Category: Sports

Oklahoma City Thunder (32-22, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (23-31, 11th in the Western Conference)

New Orleans; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma City will try to keep its seven-game road win streak intact when the Thunder face New Orleans.

The Pelicans are 14-20 against Western Conference opponents. New Orleans is 5-18 when opponents win the rebound battle and averages 46.6 rebounds per game.

The Thunder are 21-14 in conference play. Oklahoma City has a 12-6 record in games decided by 10 points or more.

The Thunder won the last meeting between these two teams 107-104 on Dec. 1. Danilo Gallinari scored 23 points to help lead Oklahoma City to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jrue Holiday is shooting 44.1 percent and averaging 19.4 points. Zion Williamson has averaged 18.9 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 54.5 percent over the last 10 games for New Orleans.

Chris Paul is averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 7.2 rebounds and added 18.3 points per game over the last 10 games for Oklahoma City.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pelicans: 6-4, averaging 121.4 points, 49.7 rebounds, 29.2 assists, 8.2 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.4 points on 46.1 percent shooting.

Thunder: 7-3, averaging 113.5 points, 41.9 rebounds, 22.6 assists, 7.2 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 49.0 percent from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.3 points on 45.6 percent shooting.

INJURIES: Pelicans: Kenrich Williams: day to day (back), Darius Miller: out (achilles), Brandon Ingram: day to day (ankle).

Thunder: Andre Roberson: out (knee), Darius Bazley: out (knee).

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — St. Louis defenseman Jay Bouwmeester was hospitalized and undergoing tests early Wednesday after suffering a cardiac episode and collapsing on the bench during the first period of the Blues’ game against the Ducks.

The team said in a statement late Tuesday night that the 36-year-old Bouwmeester was conscious and alert. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Bouwmeester was awake, alert and moving his arms and legs as he was transported from the arena.

The Blues were supposed to fly to Las Vegas, where they are scheduled to play Thursday, but remained in Southern California over night. The team is expected to provide an update on Bouwmeester’s condition Wednesday morning.

“Thankfully, with the quick response of our medical trainers, Anaheim medical trainers and their team physicians, they were able to stabilize Jay,” Armstrong said.

The hockey community sent tweets of support as word of the episode spread throughout the NHL.

Washington Capitals forward and former teammate T.J. Oshie wrote “Praying for Bo!” while teams around the league sent out best wishes.

Teammates Vince Dunn and Alex Pietrangelo immediately called for help after Bouwmeester slumped over with 7:50 left in the first period. After a couple of minutes, Bouwmeester was taken out on a stretcher through a tunnel next to the Blues bench and transported to an Orange County hospital.

Bouwmeester appeared to be grabbing a drink of water when he began to slowly fall. Emergency medical personnel rushed to the Blues bench. Bouwmeester was skating in his 57th game this season and the 1,241st of his NHL career. He skated 1:20 in his last shift before collapsing and logged 5:34 of ice time in the game.

St. Louis’ radio announcer Chris Kerber said during an interview with the team’s flagship station that a defibrillator was used.

Bouwmeester’s father was at the game as part of the team’s annual Dads Trip. He went with his son to the hospital while teammates and their fathers remained at the arena awaiting updates.

Ducks and Blues players gathered to see what was wrong before Bouwmeester was taken away. The teams then went to their dressing rooms, and the game was called off a few minutes later tied at 1.

Players from both teams met for hugs and well-wishes after changing out of their gear. The game will be made up at a later date.

The last player to collapse on an NHL bench was Dallas forward Rich Peverley in 2014. Peverley had an irregular heartbeat, and the quick response of emergency officials made sure he was OK.

The NHL has pages of emergency medical standards that spell out in specific detail that at least two doctors must be in attendance for every game and one must be within 50 feet of the bench. A defibrillator, which was used when Detroit’s Jiri Fischer collapsed in 2005, must be available, along with a triage room and ambulances.

Bouwmeester is in his 17th NHL season and has for that time been known for his strong skating and conditioning. He helped the Blues win the Stanley Cup last season and won an Olympic gold medal with Canada in 2014.

The Blues signed the veteran defenseman to a $3.25 million, one-year deal for this season.

Bouwmeester held one of the longest ironman streaks in NHL history with 737 consecutive regular-season games played until a lower-body injury in 2014. He missed time in 2015-16 with a concussion, and a hip injury ended his 2017-18 season.

