The Cleveland Cavaliers featured Kevin Love early during their win on Saturday over the San Antonio Spurs due to the absence of Tim Duncan.

Love had 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the game and finished with 21 overall.

"Ever since I was young I was one of the big guys," Love said. "At my position I'm not the tallest guy in the world but I've always played inside/out. When I get to the free-throw line or get those post touches it helps me have continuity and feel a little bit of a flow and involved in the offense. That definitely helps me and makes the hoop bigger in a lot of ways just getting those easy touches."

"Yeah, yeah, he's played some good ball over the last year and a half that we've had him," LeBron James said of Love's recent stretch with three straight 20-plus scoring nights. "I think right now he's finally getting comfortable in his role. I think coach (Tyronn) Lue has done a great job clearing the air with what he expects out of all of us, including Kev, and he's a big focal point of our team. When he's playing locked in like this, it's great for us."

Tim Duncan will miss his fourth straight game due to knee soreness on Monday.

Gregg Popovich said Wednesday that Duncan underwent an MRI on his right knee, and that he was in the process of rehabilitating it. 

Duncan is averaging just 8.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game this season but he remains a key part of the Spurs' defense.

The Spurs don't have a publicly available timeline for when Duncan will return.

Michael Finley and Tony Parker were the first investors on Nate Parker's film The Birth of a Nation, which won both the Dramatic Jury and Dramatic Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday.

The film, which is about Nat Turner's 19th century slave uprising, secured a record-breaking $17.5 million rights deal with Fox Searchlight.

The film had a $10 million budget.

Finley also helped finance The Butler.

Schea Cotton, whom Kevin Garnett once referred to as “LeBron before LeBron,” was scheduled to debut a screening of his documentary “Manchild” on Saturday in Los Angeles.

Cotton was considered the best prep player in the nation in the early 1990s, even dominating Garnett in an AAU game despite being just 6 feet 4 inches.

Cotton eventually played at Alabama and then overseas with his only NBA exposure was playing for the Magic’s summer league team in 2001 and the Clippers’ summer squad in 2003.

“Manchild” focuses on Cotton’s journey as a prep phenom and the disappointment of falling short of reaching the NBA.

The Miami Heat traded away Shabazz Napier to the Orlando Magic one year after using a first round pick upon him in order to save on the luxury tax.

“I’ve always understood the business. I got traded on draft night [from Charlotte to Miami],” Napier said. “I never allowed it to push me away from my ultimate goal. It’s still the same as a young kid growing up. It was just to play in the NBA, it was to make an impact.

“I knew for a fact coming into my rookie year I wasn’t going to make the crazy impact I want to make as a young kid. It’s going to take time.”

Stephen A. Smith of ESPN again spoke about the possibility of Kevin Durant signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Keep in mind this, one of the biggest reasons I'm told, that Kevin Durant may have the Lakers at the top of his list, is because the Lakers have been led to believe, by whom specifically I do not know, but the Lakers have been led to believe that it is a very good chance that the following year Russell Westbrook is coming," said Smith.

Westbrook grew up in Los Angeles and will become a free agent in 2017, one season after Durant.

"Make no doubt about it, Russell Westbrook doesn't have a problem being in L.A."

Festus Ezeli missed his second straight game Saturday because of a sore left knee.

Ezeli tweaked his knee during a 10-minute stretch Monday against San Antonio, and he had an MRI exam Tuesday.

The results were inconclusive and the Golden State Warriors' doctors will confer about next steps.

Ezeli is averaging 7.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 17.8 minutes this season. He missed the 2013-14 after surgery on his right knee.

Paul Millsap suffered a left ankle sprain with 2:50 remaining in the second quarter of Thursday's. Millsap left the contest and did not return.

X-rays were negative and he's listed as probable for Sunday's game at Miami.

Millsap was voted onto the All-Star team this week.

The Boston Celtics have inquired about the availability of Al Horford and Jeff Teague.

The Celtics have a considerable number of trade assets to facilitate a trade.

"Atlanta, I've been told, is ready to turn the page, to give the team to Dennis Schroeder, their young point guard,who is ready to step up and be a starter," Mannix said. "Teague is available because Teague has some value. He has another year left on his contract, about $8 million per year, and teams across the league are looking to get him.

"I've heard that Boston's inquired about several players with Atlanta, Teague and Al Horford. Teague might seem like a weird fit with this team because they already have point guards but he is an asset, he's someone the Celtics could be interested in. Horford, a little more difficult. It would be a gamble going after Al Horford because Al Horford is in the last year of his deal and he's going to command a salary north of $20 million next year. But as we know and as I just said, Danny Ainge is a gambling GM. He could make a move like that too."

CJ McCollum has become one of the NBA's best midrange shooters.

"It's been a part of my game for life. It's tougher to finish in the lane so you've got to find different areas to score efficiently and the mid-range contested shot is a shot a lot of teams will live with," McCollum says. "And it's a shot I'm willing to live with as well just because I've gotten so many shots at it and I'm comfortable with it."

McCollum is shooting 46.6 percent on mid-range shots season, according to NBA.com. He's attempted the 12th most mid-range shots in the league and has the highest field goal percentage of anyone in the NBA who has taken at least 250 such shots.