If indeed LeBron James decides to leave Cleveland, fans in Chicago would certainly hail The King. They certainly let out enough cheers along with those oohs and aahs as he soared around the United Center on Friday night. James became the youngest player to score 15,000 career points, breaking Kobe Bryant's mark by more than two years, and the Cavaliers pulled away to beat the Bulls 92-85 for...

Joe Johnson missed every shot he took for three quarters, but he found his sweet spot for his most important attempt with only a tenth of a second to spare in overtime. Johnson sank a fallaway jumper over three Charlotte defenders just before time expired to lift the Atlanta Hawks past the Bobcats, 93-92 in overtime on Friday night.

The Lakers have all the ingredients to repeat as NBA champions for the first time since completing their three-peat in 2002. Staying healthy is a must, and now Andrew Bynum is a question mark -- again. Kobe Bryant had 22 points and a season-high 13 assists, leading Los Angeles to a 104-96 victory over Minnesota on Friday night and sending the Timberwolves to their 12th straight loss.

While Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings was excitedly talking about a double-overtime victory Friday night, first-year counterpart Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings was having difficulty even opening his mouth. Jennings scored 35 points, hit a career-high eight 3-pointers and added eight assists for the streaking Bucks, who rallied late in regulation and never trailed in the second...

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is back in the Cleveland area three days before he is eligible to re-sign with the Cavaliers. Ilgauskas declined to comment to The Associated Press on Friday following a workout at a suburban gym. His agent, Herb Rudoy, told the AP in an e-mail that he will talk to Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry next week about returning the 7-foot-3 center to Cleveland.

The Golden State Warriors have lost 24 consecutive times in San Antonio, but they've never seen anything here like this. Ditto for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Scoring the most points in a game in nearly 20 years, the Spurs throttled the Golden State Warriors 147-116 on Friday night in the most points scored under Popovich since he took over in 1996.

Amare Stoudemire might be playing the best basketball of his career, just what the Phoenix Suns need to keep in the thick of the tight scramble for playoff position in the West. Stoudemire scored the first 11 points for Phoenix en route to a season-high 44 and the Suns led all the way in a 110-100 victory over Utah on Friday night that pulled them within a game of the Jazz for fourth place in the...

Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng could miss two to three more weeks because of a strained right calf, putting his status for the rest of the season in question. Deng, averaging 18.0 points, missed his fifth straight game Friday night when Chicago played Cleveland after re-injuring his calf earlier in the week in Dallas.

No matter where Aaron Brooks ran Friday night, Rajon Rondo seemed to follow him. And when Houston's speedy point guard found space, another Boston Celtic seemed to step in front of him. Paul Pierce scored 26 points, Ray Allen hit five 3-pointers and had 19 points, and the Celtics snapped Houston's four-game winning streak with a 94-87 victory.

Brandon Roy missed 14 straight shots against the Washington Wizards before he made the one that mattered most. Roy rebounded from his a cold spell to hit a 22-foot jumper with 0.9 seconds left that gave the Portland Trail Blazers a 76-74 victory Friday night. "I was just laughing like, `Finally, I made a shot,"' Roy said.