He played all but four games last year and hadn’t missed a game this season.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Zion Williamson has recorded his first 30-point performance just nine games into his NBA career.

Williamson scored 31 points in barely 28 minutes on the court, and the New Orleans Pelicans used a dominant second half to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 138-117 on Tuesday night.

“I expect to make an impact but I don’t expect to do nothing like this,” Williamson said in his usual, grinning, affable manner. “I just kind of look to come in, just kind of fit in, just not try to mess up, but my teammates and coaches are always pushing me.”

“I do hold myself to high expectations, but I think it’s just finding the line between reality and dreams,” Williamson added. “If my teammates find me, they find me. If not, just got to make another play, get the rebound and just play defense.”

Williamson used his 6-foot-6, 285-pound frame, quick feet and explosive vertical to have his way with every defender Portland tried against him. Williamson was either too strong, too fast, or both. He mixed spinning dribbles and sudden baseline drives into his usual arsenal of soaring transition dunks and tenacious putbacks. Six of his nine rebounds came on the offensive end.

“I don’t really think he’s comparable to anyone that I have seen,” Portland forward Carmelo Anthony said of Williamson. “Someone who is as powerful as that, who jumps like that … you can tell he’s getting better and getting a feel for the game.”

JJ Redick scored 20 for New Orleans, which trailed by as many as 16 in the first quarter before taking command en route to a third straight victory. Josh Hart’s 17 points included an alley-oop dunk set up by Williamson’s lob in transition.

“It’s kind of scary to see how good he is this early,” Hart said.

Jrue Holiday contributed 16 points and 10 assists for New Orleans, while Lonzo Ball added 10 points and 10 assists.

Portland star Damian Lillard scored 20 points — less than half of his 42-point average over his previous 10 games. But his playing time was limited in the fourth quarter when the Pelicans, who led by as many as 26, had put the game out of reach.

CJ McCollum had 20 points for the Trail Blazers, and Anthony finished with 18, but just four after halftime. Hassan Whiteside had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

TIP-INS

Trail Blazers: Wenyen Gabriel had 12 points in 13:36 off the bench. … Anthony was assessed a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing with officials after he had been called for a foul on Williamson’s inside shot. Anthony’s face and Williamson’s arm appeared to make contact on the play. … Lillard was assessed a technical foul for comments to officials at the end of the first half.

Pelicans: All-Star wing player and leading scorer Brandon Ingram missed his second straight game with an ankle injury and is day to day. … Frank Jackson scored 13 points, and Nicolo Melli had 10. … New Orleans scored 35 fast-break points. … Have won 17 of 26 and trail Memphis, which currently holds the final Western Conference playoff spot, by 4 1/2 games with 28 to play.

LIMITING LILLARD

Holiday was Lillard’s primary defender, but had help from big men coming out to the perimeter when Holiday had to run around screens.

Holiday “did about as good as you can do in any situation with Dame,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “Our bigs were sensational also. We just tried to always have somebody there when he was about to turn the corner.”

TURNING THE TIDE

Portland, which like New Orleans is chasing Memphis, looked primed to seize control with a 24-3 first-quarter run that began with a pair of turnaround jumpers by Anthony. McCollum hit a pair of 3s, Whiteside scored on a floater and a hook shot, Anthony dunked and Lillard added a driving layup while being fouled.

That put the Pelicans in a 31-15 hole, out of which they gradually climbed during the rest of the first half.

Williamson, who had 17 first-half points, helped fuel the comeback. His two-handed dunk of Holiday’s alley-oop lob cut Portland’s lead to 60-54. Hart and Jackson each hit 3s late in the second period. Holiday added a slashing transition layup through a crowd of converging defenders and Williamson’s free throw cut Portland’s lead to 65-63 at halftime.

New Orleans pushed in front in the third, when Hart scored 12 points on shots ranging from a pull-up in the lane, to a breakaway dunk after his steal, to a left-wing 3.

New Orleans scored 41 points in the period alone, leading by 21 when Redick hit his second 3 of the quarter to make it 104-83.

“We gave up a lot of transition. Some of it was them, some of it was us,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said, alluding to New Orleans’ 17 fast-break points in the third. “When we didn’t score, they were getting out and running.”

UP NEXT

Trail Blazers: Visit Memphis on Wednesday night.

Pelicans: Host Oklahoma City on Thursday night.

