Basketball

BOSTON (AP) — The Miami Heat will start Kyle Lowry at point guard against the Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday after starter Gabe Vincent was ruled out with a sprained left ankle.

BEIJING (AP) — Former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has stepped down as head of China’s struggling national basketball league.

CALGARY — Gabriel Mastromatteo persevered in the pool after illness and Sarah Gates applied her on-court leadership off the court in Canadian university sports.

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics’ season didn’t end in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Miami Heat, and now there is a flicker of hope.

Michael Winger has been hired as the new president of Monumental Basketball, overseeing the NBA’s Washington Wizards and WNBA’s Washington Mystics, a person with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Tennessee conducted a welfare check Wednesday on suspended Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and say “he is fine” after cryptic messages appeared on his Instagram account and were later deleted.

DENVER (AP) — It took 3,787 regular-season games and 29 trips to the playoffs, countless ripoffs of rainbow uniforms and even more ‘yeah, buts’ than any city should have to stomach.

Miami Heat (44-38, eighth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Boston Celtics (57-25, second in the Eastern Conference) Boston; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE : Celtics -7.5; over/under is 215.

MIAMI (AP) — Down nine early in the third quarter, down 3-0 in the series, the Boston Celtics knew their season was completely on the brink. Three minutes later, everything looked different.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers hope LeBron James will decide to continue his career after he recovers from the difficult end to their season.