Phoenix forward Cameron Johnson injured his right knee in the first quarter of the Suns’ Friday home game against the Portland Trail Blazers and was ruled out for the rest of the contest.

Johnson grabbed at the knee multiple times during the quarter and later was noticeably limping after trying to fight through a screen. Johnson left the contest with 6:46 left in the period after Phoenix called a timeout.

Johnson, who entered the game with a 14.9 scoring average, was scoreless in five-plus minutes.

Phoenix center Deandre Ayton (ankle) returned after missing two games.

Portland guards Damian Lillard (calf) and Anfernee Simons (foot) both sat out. Lillard has missed three straight games, while this was the first absence for Simons.

–Field Level Media

Brandon Ingram returned from a four-game absence caused by a concussion to score a game-high 26 points as the host New Orleans Pelicans held off the short-handed Golden State Warriors 114-105 on Friday night.

Larry Nance Jr. and CJ McCollum added 20 points each, Zion Williamson scored 16 and Trey Murphy III and Jose Alvarado had 10 points each.

Jordan Poole scored 20, Jonathan Kuminga and Ty Jerome had 18 each, Anthony Lamb scored 16 and Moses Moody had 14 for the Warriors, who completed an 0-5 trip and dropped to 0-6 on the road.

Golden State played without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins because of injury maintenance.

The Warriors started the third quarter with a 13-5 run, and Lamb’s 3-pointer gave them a 67-66 lead.

Murphy made back-to-back 3-pointers and Ingram added 10 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, to give New Orleans an 88-79 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Nance’s basket started the fourth-quarter scoring, but Jerome scored seven points as Golden State pulled within 95-93.

Nance and Williamson answered with consecutive baskets before the Warriors got within 104-101 on Poole’s 3-pointer.

But Nance answered again with a pair of baskets and Murphy added a 3-pointer for a 111-101 lead with 1:57 left.

Ingram didn’t show any rust from his layoff, scoring 10 points in the first quarter, but the Warriors made 11 of 12 free throws in the period.

The quarter featured nine lead changes and six ties before it ended with Golden State holding a 27-26 lead.

Williamson had seven points as New Orleans scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to take a 38-27 lead.

Golden State closed within one point three times before McCollum scored five points to trigger an 11-5 closing run that left the Pelicans with a 61-54 halftime lead.

New Orleans scored 35 points in the second quarter, led by McCollum’s 12, and made 14 of 18 field-goal attempts.

–Field Level Media

Luka Doncic scored 35 points and made some history as the Dallas Mavericks held on to defeat the visiting Toronto Raptors 111-110 on Friday.

Doncic has scored 30 or more points in each of his first eight games of the season, a feat accomplished previously by one player: Wilt Chamberlain (1959-60, eight games; and 1962-63, 23 games).

The Raptors lost Pascal Siakam to a groin injury late in the third quarter, and he did not return. He had 18 points in 32 minutes.

Spencer Dinwiddie had 21 points for Dallas, which has won three in a row. Christian Wood added 13 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith had 11 points.

O.G. Anunoby scored 27 points for the Raptors, Chris Boucher added 17 points, Precious Achiuwa contributed 15 points and Gary Trent Jr. had 12 points. Scottie Barnes amassed 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double.

Dallas took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Raptors cut the deficit to six on Achiuwa’s layup with 8:32 to play. Achiuwa’s 3-pointer trimmed the lead to three with 6:42 left, but Doncic’s 3-pointer pushed the margin back to seven points with 3:17 to go.

Achiuwa made two free throws with 35.5 seconds left, cutting the lead to three. Doncic sank one of two foul shots with 15.9 seconds to play. Anunoby’s dunk cut the lead to two. Dinwiddie made two free throws with three seconds left to seal the outcome before Anunoby hit a 3-pointer to end the game.

Dallas led 31-29 after one quarter.

The Mavericks used a 7-0 run in the first three minutes of the second quarter to take a 38-31 lead. Siakam’s hook shot completed the first-half scoring with Dallas leading 62-57.

Dallas went on a 14-2 surge to open the third quarter. The gap reached 19 on Doncic’s two free throws with 6:43 remaining.

The Raptors used an 8-0 run to trim the difference to 11 with 4:24 left in the third. Wood converted a steal into a layup to bump the lead to 16 points with 52.9 seconds remaining. Barnes hit a 3-pointer to complete the first-half scoring and cut the lead to 96-81.

Toronto’s Fred VanVleet (back) missed his third straight game.

–Field Level Media

Nike paused its partnership with Kyrie Irving on Friday after a week in which the Brooklyn Nets star became embroiled in a controversy over a social media post promoting a book and movie that contain antisemitic material.

The shoe giant had been set to release a new Irving-branded product, the Kyrie 8.