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Breein Tyree turned in a performance that prompted Mississippi coach Kermit Davis to admit, “The best I’ve ever seen by one of my players and I’ve been coaching a long time.”

Tyree scored a career-high 40 points, 27 in the second half, while adding five rebounds and four assists as the Rebels defeated Mississippi State 86-58, stretching its winning streak to three games.

“I was pretty locked in during the second half and it was one of my best games,” Tyree said. “We’re still trying to get to postseason and we’re waking up a lot of people that had counted us out. Did I know I was closing in on 40? Yeah, I knew.”

Tyree finished 13 of 22 from the field, 4 of 10 from 3-point range and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. Ole Miss outscored the Bulldogs 70-32 after the opening 13 minutes, 50-24 in the second half.

Khadim Sy scored 18 points with a team-high eight rebounds for Ole Miss (13-11, 4-7 Southeastern Conference). Devontae Shuler, scoreless in the opening 19 minutes, added 16 points, six rebounds and three assists.

“Breein can score at every level and he’s playing down hill. He’s got great bounce and can finish,” Davis said. “He’s playing as well as any guard in the country, plus Sy had an outstanding performance. Devontae was good. This is a big win.”

Reggie Perry led Mississippi State (15-9, 6-5) with 22 points and a team-high eight rebounds. D.J. Stewart Jr. and Robert Woodard II added 16 and 12 points, respectively. The Bulldogs struggled from the field, 18 of 49 (36%), which included an 8 of 15 performance from Perry.

Ole Miss shot 28 of 58 (48%) from the field, 23 of 41 during the 70-32 blowout over the final 27 minutes. The Rebels were 8 of 20 (40%) from the 3-point line, 19 of 24 (79%) from the free-throw line. The Rebels outscored Mississippi 27-11 off turnovers, forcing 17.

“Obviously, that’s the first time all year that a team has beat us like that,” Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. “We just didn’t handle their pressure well. They had 27 points off turnovers and we lose by 25 and so many of the turnovers led to easy baskets.”

BIG PICTURE

Mississippi State: This was a bad loss for the Bulldogs in the drive toward an NCAA Tournament berth. The Bulldogs had won six of the previous eight and raced to a 26-13 lead in the opening 13 minutes before the wheels came off. Perry had a brilliant individual performance, but there were few other positives for the Bulldogs.

Ole Miss: The Rebels completed a 3-0 home stand, all double-digit wins, to move into an SEC standings logjam that includes nine teams within three losses of each other. In a series marked by periods of domination by each team, the Rebels have won 10 of the last 13 matches with Mississippi State. Tyree outscored the Mississippi State team in the second half 27-24.

UP NEXT

Mississippi State: Visits Arkansas on Saturday. The Bulldogs play four of the next six games on the road.

“How we respond to this (loss) is everything,” Howland said.

Ole Miss: Visits No. 12 Kentucky on Saturday to open a two-game road trip.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU ended a two-game losing streak in typically close fashion.

Darius Days scored seven of his 20 points in the final five minutes as No. 25 LSU rallied to beat Missouri 82-78 on Tuesday night to win its sixth Southeastern Conference game by four points or fewer.

LSU (18-6, 9-2) trailed by eight points midway through the second half before taking the lead for good at 72-69 on Days’ 3-pointer with 4:43 remaining. Missouri (11-13, 3-8) stayed close over the final minutes.

With LSU leading 76-73, Days made a short shot following an offensive rebound with 25 seconds left. After Missouri again got within three on Xavier Pinson’s basket, Days made two free throws with 11 seconds left.

Following Dru Smith’s 3-pointer, Javonte Smart made two free throws with 0.9 seconds left to clinch LSU’s victory.

“We just needed to find a way to win at the end of the day,” LSU coach Will Wade said. “Missouri is always a tough matchup for us, as physical as they are. We did a better job guarding in the second half. We did a better job on the glass. We got the stops and got done what we needed to get done.”

Skylar Mays led LSU with 23 points. Days also had 10 rebounds. Smart had 15 points, while Trendon Watford and Emmitt Williams each had 11.

“Missouri deserves the credit,” Mays said. “They’re a great defensive team. They made us play a lot of one-on-one and we play our best basketball when we can get the ball moving and attack closeouts. But, we were able to figure it out and score enough points to win.”

Dru Smith led Missouri with 20 points. Reed Nikko matched his career high with 13 points, while Javon Pickett and Mitchell Smith each had 10 points.

