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CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls played without guard Zach LaVine in Saturday night’s 101-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers because of his left knee discomfort, but the team welcomed guard Alex Caruso back in the lineup for the first time since he had wrist surgery in January.

LaVine has been managing discomfort in his knee since January, and it flared up again following Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. Coby White replaced LaVine in the starting lineup.

Bulls coach Billy Donovan said the team will manage LaVine’s knee day-to-day for the rest of the season.

“The feeling was to see if we can get him back down to ground zero where he’s feeling a little bit better,” Donovan said before the game. “It’s not one of these things where we’ve mapped out, this is what we’re doing, we’re sitting him here on his back-to-back. We’re sitting him here. It’s going to be day-to-day just to see how he’s feeling.”

LaVine will miss his 11th game since injuring his knee in the first quarter of a game against the Warriors on Jan. 12. His MRI following the injury came back clean, and he saw a knee specialist in Los Angeles during the week before the All-Star break in February, when he received a platelet-rich plasma therapy and a cortisone injection and had fluid drained from his left knee.

LaVine played in the Bulls’ first seven games following the break, averaging 24.4 points on 48.2% shooting (36.7% from 3), which is not too far from his production this season of 24.6 points on 48.2% shooting (39.5% from 3) in 54 games.

“Everything that I’ve got from the doctors is that they feel totally comfortable with him playing,” Donovan said. “It’s just something that he’s going to have to manage and deal with throughout the course of the season.”

Caruso had 11 points and four steals in his return to the lineup for the first time since breaking his left wrist Jan. 21. He was on a 24-30 minutes restriction, playing in just his third game since Dec. 20. Caruso had been cleared for individual work for the past 10 days and participated in a full practice on Friday.

“[The season] just been really choppy for him,” Donovan said. “It’s been a game here, a game there, he’s been out for a long period of time. So certainly, I think getting him back gives you a jolt. There’s no question about that, but I just don’t know where he’s at. He hasn’t played in so long.”

Caruso, who is playing in just his 29th game this season, said after practice Friday that his wrist will need time to strengthen over the rest of the season, but he has not felt limited by anything on the court.

“Still not perfect, it’s not 100 percent healed, but the bone is healed,” Caruso said Friday. “The only soreness and stiffness is just soft tissue stuff that’s healing from surgery. I feel like I’m in a good spot. We’ll see how everything progresses. If I can stay on this course, maybe there are good things to come.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls played without guard Zach LaVine in Saturday night’s 101-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers because of his left knee discomfort, but the team welcomed guard Alex Caruso back in the lineup for the first time since he had wrist surgery in January.

LaVine has been managing discomfort in his knee since January, and it flared up again following Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. Coby White replaced LaVine in the starting lineup.

Bulls coach Billy Donovan said the team will manage LaVine’s knee day-to-day for the rest of the season.

“The feeling was to see if we can get him back down to ground zero where he’s feeling a little bit better,” Donovan said before the game. “It’s not one of these things where we’ve mapped out, this is what we’re doing, we’re sitting him here on his back-to-back. We’re sitting him here. It’s going to be day-to-day just to see how he’s feeling.”

LaVine will miss his 11th game since injuring his knee in the first quarter of a game against the Warriors on Jan. 12. His MRI following the injury came back clean, and he saw a knee specialist in Los Angeles during the week before the All-Star break in February, when he received a platelet-rich plasma therapy and a cortisone injection and had fluid drained from his left knee.

LaVine played in the Bulls’ first seven games following the break, averaging 24.4 points on 48.2% shooting (36.7% from 3), which is not too far from his production this season of 24.6 points on 48.2% shooting (39.5% from 3) in 54 games.

“Everything that I’ve got from the doctors is that they feel totally comfortable with him playing,” Donovan said. “It’s just something that he’s going to have to manage and deal with throughout the course of the season.”

Caruso had 11 points and four steals in his return to the lineup for the first time since breaking his left wrist Jan. 21. He was on a 24-30 minutes restriction, playing in just his third game since Dec. 20. Caruso had been cleared for individual work for the past 10 days and participated in a full practice on Friday.

“[The season] just been really choppy for him,” Donovan said. “It’s been a game here, a game there, he’s been out for a long period of time. So certainly, I think getting him back gives you a jolt. There’s no question about that, but I just don’t know where he’s at. He hasn’t played in so long.”

