Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is available for Sunday's contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder, though Kyrie Irving remains out.
Durant missed three consecutive games due to the NBA's coronavirus health and safety protocols, but the two-time champion and Finals MVP is set to return at home to the Thunder in Brooklyn.
After sitting out the 2019-20 season due to an Achilles injury, Durant is averaging 28.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game for the Nets this term.
Durant – the 2014 MVP – is also shooting 51.4 per cent from the field and 45.5 per cent from three-point range as Steve Nash's Nets sit at 5-5 in the Eastern Conference.
Nets team-mate Irving, meanwhile, will again be absent due to personal reasons.
NBA champion and six-time All-Star Irving has missed the past two games for the Nets.
Irving is averaging 27.1 points, 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game in Brooklyn this season.
The NBA has postponed the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat showdown due to health and safety protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Sunday's contest was set to go ahead, despite the Celtics missing seven players – including star pair Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – because of COVID-19 protocols, and nine in total.
But the NBA announced the postponement just hours before tip-off after a Heat player reportedly returned an inconclusive coronavirus test, leaving Miami without the required eight players to play due to contact tracing.
Heat guard Avery Bradley (health and safety protocols) had been ruled out of the game earlier in the day.
The Celtics were set to have the minimum eight players available against the Heat after Javonte Green, Semi Ojeleye, Grant Williams, Robert Williams II and Tristan Thompson were listed as outs pre-game.
Injuries had already forced Celtics pair Kemba Walker (knee) and Romeo Langford (wrist) to miss the scheduled meeting.
It comes as COVID-19 outbreaks impact the NBA following a coronavirus-hit 2019-20 campaign in the United States.
Eastern Conference leaders the Philadelphia 76ers were depleted for Saturday's loss to the Denver Nuggets after Seth Curry tested positive for coronavirus.
Contract tracing seriously impacted Doc Rivers' 76ers, who were without Curry, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle and Vincent Poirier, paired with injures to All-Star duo Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Philadelphia were only able to dress eight players against the Nuggets, though Mike Scott was unable to play due to a knee injury.
The Celtics own a 7-3 record in the Eastern Conference, ahead of last season's NBA Finals runners-up the Heat (4-4).
LaMelo Ball became the youngest player to post a triple-double in NBA history on Saturday and Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego believes he is a "rare" talent.
At 19 years and 140 days old, Hornets rookie Ball put up 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as Charlotte improved to 5-5 with a 113-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Spectrum Center.
He took the record from Markelle Fultz, who recorded his first triple-double for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2018 aged 19 years and 317 days.
Ball's triple-double was the first by a Charlotte player since Nic Batum in March 2018, while he became only the second Hornets rookie to achieve the feat after Kemba Walker.
"He just continuously gets better. He's a special player. He's not fazed by the moment. It's like he's been doing this for a number of years already," said Hornets head coach Borrego.
"He was special tonight. Playmaking, shotmaking, on the boards, made the right decisions. He's a special player.
"I love the person, I love the kid, and more than anything I love his spirit, I love what he brings to our locker room, our organisation. Just proud of him, he was fantastic tonight.
"A 19-year-old rookie does not look like this. This is just rare what you're seeing. I can't get over this kid, he's just a wonderful person to be around, he's humble, he's genuine, he's coachable."
Ball, the third overall pick in this year's draft, retained a level head after achieving something he thinks he will only take stock of in retirement.
"I live my life and I know what I'm capable of, so stuff like this doesn't move me like that. I know that's supposed to happen," he said.
"I've not really processed it yet. Probably when I look back on it after my career when I'm like 40 or something, then I'll probably look back at everything."
Ball was one assist away from a triple-double when the Hornets beat the New Orleans Pelicans and his brother Lonzo Ball on Friday, but he denied that provided him with additional motivation against the Hawks.
"I figured I was one assist away during the game, but pretty much the next day I knew we had another basketball game and came to it like I come to every other basketball game," he said.
"The main goal is always winning. Whenever we get a win, that's great."
LaMelo Ball created history in the Charlotte Hornets’ 113-105 win against the Atlanta Hawks by becoming the youngster player of all time to score a triple-double.
The first round rookie announced his arrival in the NBA after coming off the bench to post 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in a dazzling 31 minutes on court.
Terry Rozier added 23 points and PJ Washington posted 22 points to help Charlotte improve to 5-5 as the Hawks rallied with De'Andre Hunter scoring 20 points but fall to to 4-5.
Mikal Bridges starred and six players hit double figures as the Phoenix Suns advanced to 7-3 in the Western Conference with a 125-117 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Bridges led the scoring with a career-high 34 points as the Pacers fell to 6-3 in the Eastern Conference despite Domantas Sabonis' 28 points and 22 rebounds.
Earlier in the day, a threadbare Philadelphia 76ers fell to 7-3 after losing 115-113 to the Denver Nuggets as coach Doc Rivers had only seven players available due injury and COVID-19 protocols.
A second defeat in three days was rather easier to take for the Philadelphia 76ers as their depleted roster went down fighting against the Denver Nuggets.
Philadelphia fell to 7-3 for the season but could take great heart from their latest loss, perhaps at odds with Thursday's reverse at the hands of a Brooklyn Nets team missing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
This time it was the Sixers' turn to go without their star men in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, while Seth Curry was absent after he tested positive for COVID-19 - he was told of his result as he attended the Nets game.