Missouri led LSU for nearly the entire first half. LSU had just five field goals in the first 16-plus minutes. Missouri’s defense and rebounding provided a 12-point advantage three times.

“I’m not sure we got gassed,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. “It was a case of playing against a good team and the room for error is very slim. Everything counts. We had the ball in a couple of guys’ hands in vulnerable situations for those particular guys. Other than that, I thought we battled.”

Over the last 3½ minutes before halftime, LSU made five field goals – two by Williams and Watford and one by Mays. Watford’s layup at the buzzer left LSU behind Missouri 43-37 at the half. Missouri made seven 3-pointers, while LSU was 0-for-9 behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.

TURNING POINT

Missouri appeared to have weathered one LSU run when it took a 64-56 lead just past halfway through the second half. However, LSU clamped down on defense and held Missouri to just three field goals over nine minutes. Nikko made two baskets and Javon Pickett one as LSU outscored Missouri 20-7 to lead 76-71. Missouri missed seven of 10 attempts during that stretch.

STAR WATCH

Skylar Mays, who scored 30 points on Saturday but couldn’t quite pull out the victory for LSU at Auburn, kept his team in the game against Missouri. Mays was 7 of 11 from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line. Mays scored eight points in the first five minutes of the second half as LSU erased Missouri’s six-point halftime lead. Mays’ field goal with 5:23 remaining tied the score at 69, and his twisting layup gave LSU a 76-71 lead in the final two minutes.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers dropped their sixth consecutive SEC road game this season. The average margin of defeat for Missouri in the previous five losses had been 18.4 points.

LSU: The Tigers ended a two-game losing streak and remained tied for first place in the SEC with No. 12 Kentucky, which won at Vanderbilt. Auburn can make it a three-way tie for the SEC lead by defeating Alabama on Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Missouri returns home to play Auburn on Saturday.

LSU visits Alabama on Saturday.

Missouri (11-12, 3-7) vs. No. 25 LSU (17-6, 8-2)

Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 25 LSU looks to give Missouri its 10th straight loss against ranked opponents. Missouri’s last win vs a ranked opponent came against the then-No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies 62-58 on Feb. 13, 2018. LSU has dropped to No. 25 in the latest AP rankings following losses to Vanderbilt and Auburn last week.

SUPER SENIORS: Missouri’s Dru Smith, Mark Smith and Mitchell Smith have collectively accounted for 39 percent of all Tigers scoring this season, though that number has fallen to 26 percent over the last five games.DOMINANT DRU: D. Smith has connected on 30.9 percent of the 55 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 3 of 17 over the last five games. He’s also converted 90.6 percent of his foul shots this season.

WINLESS WHEN: Missouri is 0-9 when scoring fewer than 60 points and 11-3 when scoring at least 60.

PERFECT WHEN: Missouri is a perfect 5-0 when it scores at least 75 points. The Tigers are 6-12 when scoring any fewer than 75.

DID YOU KNOW: LSU is rated 11th in the country by scoring 80.7 points per game this year. Missouri has only averaged 66 points per game, which ranks 261st.

Mississippi State (15-8, 6-4) vs. Mississippi (12-11, 3-7)

The Pavilion at Ole Miss, Oxford, Mississippi; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Mississippi State pays visit to Mississippi in a SEC matchup. Mississippi State got past Vanderbilt by 10 in its last outing. Mississippi is coming off a 68-51 win over Florida in its most recent game.

SUPER SENIORS: Mississippi’s Breein Tyree, Devontae Shuler and Khadim Sy have combined to account for 55 percent of the team’s scoring this season, including 63 percent of all Rebels points over the last five games.POTENT PERRY: Reggie Perry has connected on 33.3 percent of the 60 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 7 of 12 over his last five games. He’s also made 75.4 percent of his foul shots this season.

WINLESS WHEN: The Bulldogs are 0-5 when they allow 74 or more points and 15-3 when they hold opponents to anything under 74 points. The Rebels are 0-7 when they score 63 points or fewer and 12-4 when they exceed 63.

ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Rebels have recently converted baskets via assists more often than the Bulldogs. Mississippi has an assist on 41 of 74 field goals (55.4 percent) over its past three outings while Mississippi State has assists on 36 of 81 field goals (44.4 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: Mississippi State is ranked first among Division I teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 39 percent. The Bulldogs have averaged 12.9 offensive boards per game.