Caruso, who is playing in just his 29th game this season, said after practice Friday that his wrist will need time to strengthen over the rest of the season, but he has not felt limited by anything on the court.

“Still not perfect, it’s not 100 percent healed, but the bone is healed,” Caruso said Friday. “The only soreness and stiffness is just soft tissue stuff that’s healing from surgery. I feel like I’m in a good spot. We’ll see how everything progresses. If I can stay on this course, maybe there are good things to come.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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CHICAGO — The White Sox filled a hole at second base, agreeing to a deal with two-time All-Star Josh Harrison on Saturday.

MSM Sports, which represents Harrison, tweeted the agreement. The deal is pending a physical.

Harrison, 34, has played second base, third base, shortstop and all outfield positions over 11 seasons with Pittsburgh, Washington, Detroit and Oakland. His arrival allows Leury Garcia to remain in a utility role.

Harrison is a career .274 hitter. He made All-Star teams in 2014 and 2017.

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Harrison batted a combined .279 for Washington and Oakland last season. The Nationals traded him and catcher Yan Gomes to the Athletics prior to the July 30 deadline as part of a major shake-up in which they also dealt ace Max Scherzer and star shortstop Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers and reliever Daniel Hudson to San Diego.

The Nationals, recovering from a COVID-19 outbreak, dismantled its roster in a matter of 24 hours just before the calendar turned to August, and in doing so, parted with Harrison before he had a chance to play a full season. He appeared in 33 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and 90 in 2021 before the deal.

Harrison, who played college baseball at Cincinnati, was a sixth-round choice of the Chicago Cubs in 2008.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls played without guard Zach LaVine in Saturday night’s 101-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers because of his left knee discomfort, but the team welcomed guard Alex Caruso back in the lineup for the first time since he had wrist surgery in January.

LaVine has been managing discomfort in his knee since January, and it flared up again following Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. Coby White replaced LaVine in the starting lineup.

Bulls coach Billy Donovan said the team will manage LaVine’s knee day-to-day for the rest of the season.

“The feeling was to see if we can get him back down to ground zero where he’s feeling a little bit better,” Donovan said before the game. “It’s not one of these things where we’ve mapped out, this is what we’re doing, we’re sitting him here on his back-to-back. We’re sitting him here. It’s going to be day-to-day just to see how he’s feeling.”

LaVine will miss his 11th game since injuring his knee in the first quarter of a game against the Warriors on Jan. 12. His MRI following the injury came back clean, and he saw a knee specialist in Los Angeles during the week before the All-Star break in February, when he received a platelet-rich plasma therapy and a cortisone injection and had fluid drained from his left knee.

LaVine played in the Bulls’ first seven games following the break, averaging 24.4 points on 48.2% shooting (36.7% from 3), which is not too far from his production this season of 24.6 points on 48.2% shooting (39.5% from 3) in 54 games.

“Everything that I’ve got from the doctors is that they feel totally comfortable with him playing,” Donovan said. “It’s just something that he’s going to have to manage and deal with throughout the course of the season.”

Caruso had 11 points and four steals in his return to the lineup for the first time since breaking his left wrist Jan. 21. He was on a 24-30 minutes restriction, playing in just his third game since Dec. 20. Caruso had been cleared for individual work for the past 10 days and participated in a full practice on Friday.

“[The season] just been really choppy for him,” Donovan said. “It’s been a game here, a game there, he’s been out for a long period of time. So certainly, I think getting him back gives you a jolt. There’s no question about that, but I just don’t know where he’s at. He hasn’t played in so long.”

Caruso, who is playing in just his 29th game this season, said after practice Friday that his wrist will need time to strengthen over the rest of the season, but he has not felt limited by anything on the court.

“Still not perfect, it’s not 100 percent healed, but the bone is healed,” Caruso said Friday. “The only soreness and stiffness is just soft tissue stuff that’s healing from surgery. I feel like I’m in a good spot. We’ll see how everything progresses. If I can stay on this course, maybe there are good things to come.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls will be without guard Zach LaVine for Saturday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers because of his left knee discomfort, but the team will have guard Alex Caruso in the lineup for the first time since he had wrist surgery in January.

