Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said star Stephen Curry "did not feel well" prior to the team's buzzer-beating loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
Curry was ruled out just moments before tip-off as the Warriors suffered a last-gasp 102-100 defeat against the Hornets on Saturday.
Two-time MVP Curry took part in the warm-up before he was replaced by Mychal Mulder in the starting five.
"Going through his usual warm-up routine, he just did not feel well at all," Kerr said post-game, discussing Curry's absence.
"And so he came back in, saw the Charlotte team doctor, went out tried to warm up and just wasn't feeling good.
"So we made the decision, the training staff and Steph and I, we all made the decision to not play him.
"We'll see how he's doing [Sunday] ... There were no [COVID-19] protocols in place. Just him feeling sick."
Curry is averaging 29.9 points, 6.2 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game for the Warriors (16-15) this season.
It remains to be seen whether Curry will feature against the New York Knicks on Tuesday, with Kerr adding: "Hopefully. We'll see how he's feeling the next couple of days."
"Our offense is based on Steph," Kerr said. "Obviously our pace, everything else. So it took us some time to get our feet on the ground but once we did I thought we really competed well and did everything necessary to win the game. We fought, we competed together."
Kevin Durant will sit out his fourth consecutive NBA game when the Brooklyn Nets face the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
Nets star Durant has sat out games against the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings due to a left hamstring strain.
The former NBA MVP also missed three games due to the league's health and safety protocols before returning for his reunion with the Golden State Warriors last week.
Speaking on Saturday, Nets head coach Steve Nash told reporters: "I don't have a timeline, but he's out for tomorrow. So still just trying to regain that strength and his rehabilitation.
"Like I keep saying, I don't think this is a long-term thing. But there are elements of maybe it being, taking a few more days than we thought or just being cautious.
"I think right now both are necessary. I don't think he's ready, I think he needs more time, but we're also definitely going to be cautious."
Durant is averaging 29.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game for the star-studded Nets this season.
The Nets (19-12) have won all three games in Durant's latest absence to be second in the Eastern Conference, behind the Philadelphia 76ers (21-10).
Tyronn Lue relished seeing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George return from injury as the Los Angeles Clippers impressively beat the Utah Jazz.
The Jazz had won nine straight games and 20 of their last 21 NBA contests coming into Friday's game.
However, their streak came to an end as the Clippers emerged triumphant 116-112 in a battle between two championship contenders.
Leonard led the way for the home Clippers with 29 points as they improved to 22-9.
Donovan Mitchell had a game-high 35 points, but the Western Conference leading Jazz fell to 24-6.
Leonard had missed the previous three games with a lower leg contusion, while George was back after seven games out with a swollen toe.
The win came two days after the Clippers had lost by 18 to the Jazz playing without Leonard, George and Nicolas Batum.
"They are the best team in the NBA right now, record-wise, we knew that they won 20 of 21 coming into it – we understood that," Lue said after the win.
"We got our guys back and we wanted to win this game and the guys went out and did a hell of a job.
"Our defense was pretty good until the heroics of Donovan Mitchell down the stretch.
"Pat Beverley and PG, we did a decent job on that first half and second half, he [Mitchell] got going, that's what great players do.
"Overall, defensively, I thought we were pretty good like I said until the last 40 seconds or whatever it was of the game."
George had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in 27 minutes.
"I wasn't ready to play 30-plus," he said. "Got to get back to that basketball conditioning.
"I probably would have hurt the team if I'd been on the floor past the minutes I was."
The Jazz were outrebounded 45-38, leaving Mitchell and Rudy Gobert clear where the game was lost.
"We lost the game on the boards," said Mitchell. "It was second-chance points that really hurt us.
"If you look at the overall game, we played solid defense throughout, but they just came out there and got the extra boards and rebounds and we just got to do a better job of that.
"This is a bump in the road and a good one."
Gobert feels the loss will ultimately benefit the Jazz.
He said: "If we get those rebounds, we win this game. [The Clippers are] a very good team.
"They came out rested, they came out ready and it felt like a playoff game – the intensity, the tough shots that they were making all night.
"It was a good opportunity for us to just keep getting better."
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone described the efficiency of Jamal Murray's 50-point haul as "remarkable".
Murray went 21-of-25 from the field and eight-of-10 from three-point range to post 50 points in the Nuggets' 120-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Malone lauded the guard's performance after the Nuggets improved their record to 16-13.
"I've been around a lot of great players, I've been in the league for a long time, I've seen many 50-point games," he said.
"To do it as efficiently as he did is really remarkable."
Nikola Jokic finished with a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nuggets.
Murray said the Nuggets' numerous threats made his life easier against the Cavaliers.
"I can shoot a little bit. Once I see a few go down, I just took off from there and kind of mixed it up," he told Altitude TV.
"I was able to get to the rim on them when they tried to change the coverage and we've got a lot of weapons. You can't just flat-out double me when I'm hot, you've got a 'Joker' [Jokic], who's MVP of the season, he'll pick you apart if you're playing four on three especially.
"I feel like it was just a tough task to be able to deal with both of us and the rest of the team as well."
The Los Angeles Clippers ended the Utah Jazz's winning run in the NBA on Friday, while Joel Embiid and Jamal Murray posted 50-point games.