GRAMBLING, La. (AP) — Cameron Christon had a career-high 20 points as Grambling State topped Alcorn State 80-71 on Monday night.

DeVante Jackson had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Grambling State (13-11, 7-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference), which earned its fourth consecutive victory. Prince Moss added 12 points. Ivy Smith Jr. had 11 points.

Dominic Brewton scored a season-high 23 points for the Braves (10-12, 6-5). Corey Tillery added 12 points. Maurice Howard had 10 points.

The Tigers evened the season series against the Braves with the win. Alcorn State defeated Grambling State 87-69 on Jan. 13. Grambling State plays Prairie View on the road on Saturday. Alcorn State faces Mississippi Valley State at home on Saturday.

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Mookie Betts and David Price are Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Boston Red Sox are tax dodgers.

Boston and Los Angeles finalized the on-again, off-again deal that will send the 2018 AL MVP and 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner to the West Coast on Monday night — just hours before the Red Sox are scheduled to open spring training.

The Dodgers hope the players will be the missing pieces after seven straight division championships all ended short of their first World Series title since 1988. The Red Sox have already achieved their biggest goal of the offseason: ditching more than $70 million in salary to get under baseball’s collective bargaining tax threshold for 2020.

“Our mission, our charge as a department is to compete consistently year-in and year-out, and to put ourselves in position to win as many championships as we can,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. “That’s behind everything that we do. And we can only accomplish that goal with a talent base at all levels of the org that is deep, broad and sustainable.”

The Red Sox acquired outfielder Alex Verdugo and two prospects: infielder Jeter Downs and catcher Connor Wong. According to a person with knowledge of the deal, Boston will send cash to the Dodgers, reportedly half of the $96 million owed for the next three seasons. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the financial terms were not public.

The Red Sox agreed to deal Betts and Price to the Dodgers last week, as part of a three-team swap that was to send Twins bullpen prospect Brusdar Graterol to the Red Sox and Dodgers starting pitcher Kenta Maeda to Minnesota. The Red Sox hesitated out of concern about Graterol’s medical review, however, and the Twins and Dodgers eventually worked out their own deal. The Maeda-Graterol trade was also finalized on Monday night.

In order to make room on their 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated infielder Tyler White and outfielder Kyle Garlick for assignment.

In five full major league seasons, the 27-year-old Betts has received MVP votes five times, finishing as runner-up once and winning the AL honor in 2018; he is a four-time Gold Glove winner. But he will earn $27 million this season, the last before he is eligible for free agency, and he has already turned down a nine-figure extension.

“With Mookie, there was never a point where we were pushing him out there, shopping. We had to be open to all options,” Bloom said at the team’s spring training complex. “Once it was clear that the Dodgers in particular were going to be very aggressive, it made sense to engage.”

In a statement distributed by the team, owner John Henry acknowledged the backlash the Red Sox have received for jettisoning Betts.

“In trading a great player, a beloved player, we recognize how incredibly difficult this is for fans who fully understand just how special Mookie is,” Henry said. “While the organization in its entirety very much wanted to see Mookie in a Red Sox uniform for the length of his career, we believe in this decision as we are responsible and accountable for both the present and the future of the Red Sox. We thank Mookie for his incredible contributions, both on and off the field.”

Price, 34, is a two-time Cy Young runner-up and 2012 winner. He was also the runner-up for the World Series MVP when the Red Sox beat the Dodgers in 2018 after their franchise-record 108 regular-season victories.

But he made just 22 starts last season — two after July 30 — due to wrist injuries. By shedding his salary along with Betts’, the Red Sox have dipped below the $208 million threshold that allows them to avoid paying baseball’s collective bargaining tax this year and lowers the rate if they go over it in 2021.

Henry said in September, after the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015, that the Red Sox “need to be under the CBT.” Team president Sam Kennedy later walked back the comments and said that was “a goal but not a mandate.”

“We fully expect to compete in 2020,” Bloom said Monday. “The front-line talent on our roster can play with anybody.”

Verdugo batted .294 with 44 RBIs and 12 home runs in 106 games before a back injury in August ended his season early. Downs batted .276 with 24 homers and 86 RBIs at Single- and Double-A last year.

“He’s got a chance to be a complete player that can really impact us,” Bloom said.

Wong hit .281 with 24 homers and 82 RBIs in Single- and Double-A.

“He’s made a lot of strides offensively,” Bloom said. “When you have really good athletes behind the plate, sometimes those guys can exceed what you expect offensively.”