LaVine has been managing discomfort in his knee since January, and it flared up again following Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. Coby White replaced LaVine in the starting lineup.

Bulls coach Billy Donovan said the team will manage LaVine’s knee day-to-day for the rest of the season.

“The feeling was to see if we can get him back down to ground zero where he’s feeling a little bit better,” Donovan said before the game. “It’s not one of these things where we’ve mapped out, this is what we’re doing, we’re sitting him here on his back-to-back. We’re sitting him here. It’s going to be day-to-day just to see how he’s feeling.”

LaVine will miss his 11th game since injuring his knee in the first quarter of a game against the Warriors on Jan. 12. His MRI following the injury came back clean, and he saw a knee specialist in Los Angeles during the week before the All-Star break in February, when he received a platelet-rich plasma therapy and a cortisone injection and had fluid drained from his left knee.

LaVine played in the Bulls’ first seven games following the break, averaging 24.4 points on 48.2% shooting (36.7% from 3), which is not too far from his production this season of 24.6 points on 48.2% shooting (39.5% from 3) in 54 games.

“Everything that I’ve got from the doctors is that they feel totally comfortable with him playing,” Donovan said. “It’s just something that he’s going to have to manage and deal with throughout the course of the season.”

Caruso is returning to the lineup for the first time since breaking his left wrist Jan. 21. He will be on a 24-30 minutes restriction, playing in just his third game since Dec. 20. Caruso had been cleared for individual work for the past 10 days and participated in a full practice on Friday.

“[The season] just been really choppy for him,” Donovan said. “It’s been a game here, a game there, he’s been out for a long period of time. So certainly, I think getting him back gives you a jolt. There’s no question about that, but I just don’t know where he’s at. He hasn’t played in so long.”

Caruso, who is playing in just his 29th game this season, said after practice Friday that his wrist will need time to strengthen over the rest of the season, but he has not felt limited by anything on the court.

“Still not perfect, it’s not 100 percent healed, but the bone is healed,” Caruso said Friday. “The only soreness and stiffness is just soft tissue stuff that’s healing from surgery. I feel like I’m in a good spot. We’ll see how everything progresses. If I can stay on this course, maybe there are good things to come.”

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I would say for most Chicago Bears fans, the best word to describe the Khalil Mack trade is, shocking.

Khalil Mack getting traded was not on the top of majority of people’s minds heading into this offseason for the Bears. But the day has come and Khalil Mack is no longer a Chicago Bear.

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LOS ANGELES — LeBron James continues to redefine the standard for what a star is capable of at such a late stage of his career.

James, 37, scored 50 points for the second time in his past three games in lifting the Lakers to a much-needed 122-109 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday.

The win came six days after James scored 56 against the Golden State Warriors, which was also a victory for L.A. The rub, of course, is that while the Lakers are 2-0 since the All-Star break when James goes for 50-plus points, they’re 0-6 in the rest of their games and are still only No. 9 in the Western Conference at 29-37.

In a season when the Lakers haven’t given fans much of a reason to want to pay for tickets to see them, James received a rare “MVP! MVP!” chant from a sellout crowd at Crypto.com Arena. He said he appreciated the reception, considering how often boos have been heard in the building.

“Listen, the Laker faithful knows when bad basketball is being played and they know when good basketball is being played. They have the right to have any response they want,” James said. “They’ve seen so many great teams, so many great individuals. … So for me, being a part of this franchise, I feel like I just try to give them an opportunity to have memorable nights as well.

“Try to give them something to cheer for, give them something to feel good about on a nightly basis, and I know it hasn’t been as great as they would like for it to be this year, but you take the small wins when they come.”

L.A. appeared to be heading toward another loss, down by nine early on in the third quarter, when James got red-hot. Midway through the period, in a stretch that took less than two minutes of gametime, he scored 12 straight points for the Lakers to give them control of the game and stir the crowd into a frenzy.

And he did it in a variety of ways, starting the flurry with an 18-foot fadeaway, followed by an and-one layup, then a pull-up 3 from 31 feet. There also was a floating bank shot that he double-clutched before flicking it perfectly off the glass, and finally a fastbreak dunk when he tried to pull the rim off its screws.

“The thing that stands out to me is, like, the league has never seen a player at this stage of his career do what he’s doing,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that needs to be recognized. It’s just unbelievable the level that he’s playing at.”

