"nba"

Garrett Temple scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half as the Bulls snapped a four-game losing streak.

The 31-year-old Harden finished with 32 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in his debut with the Nets

Journeyman Christian Wood scored a team high 27 points and had 15 rebounds for the Rockets in a 109-105 win over the Spurs

Durant added nine rebounds and Bruce Brown chipped in 16 points in a clutch performance in place of absent Nets star Kyrie Irving

Giannis Antetokounmpo connected on 17 of 24 shots from the field

Eric Gordon replaced Harden and scored 21 points, while Christian Wood finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who also beat the Kings 122-119 on New Year's Eve

Doncic also tallied 15 rebounds, outperforming compatriot Dragic who finished with 10 points and seven assists at American Airlines Center arena in Dallas, Texas

Sam Merrill drilled the record-breaking 28th three-pointer of the game, surpassing the 27 set by the Houston Rockets against the Phoenix Suns in 2019

Paul George scored 26 of his 33 points in the second half as the Clippers kept the Lakers at bay

NBA, in a statement, said that as many as 541 players were tested since December 2. "Of the 541 players tested for COVID-19 since Dec 2, 8 new players have returned positive tests," the sports governing body said on Thursday.

The league said the positive tests are the result of 546 tests carried out between November 24-30 as the NBA gets set to begin preseason games in nine days.

The guide unveiled Saturday details protocols regarding the upcoming campaign, set to start December 22 with pre-season contests opening December 11 and training camps launching next week

As per the tentative schedule, the pre-season games will take place from December 11-19. The first half of regular season will be played between December 22, 2020 to March 4, 2021. All-star break will take place from March 5-10, 2021.

The biggest change to the season format is the new method for determining the top eight post-season teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences

Teams will play a 72-game schedule, which will be revealed in the coming weeks

The injury depleted Heat hung on as best they could, but 33 points from James and 32 from Davis were just too much