The Clippers snapped the Jazz's nine-game winning streak with a 116-112 victory in a clash between two NBA championship contenders.
Kawhi Leonard led the way for the Clippers with 29 points as they improved to 22-9.
Donovan Mitchell had a game-high 35 points, but the Jazz's winning run came to an end, with the Western Conference leaders now 24-6 this season.
Embiid's career-high 50 points, 17 rebounds and five assists helped the Philadelphia 76ers past the Chicago Bulls 112-105.
He is the first 76ers player to score 50-plus points since Allen Iverson in 2005.
Murray, meanwhile, was spectacular in the Denver Nuggets' 120-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The guard was an incredible 21-of-25 from the field, and eight-of-10 from three-point range, for his 50-point haul.
Murray and Embiid were the first NBA pair with 50-plus points on 65 per cent-plus shooting on the same day since Tom Chambers and Patrick Ewing on March 24, 1990, as per Stats Perform.
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the Nuggets' win.
Giannis leads Bucks, Curry's Warriors fall short
Giannis Antetokounmpo's double-double of 29 points and 19 rebounds saw the Milwaukee Bucks past the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-85.
Stephen Curry had 29 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, but the Golden State Warriors were beaten by the Orlando Magic 124-120.
Magic star Nikola Vucevic finished with a triple-double of 30 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.
Despite a double-double from Trae Young (31 points and 11 assists), the Atlanta Hawks went down to the Boston Celtics 121-109.
Wayward VanVleet
Fred VanVleet went four-of-20 from the field for just 12 points in 37 minutes, but the Toronto Raptors still got past the Minnesota Timberwolves 86-81.
Edwards' incredible dunk
Anthony Edwards was three-of-14 from the field for just seven points in 34 minutes in the Timberwolves' loss, yet the 2020 top draft pick produced a monstrous dunk.
Friday's results
Orlando Magic 124-120 Golden State Warriors
Denver Nuggets 120-103 Cleveland Cavaliers
Boston Celtics 121-109 Atlanta Hawks
Philadelphia 76ers 112-105 Chicago Bulls
Phoenix Suns 132-114 New Orleans Pelicans
Memphis Grizzlies 109-95 Detroit Pistons
Milwaukee Bucks 98-85 Oklahoma City Thunder
Toronto Raptors 86-81 Minnesota Timberwolves
Los Angeles Clippers 116-112 Utah Jazz
Heat at Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers (22-8) look to bounce back from their loss to the Brooklyn Nets when they host the Miami Heat (12-17) on Saturday in what is a rematch of last year's NBA Finals.
Joel Embiid credited his team-mates after his incredible performance in the Philadelphia 76ers' win over the Chicago Bulls.
Embiid posted a career-high 50 points, to go with 17 rebounds and five assists, in the 76ers' 112-105 victory in the NBA on Friday.
But the All-Star paid tribute to his team-mates after the 76ers improved to 20-10.
"We did it as a team. It wasn't a one-man effort, we all worked together," Embiid told ESPN.
"My team-mates found me, I found them, we shared the ball, we moved the ball and we actually played better defense than we've been playing the past couple of games which makes me happy. It starts on defense and I'm pretty happy about what we did on that end."
Embiid added: "That's my job, that's why they pay me, defensively just being the best defensive player of the year because you know my aspirations are to win that defensive player of the year.
"Offensively doing whatever I'm needed to, if I need to get them open that's what I'm going to do, if I need to score that's what I'm going to do, if I need to set screens that's what's I'm going to do, so we did it as a team."
After back-to-back wins, the 76ers are top of the Eastern Conference.
LeBron James was 'honoured' to share the esteemed company of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone after becoming the third player in NBA history to clock up 35,000 points.
The Los Angeles Lakers star achieved the feat in a 109-98 loss against the in-form Brooklyn Nets at Staples Center, matching Hall of Fame duo Abdul-Jabbar and Malone.
Hours before tip off, the 36-year-old was named a team captain in the 2021 All-Star game, becoming the first player to be selected 17 straight times, and he went on to put up 32 points on Thursday to reach a notable milestone.
"First of all I'm very humbled and very grateful to be part of a great league," said James after his latest landmark.
"It's a privilege to do what I love to do, which is to play the game of basketball and inspire the youth.
"For me to be linked with some of the greatest who ever played this game is always an honour.
"I've always just wanted to go out there and play the game the right way, inspire my team-mates, inspire the people that watch me and just try to be as good as I can be every single night.
"I don't put a ceiling on my ability or what I can do as far as this game and I've had some pretty good moments."
James' exploits came in a losing effort as the NBA's number two defense fell to its leading offense.
James Harden powered up the Nets with his 19th double-double (23 points, 11 assists) of the season, while Joe Harris showed his three-point prowess, dropping six of seven attempts to clock up 21 total points.
Brooklyn rallied midway through the first half, opening up an 11-point lead. It was one they never relinquished to move to 19-12, while the Lakers fell to 22-8.
The Lakers were without the injured Anthony Davis and lost Dennis Schroder because of the NBA's health and safety protocols.
James, however, was not looking for excuses.
"Obviously missing AD and then our starting point guard in Dennis Schroder, it was a big a blow for us," he said.
"We just didn't play to our capabilities, but give them credit."
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