The company said in a statement, “At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism. To that end, we’ve made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8. We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”

Irving has been a Nike partner for eight years, and he had an $11 million contract with the company as of 2019, according to Forbes.

However, the two sides haven’t always been on the best terms. According to USA Today, in July 2021, Irving called photos of the in-development Kyrie 8 “trash,” adding, “Nike plans to release it without my OK regardless of what I say, so I apologize in advance to all of my sneakerheads and true supporters of the KAI11 brand.”

However, he subsequently walked back those remarks, saying the next month, according to The Athletic, “It was unfair to put the blame on Nike or any one person. With that being said, we are diligently working, restructuring and reimagining things together to make sure we get it right.”

The Nets suspended Irving for no fewer than five games Thursday night, saying they were “dismayed” that the guard did not denounce antisemitism when speaking to reporters in the aftermath of his controversial post.

Irving later apologized, though not before the Anti-Defamation League said it was rejecting a donation from him because “it’s clear that Kyrie feels no accountability for his actions,” chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said.

–Field Level Media

Paul George scored 35 points and Ivica Zubac added 17 points and 15 rebounds as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-106 on Friday to win their third straight game.

The Clippers trailed by four points heading to the fourth quarter but ran past San Antonio with a 14-3 run over a span of four-plus minutes in the middle of the period. George hit a 3-pointer to put Los Angeles ahead for good at 99-96 with 6:41 to play and built its advantage to 11 points before cruising to the finish line.

John Wall added 15 points, Reggie Jackson scored 14 and Norman Powell added 13 off the bench for the Clippers.

Reserve Devin Vassell racked up a career-high 29 points to lead San Antonio, with Tre Jones adding 18, Keldon Johnson tallying 16 and Doug McDermott contributing 10 points. The game was the first of a home-road back-to-back for the Spurs, who play in Denver on Saturday.

The Clippers dominated the first quarter, running out to as much as a 17-point lead as Jackson and George scored seven points each in the period. San Antonio pulled to within 28-18 by the end of the quarter.

The Spurs came all the way back to tie the game at 50 on Jones’ 3-pointer with 1:53 to play in the second quarter. Los Angeles responded with a pair of free throws by George and a layup by Powell, but San Antonio closed the period with an 8-0 run that featured 3-pointers by Vassell and Johnson. The Spurs led 58-54 at the break.

Vassell hit for 17 points in the half to lead all scorers while Johnson added 12 for San Antonio. George topped the Clippers with 12 points and Powell scored 10 off the bench.

The Spurs stoked their advantage to as many as 10 points after a floating jumper by Jakob Poeltl at the 8:08 mark of the third quarter — then again on another floater by Vassell nearly midway through the period. Los Angeles hung tough, drawing to as close as three points on a Wall layup with 1:29 to play before the Spurs settled for an 86-82 lead heading into the final 12 minutes of play.

–Field Level Media

Behind a red-hot shooting night from Dillon Brooks and a record-setting performance from Steven Adams, the Memphis Grizzlies rolled to a 130-99 home win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.

Brooks tied a career-high with six 3-pointers, finishing with a game-high 23 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists.

Adams had a double-double in the first half and collected 13 points, 19 rebounds and four assists. His 16 boards through the game’s first two quarters set a new Grizzlies franchise record and his career high for rebounds in the opening half. The entire Hornets team had just 17 at the break.

Ja Morant had 12 points and 11 assists for his first double-double of the season. Desmond Bane continued his outstanding play with 19 points, six rebounds and two steals.

The Grizzlies had eight double-digit scorers.

Memphis jumped out to an early 41-24 first-quarter lead — its largest opening-period lead of the season — on the passing of Morant, the shooting of Brooks and the all-round play of Adams.

Morant had six assists in the opening frame. Brooks was 5 of 5 from the field, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range, and scored 14 points. Adams tallied six points, four assists and nine rebounds.

A Morant finger-roll layup at the conclusion of the second put Memphis up 71-47.

Charlotte has been playing short-handed in the backcourt with LaMelo Ball (left ankle sprain) and Terry Rozier (right ankle sprain) out until at least Saturday.

But the Hornets’ starting lineup took another hit when it was announced before the game that Gordon Hayward was unavailable due to a left shoulder injury.

Charlotte’s Mason Plumlee had his streak of double-doubles snapped at two games. Plumlee finished with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Hornets with 17 points, while P.J. Washington added 10 points and four rebounds and James Bouknight had a season-high 14 points. Bryce McGowens added 12 and JT Thor scored 11 off the bench for the Hornets.

Jaren Jackson (foot), Danny Green (knee) and Ziaire Williams (knee) did not play for the Grizzlies.

–Field Level Media