Contact tracing left Doc Rivers with just eight players to choose from, though one of them - Mike Scott – did not feature due to a knee issue.
The Nuggets' 115-103 success came as no surprise then, but the relatively narrow margin was just reward for a makeshift Philadelphia team. The Sixers led in the game as late as midway through the second quarter and never let Denver get away from them, even if the result scarcely seemed in doubt.
Gary Harris' 21 points led the way for the Nuggets, while Nikola Jokic was just shy of another triple-double with 15 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Three of the Sixers' five 2020 draft picks were among the seven players involved, with Tyrese Maxey in particular rising to the occasion, given the responsibility to lead the team despite Rivers jokingly suggesting before the game that center Dwight Howard would play at point guard.
Maxey, selected 21st in the first round out of Kentucky, had not previously started in the NBA and had averaged 6.9 points in 15.7 minutes over his first nine games.
Remarkably, the 20-year-old put up a massive 39 points in 45 minutes, along with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Maxey not only outstripped his previous NBA high of 16 - against Brooklyn - but also his best performance in his single college season with Kentucky (27 points).
Since 1963-64, only Allen Iverson - on 11 occasions in 1996-97 - and Andrew Toney - once in 1980-81 - had previously scored 35 points or more in a game as a rookie for the franchise.
Second-round picks Isaiah Joe (13 points in 45 minutes) and Paul Reed (six in 26 off the bench) also enjoyed their unlikely opportunities, showing Philadelphia's strength in depth.
Steph Curry had Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and team-mate Eric Paschall purring about his game-changing impact in the comeback win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Golden State trailed 85-63 deep into the third quarter at Chase Center on Friday and looked set for a second straight loss to the Clippers, only for a 52-20 surge to see them emerge 115-105 winners.
Curry was the driving force behind that recovery, finishing with 38 points and 11 assists.
He was 13-of-24 from the field and nine-of-14 from three-point range in the win, and now averages 30.6 points through nine games this season.
His efforts in triggering the recovery - 33 of Curry's points came when the Warriors were trailing - were at once exhilarating but also exactly what Kerr knows his star man can produce.
Kerr said. "It's just who Steph is. He's been doing this for many, many years and it's one of the reasons he's a two-time MVP and he's a phenomenal basketball player.
"Usually with Steph when he has a tough game he bounces back [in] the next one. That's part of his character, part of his competitiveness. He found something out there, he found some openings, and got himself going."
That "tough game" for Curry came in the 108-101 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday, when he had a season-low 13 points.
This time it was a different story, and Paschall, in his second season in the NBA, was thrilled to be able to share a court with a red-hot Curry.
"Sometimes I've gotta remember that I'm his team-mate," Paschall said. "I'm so used to watching it on TV.
"Sometimes I gotta remember like, 'Hey, hold on. You're playing with Steph'. But sometimes you do want to sit there and watch, I’m not going to lie. It's very entertaining.
"I get a front-row seat so I'm not complaining."
Curry exited early in the fourth quarter before returning to finish the job.
He explained how there had been some confusion about how prominent a role he would play in that final period, after misunderstanding a message from associate head coach Mike Brown.
"Me and Mike Brown, he told me at the end of the third quarter break ... he said something like he was going to give me a minute and I didn't hear what he said after that," Curry said.
"I thought I was coming out for a minute and was going to play 10 or 11 minutes in the fourth because I had a roll on.
"But he said, 'You're going to keep playing, I’ll give you possession for a minute and then take you out'."
When Curry stepped off the court after that minute, momentum was all with the Warriors. By the time he returned, they were ahead, a remarkable victory incoming.
Kawhi Leonard warned the Los Angeles Clippers "have to change" after they were made to pay by the Golden State Warriors for another second-half capitulation on Friday.
The Clippers held a commanding 85-63 lead with just over three minutes of the third quarter remaining at Chase Center, but slumped to a 115-105 defeat.
Steph Curry was their chief tormentor, scoring half of his 38 points in the third quarter to leave the Clippers 6-4 in the NBA Western Conference.
The Clippers have lost eight games when leading by at least 15 points since the start of last season, according to ESPN, letting more advantages by such a margin slip than any other team in that period.
Four-time NBA All-Star Leonard, who scored 24 points, said such collapses are unacceptable and must be addressed.
The small forward declared: "We just have to change, pretty much. We've got to change it. We've got to get better."
He added: "I'm not about to tell you what we're doing in the locker room. It's locker room talk."
Leonard felt the Clippers made it far too easy for the Warriors (5-4) to storm back and secure what appeared to be such an unlikely victory when they were so far behind.
"Our third quarter was terrible as far as defense. Them able to get easy looks, coming down just laying up the ball with no one there. Steph Curry did a few times." said Leonard.
"In that third quarter, just guys coming down and getting either open looks or just walking to the basket and laying up the ball."
Paul George, the Clippers' highest scorer with 25 points as well as laying on seven assists, echoed Leonard's sentiments.
He said: "We want to just be great as a unit, just demand greatness out of everybody. We've got to be better. All of us included. This was a team loss, more than anything. We've just got to get better. We'll work on it."
George added: "I think this is good that something like this happened for this team so early. Because fact of the matter is, we have to be a better closing-out team."
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