Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: Kevin Durant and Steven Adams both went through light on-court workouts before Thursday’s game at Phoenix. Durant, who is recovering from a second surgery to his right foot, did some light shooting from various spots, even taking shots from as far out as the 3-point line. Durant, however, did not take jump shots. His feet barely left the court on all his shots. Durant also did a series of calisthenics, including inverted push-ups and a core exercise using resistance ropes. A timetable for Durant’s return to the lineup is still unknown. He is scheduled to be evaluated early next week. ... Adams, meanwhile, joined fellow big men Enes Kanter and Mitch McGary in a workout with coaches. ... Adams has been out since fracturing the fourth metacarpal in his right hand on Feb. 8. He also is scheduled to be re-evaluated early next week.

Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: A year ago, Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic were the ceremonial co-captains of the Suns, but P.J. Tucker and Channing Frye emerged as the team's leaders. Tucker continues to bring the moxie to yell at teammates and display the unbridled effort for a young team to follow, but all of the ideal ingredients for the next Suns leader might be present in Brandon Knight. At 23 years old and one week as a Sun, it would be too soon to turn the franchise over to Knight's leadership, particularly with a restricted free agency status coming in July. But Knight is already showing a willingness to be vocal with teammates that is backed well by his playing ability and his basketball intelligence. "He understands the game, so that's always helpful," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said.

Diamond Leung of The Oakland Tribune: Steve Kerr had a simple explanation for the Warriors' 110-99 loss at Cleveland. "The best player on the planet from the last five years had a huge night on us," the coach said. LeBron James dominated with 42 points in his first game against the Warriors this season, providing a reminder that he is once again very much a candidate for the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. James' 15-for-25 shooting performance happened to come on a Thursday night when Stephen Curry, the Warriors' MVP candidate, was in the building. Curry scored 18 points on 5-for-17 shooting, with only four of his points coming in the second half. He also committed four turnovers. "If I'm playing one on one against (James) and you just look at tonight, then I lost obviously," Curry said of the MVP race. "But it's about a body of work. It's about what your team's doing. It's about just being consistent over the course of the season. And that's my job. Tonight just wasn't my best, and it won't be the last bad game of my career, so I'll be all right." ... "I gotta be the MVP for these guys, the 14 guys in this locker room," James said, downplaying that the presence of Curry had something to do with his big game."

Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal: Any celebration over this victory will have to wait until the results are back on Kyrie Irving’s MRI. It’s surprising, if he needs an MRI, that he was even put back in the game in the fourth quarter. The initial in-game injury update indicated Irving shoulder was “bumped” but he was fine. If he’s headed to the Clinic, clearly all is not well. Irving is listed as doubtful for Friday’s game against the Pacers, a team that ended the Cavs’ 12-game winning streak three weeks ago at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. This is why the Cavs were searching for another point guard at the trade deadline. It will be curious to see which way Blatt plays this. Common sense would indicate Matthew Dellavedova starts at point guard, but it wouldn’t completely shock me to see Iman Shumpert in the starting rotation. James is the pseudo point guard anyway and Shumpert has also played there in spurts this season. Again, the smart money is on Delly starting, but I don’t think that’s a lock at this point.

Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: Rick Carlisle and Rajon Rondo are going through the recovery process after their temper flare-up Tuesday led to Rondo’s suspension for Wednesday’s game at Atlanta. It’s a fact of life when you’re a point guard, said Devin Harris, a 10-year veteran. It’s particularly important when it comes to play-calling and what the right mix is for a coach calling the shots and a point guard having the freedom to run the team. He is, after all, an extension of the coach, right? ... At this point, it doesn’t matter if Rondo has any intentions of re-signing with the Mavericks beyond this season. All that matters is right now — and the Mavericks’ position as a legitimate contender with the ability to make serious noise in the playoffs. That still hasn’t changed, by the way. ... With only 22 games left in the regular season, the clock already is ticking. The Mavericks are coming off five games in seven days. They took Thursday as a complete rest day.

Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: To think Rondo and Carlisle wouldn’t have problems is to mix two parts hydrogen with one part oxygen and be utterly stunned at the creation of water. The accelerant here was expectation. The Mavericks were hoping Rondo would be the element that could work well with what they already had and legitimize their shot at this season’s championship. But his play had grown inconsistent, and Rondo lost some important fourth-quarter minutes to others. With Dallas down nine to Toronto in the third quarter Tuesday, Carlisle called a play, but Rondo had something else in mind. And while it is generally accepted that, in such split-second situations, NBA teams most often go with the point guard’s call, a boiling point had been reached. And the fact is Rondo comes equipped with a Bunsen burner. His first coach with the Celtics, Doc Rivers, said that these things happen with a number of players and added that Carlisle and Rondo will “figure it out; I really believe that.” It’s all about adapting to one’s environment. This is not to suggest that Rick Carlisle needs to change his life to suit Rajon Rondo’s mood, but he should not have expected anything less than the response he got when he called out someone who’s made a living off small man’s anger.

Jason Reid of The Washington Post: The Washington Wizards have 24 games remaining in the regular season, and they seem utterly incapable of winning any of them. Their strong start a distant memory, the Wizards are lost, and Coach Randy Wittman appears to be asleep at the wheel. When a team that was on a fast track to joining the Eastern Conference’s elite can’t get anything right for months, the person in charge should come under the microscope. The debate about Wittman’s job performance figures only to intensify after the Wizards flopped again in Wednesday’s 97-77 road loss to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves. ... For the Wizards to get it back together, Wittman must consider a lineup shakeup. Roles need to be redefined. The return of Beal, who is expected back soon, will give Wittman more lineup flexibility. And although tinkering always can be done with X’s and O’s, getting the Wizards’ heads right will be Wittman’s biggest challenge. He has to persuade them to recommit to what worked: playing sound defense, sharing the ball and being tough. He’ll have to rely on his motivational skills. Of course, the players have to expect more from themselves, too. Washington is a veteran team with a roster full of self-starters, though recent weeks have offered little evidence of that.