from just over 16 minutes on court.

The two players the Nets acquired as part of the Irving deal, Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie, struggled against the Sixers.

Finney-Smith made just two of his eight field-goal attempts, while Dinwiddie fared even worse with two from 10, and zero from four shots from beyond the arc.

Dinwiddie thought he had forced overtime at least when a three-pointer finally went in, but it was ruled out of time after a review as Philadelphia secured the victory.

Doncic and Irving outfoxed by De'Aaron

In their first outing together for the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic and Irving could not get the W as De'Aaron Fox helped the Sacramento Kings to an overtime victory.

Both Doncic and Irving spent more than 40 minutes on the court, scoring 27 and 28 points respectively in a tight game in which neither team ended a quarter with more than a two-point lead.

Fox particularly shone in the latter stages as he recorded 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including six free throws in the final 18.4 seconds to help seal a 133-128 win at Golden 1 Center.

Jokic makes history, Young's assist bonanza

Nikola Jokic became only the fifth player in NBA history to record 20+ triple-doubles in a single season as he led the Denver Nuggets to a 119-105 win at the Charlotte Hornets.

The two-time MVP scored 30 points, with 16 rebounds and 10 assists, while Trae Young also had a productive game as the Atlanta Hawks beat the San Antonio Spurs 125-106.

Young provided an impressive season-high 17 assists for his team to go with his 24 points to make it a 12-game losing streak for the Spurs, their longest since 1988-89 (13).

A much-changed Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a 109-103 victory against the Golden State Warriors, with Dennis Schroder top-scoring with 26 points, while the returning D'Angelo Russell added 15 and Anthony Davis recorded 16 rebounds.

LeBron James will miss his second consecutive game with soreness in his left ankle.

James became the NBA's all-time leading points scorer this week, breaking the record against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Yet the 38-year-old sat out Thursday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and will not feature on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors.

It marks the 13th missed game this season for James, though it appears to be a primarily precautionary move.

Medical imaging on the affected area has not shown any significant damage other than general wear and tear, according to Lakers coach Darvin Ham.

"We're grateful that things came back clean and good," Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said on a conference call on Saturday.

The Lakers are expected to have newcomers D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley and Davon Reed available to face the Warriors.

Mo Bamba, who was also acquired at the deadline, will finish serving his four-game suspension stemming from an altercation in a February 3 game between the Orlando Magic and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

James ranks seventh in the league in scoring (30.2 points per game) and his absence leaves a huge void for Los Angeles, who are 13th in the Western Conference and facing an uphill climb to make the playoffs.

Paul George is keen to see the Los Angeles Clippers work out a deal for Russell Westbrook as "we need a point guard".

The Clippers traded Reggie Jackson and John Wall away at Thursday's deadline, while Westbrook ended a difficult spell with the Los Angeles Lakers as he was traded to the Utah Jazz.

Sixth in the Western Conference, the Clippers were beaten 119-106 by the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday to fall to 31-28.

Speaking after the defeat – in which he surpassed 16,000 career points – George outlined his desire to be reunited with Westbrook, who was a team-mate on the Oklahoma City Thunder and could seek a buyout from the Jazz.

"If there's somebody out there, Russell," George said when asked if the Clippers should bring in a point guard. "If it makes sense, and obviously it goes with our team, we're all for it.

"We need a point guard. But [at] the same [time], I think we're good as well. If nothing happened, we got enough in this locker room to be able to make it work.

"But it would definitely improve our team if we had that traditional point guard to get us in things and make the game easy. So, hopefully, Russell sees this, and we figure something out."

Westbrook averaged 15.9 points, 7.5 assists and 6.2 rebounds on the Lakers this season, but Marcus Morris claims he could "play freely" and "be dangerous" at the Clippers.

"I'm campaigning, too, for him then," said Morris.

"He hasn't had an opportunity to play on a team where he could be himself and be able to play freely. Playing with the Lakers, it's like media, media, media.

"And from the outside looking in, like every time something bad went wrong – Russell Westbrook. Nobody else was really getting no blame, and it just kept spiralling down.

"But we accept him [with] open arms. Let him be himself. We need the personality, we need the veteran. He's been in the playoffs a lot of times, been to the championship.

"I want him to come. I think that you can't kill a wounded dog. You give him an opportunity to come back, it could be dangerous."