SeasonPlayerYrs-Days1997-98Michael Jordan35-611996-97Michael Jordan34-621995-96Michael Jordan33-642020-21Stephen Curry33-63Source: Elias Sports Bureau

James finished the game shooting 18-for-25 from the field (72%), including 6-of-9 on 3-pointers, and 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

And he did it in a game when he started at center against a Washington team that had 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis manning the middle for the opening tip.

“Maybe after all these years, him playing center was really the best way to utilize him,” Vogel said. “Because that’s where he’s been doing it, by playing the center position with [Anthony Davis] out. Doing whatever the team needs to win games. And just an incredible, unbelievable, epic performance by LJ.”

It was the 14th 50-point game of James’ career, tying Rick Barry for the sixth most all time, and his teams have now won their past 12 games when he has gone for 50 or more. To underscore Vogel’s point about James doing this at 37 and in his 19th season, consider that James became the first player in NBA history over the age of 30 to score 50 in back-to-back home games.

He has now scored 20 or more in 30 straight games, lifting his scoring average from 29.3 points per game to 29.7 per game to edge past Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid for first place in the race for the league scoring title.

“Just always trying to stay present,” James said when asked what has been working for him offensively as of late. “And when gameday is here, I’m here five hours before the game and prepping — prepping on myself individually, prepping on what I need to do to help this team be victorious, prepping on everything I can possibly do in my power to try to help this team be as great as we can be that night. So, that’s what goes into it.”

James’ night overshadowed the main storyline going into Friday’s game — the offseason trade the Lakers made with the Wizards to acquire Russell Westbrook in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and other pieces.

Westbrook had five points on 2-for-11 shooting with nine assists and one turnover. Vogel pulled him with 8 minutes, 37 seconds remaining and kept him on the bench the rest of the way. L.A. is now 3-1 this season when Vogel benches Westbrook late.

Vogel went with a closing lineup of James, Malik Monk (21 points), Talen Horton-Tucker (15 points), Austin Reaves (12 points) and Stanley Johnson that keyed a 29-20 run from the time Westbrook was subbed out until the final buzzer.

Kuzma, meanwhile, led Washington with 23 points and Caldwell-Pope chipped in four points, going 1-for-6 from the floor.

“It was just about having those guys in there to win,” Vogel said of his closing lineup. “It wasn’t any more than that.”

Horton-Tucker picked up the assist when James reached 50 on a 3-pointer with 1:41 remaining and let out a good-natured, celebratory scream in his old teammate Kuzma’s direction to bask in the moment.

“This is the second time he’s scored 50 this year and I was, ‘Damn.’ I looked up and I was like, ‘Damn, he’s got 50!'” Horton-Tucker said. “When he had 47, I knew he was going to get 50, so that’s why I went to try and get him the 3. So, just seeing that is, like, it’s motivation, like I always say.”

James, who scored 19 points in the third quarter and 33 total in the second half, said his hot shooting reminded him of the 1990s video game “NBA Jam,” in which players would be “on fire” after making three shots in a row, making their subsequent shots go in from virtually anywhere on the court.

“I was able to hit a hot streak at one point,” James said. “I just tried to stay in that zone as long as possible and hit a couple.”

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San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich never had spent a moment thinking about NFTs until his longtime assistant, Brett Brown, raised the idea on a phone call to coincide with his inevitable breaking of Don Nelson’s record for regular-season career coaching victories.

What inspired enthusiasm about the idea for Popovich is that full proceeds of the 1,336 NFTs — one for each of his career wins — will go to the charity he’s long championed: the San Antonio Food Bank.

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With Popovich surpassing Nelson on Friday night with a 104-102 victory over the Utah Jazz, the Spurs are making 1,336 NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, that will include five of his hand-drawn offensive play cards and five Spurs court designs over his 26 seasons as coach. Among Pop’s plays: “Lock and Lob” and “Side Out of Bounds.”

The play cards are synonymous with Popovich’s legendary head-coaching career, a system introduced to him as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors in the 1990s under Nelson himself.

The collection will include five unique NFTs — representing each of his NBA championships as Spurs coach — that will include a play and court design. Each of those five will be auctioned to the highest bidder, and include a VIP Spurs experience next season.

The remaining NFTs will cost $250, and will be available on the marketplace OpenSea.

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