LeBron James is scheduled to make his return for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Los Angeles Clippers tonight.

James was upgraded to doubtful for the game.

He has missed the previous 17 games with a groin injury. The Lakers are 6-11 in that span. 

Kevin Love is close to making his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers lineup after participating in a 5-on-5, full contact scrimmage.

"He actually did pretty well. Moved around really well. Got a little winded, which is expected. It's the first time he's really been in a contact situation where we actually went up and down and there was actual contact. I thought he moved really well, shot the basketball well," said Larry Drew.

Love has been out since undergoing foot surgery in late October.

Rumored to be close to making his return from a groin injury, LeBron James is not expected to play Thursday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

James did complete a full practice on Wednesday.

The next opportunity for James to return would be Saturday against the Warriors.

James has missed the previous 17 games. The Lakers have gone 6-11 without their superstar.

After shooting 6 3's in the Philadelphia 76ers' 121-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Joel Embiid said he felt disrespected by the space the Lakers were giving him on the perimeter.

“I don’t like shooting 3’s, but you’re not going to disrespect me by giving me a lot of space. In that situation, I’m going to shoot it. I’m Joel. I’m Joel Embiid. I don’t get disrespected. I do the disrespecting.”

Embiid is currently shooting 31% on 3's this season with 3.9 attempts per game.

Embiid suffered an injury scare late in the game and went to the locker room after hurting his back. Embiid later said that his back was fine.

Jimmy Butler is expected to make this return to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Butler missed the last 3 games after spraining his wrist against the Thunder.

"He looked good. It didn't feel like he missed a beat. I think his spirit, especially, was great. The physical side of it was great...he looked good," said Brett Brown after Butler returned to practice. 

After LeBron James participated in full-contact drills for the first time since injuring his groin, the Los Angeles Lakers are "hoping" James could return for their Thursday game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"Depends on these next couple of days," said a source close to the Lakers.

Luke Walton had yet to rule James out for their Tuesday game against the 76ers.

"We'll see how he feels tonight, we'll see how he feels tomorrow morning, and we'll just keep taking it day by day and see how he's doing. We did three-minute scrimmages, so, again, we'll see how his body responds to that, and then from there, we'll take it, as far as making those scrimmages longer or if he says, 'Hey, I feel great. See if I can play.' Then we'll make those adjustments," said Walton.

Derrick Jones Jr. has been ruled out for at least 6 weeks with two bone bruises in his right knee.

Tests on Monday showed no structural damage. Jones will be re-evaluated in mid-March, and the Heat expect him to play again this season.

Jones is averaging 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds on the season. 

The Chicago Bulls announced that rookie Chandler Hutchison suffered a fracture right toe.

Hutchison will be in a walking boot for 2-4 weeks, and be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.

Hutchison became a starter after the Bulls traded Justin Holiday. He averaged 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. 

LeBron James returned to contact drills for the first time since injuring his groin, but is ruled out for Sunday's game against the Phoenix Suns.

"He was a full participant in that, so it was good to see. He looked good. He's still really good at basketball, in case you guys were wondering," said Luke Walton.

The Lakers are 5-10 without James in the lineup, and dropped to 9th in the playoff race.  

Tristan Thompson, who missed the last 4 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers, will be out for two more weeks with a strained left foot. 

The Cavs have also been encouraged by the progress of Kevin Love, with Larry Drew saying he was in "awe" by what he saw during a recent shoot-around.

“What I saw of Kevin this morning, I was almost in awe — how well he moved, how well he passed. I’ve been watching in workouts and he’s been shooting the ball extremely well,” said Drew. 

Drew was quick to point out that he did not want to rush Love back to the lineup, and there is still no timetable to his return.