Lakers star Luka Dončić had 42 points and 10 rebounds as Slovenia held off a fourth-quarter surge from Italy to win 84-77 and set up a quarterfinal match against World Cup winner Germany, while Georgia advanced with a dominant 80-70 win over France.
Dylan Harper, the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, might recover in time for the Spurs’ Oct. 22 opener after having surgery to repair a partially torn collateral ligament in his left thumb.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer told ESPN that he would “want the league to investigate” if another owner and another team were accused of circumventing the NBA’s salary cap, as the Clippers were in a podcast by Pablo Torre on Wednesday.
Restricted free agent Cam Thomas has opted for the qualifying offer with the Nets that gives him a full no-trade clause and sets him for unrestricted free agency next summer with at least 10 teams set to have cap space, sources told ESPN.