The Red Sox remain without a manager three weeks after firing Alex Cora for his role in the Houston Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal; Major League Baseball has not announced the results of its investigation into whether Cora implemented a similar scheme when he took over in Boston in ’18.

Red Sox pitchers and catchers are due to report to spring training on Tuesday.

LeBron James is considering a return to the Olympics.

James — a two-time gold medalist and three-time Olympian — is among 44 players announced by USA Basketball on Monday as finalists for the team that will play in the Tokyo Games this summer. James played in 2004, 2008 and 2012, helping the U.S. win gold in his most recent two appearances.

The pool includes 19 players who have won a total of 31 gold medals in either Olympic or World Cup competition for the Americans — including nine players who captured the Olympic title for USA Basketball in Rio de Janeiro four years ago.

“I’ve always maintained that equity is important,” USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo told The Associated Press. “And you earn equity by participating. So, we think they’ve earned the right to be named to the overall roster for USA Basketball. It’s pretty elite. It’s a tremendous pot and the good news is they’ve all said they want to play.”

James has played in 68 games for the U.S. national team and has said several times over the past year or so that he is thinking about another Olympics — after sitting out the Rio Games for a variety of reasons. Part of the interest in participating this summer is to have the chance to play for U.S. coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.

“It’s a possibility,” James said in December.

There will be no tryouts. USA Basketball will pare the list down to a 12-person Olympic team by early June, those decisions to be made by a selection committee — and to be based in part on player availability and health. Training camp will start in early July, potentially as little as two weeks after the end of the NBA Finals. The Olympics start July 24.

USA Basketball officials, including Colangelo and Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, have met with players in a variety of ways over the past several weeks. Some talks have been directly with players, some with their agents, some with their NBA clubs, sometimes a combination thereof — and, Colangelo noted, there were some instances where players reached out directly to express interest.

If they’re on the list, that means USA Basketball is convinced they want to play.

“I feel very good about the response,” Colangelo said.

Also included in the pool: 15 of the 16 players from the U.S. who are scheduled to play in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game, and all 12 members of the team that represented the U.S. at last summer’s Basketball World Cup in China — where the Americans managed only a seventh-place finish after roughly three dozen players who were on the list at some point dropped out along the way.

The nine players still in the mix from the 2016 Olympic team: Sacramento’s Harrison Barnes, Miami’s Jimmy Butler, San Antonio’s DeMar DeRozan, Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George, Golden State’s Draymond Green, Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and Golden State’s Klay Thompson.

Back from the 2012 Olympic champion roster: the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Durant, Houston’s James Harden, the Lakers’ James, Cleveland’s Kevin Love, Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul and Houston’s Russell Westbrook. Back from the 2008 gold-medal squad: the Lakers’ Dwight Howard.

And those with World Cup or world championship gold medals for USA Basketball, but no Olympic gold to this point: Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Cleveland’s Andre Drummond and Denver’s Mason Plumlee.

James and Paul won Olympic gold at Beijing in 2008, and James was part of the team that won bronze at Athens in 2004. If James joins this team, he will become the second four-time men’s basketball Olympian for the U.S. — joining Carmelo Anthony.

“I’m looking forward to coaching the U.S. Olympic Team, and I’m excited about the potential and possibilities this team has,” Popovich said.

The Olympics could be a return to the court for players like Durant and Thompson, who have missed the entirety of this NBA season with injuries. Durant’s recovery from Achilles’ surgery is at the point where he’s doing some on-court work and Thompson has said he would like to play if his surgically repaired knee is up to the challenge.

The 25 other players who are finalists for this summer’s team but do not yet have Olympic or World Cup gold for the U.S.: Miami’s Bam Adebayo, San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge, Washington’s Bradley Beal, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Indiana’s Malcolm Brogdon, Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Utah’s Mike Conley, the Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell, Brooklyn’s Joe Harris, Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris, Boston’s Gordon Hayward, New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram, the Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma, the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez, the Lakers’ JaVale McGee, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo, Boston’s Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum, Indiana’s Myles Turner, Boston’s Kemba Walker and San Antonio’s Derrick White.

“The reason we have this big roster is a lot of things happen, a lot of variables,” Colangelo said. “And what’s to say what’s going to happen from an injury standpoint between now and June. We don’t know. So we have the rest of the season to monitor, to watch. But when we select our 12, they will be 12 who are absolutely in with all fours.”

___

More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports