OAKLAND -- P.J. Carlesimo, who coached Kevin Durant's rookie season in the NBA, used to have an office high above the practice court. One of the cool features was an expansive window that allowed him to oversee the action.

But on otherwise desolate nights, when the court lights flickered on to the thump-thump-thump of a basketball, the panorama was hardly necessary.

Golden State Wins Fifth-Straight Game

Golden State won its fifth consecutive preseason game, earning a 123-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in San Diego on Wednesday night.

Golden State now takes their 2-0 series lead and heads to New Orleans at full strength

No one said this was going to be easy, or pretty, but at least with Steph Curry back, it’s fun!

The Golden State Warriors traded shots back and forth with the New Orleans Pelicans for most of the game before pulling away in the final frame. Each team took turns going on little runs and then watching the other team climb back into the game, but in the end the Warriors consistency won out.

Some good news for a son of Memphis.

#GTG has now officially transitioned to #GNG. Shams Charania with Yahoo's The Vertical is reporting that the Grizzlies have signed former Memphis Tiger and Memphis fan favorite D.J. Stephens to a 2-year partially guaranteed contract.

The NBA is a business, they say

Las Vegas Summer League kicked off on Friday night and the game between the Lakers and Clippers was the headliner. The building was packed to see how No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft, Lonzo Ball, would mesh with his new team. That included D’Angelo Russell, the guy the Lakers traded away so they could rebuild with Ball instead.

his move clears up long-term salary, possibly for Paul George.

The Los Angeles Lakers will trade Timofey Mozgov and D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and the No. 27 overall pick in the 2017 draft on Thursday, according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal comes just days after Paul George told the Indiana Pacers he would not re-sign after his contract expired in 2018, stating he preferred landing with the Lakers.

Freed from the shackles of last year’s Lakers, the second-year point guard is off to a flying start under Luke Walton.

D’Angelo Russell’s resilience appeared tangibly in the form of a single fourth-quarter assist to an open teammate for three in Sunday’s preseason victory over the Nuggets.

Basketball has returned. Sort of.

The Dallas Mavericks played their preseason opener Monday night, hosting the Milwaukee Bucks at the AAC. The few that got to see this game were treated to some firsts — 9th pick Dennis Smith, Jr. in uniform with real NBA players — and some definitely not firsts — Dirk Nowitzki once again taking the stage — and about 27 hours after those two sat down for good, the Mavs prevailed.

Whoa, Damian! Lillard hit nine three-pointers, and the Blazers beat the Heat to complete a 4-1 road trip.

The salary numbers reported by Joel Brigham do not agree with the Basketball Insiders salary page maintained by Eric Pincus. Per Pincus' numbers, Lillard's contract is actually for $139.9 million, which would give Lillard the third richest contract ever.

The LA Times confirms that former welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre is back in the UFC.

Georges St-Pierre is oficially back. Lance Pugmire from the LA Times reports, per Dana White, that the former welterweight champion has closed a deal with the UFC after negotiating with other promotions and testing the market.

Sacramento Kings point guard Darren Collison has been suspended 8 games by the NBA as a result of his domestic violence case. Collison pled guilty to domestic battery charges stemming from an incident in June.

What on Earth are they talking about?

The Golden State Warriors are hinting that there’s a lot of internal drama that the public doesn’t know yet, and all we can do is wait. After winning Game 4 of the NBA Finals and sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers, ESPN’s Marc Spears quoted West saying there was “a lot going on behind that scenes that people will be shocked about when it comes out.”

Fox: “I guess when your son is a lottery pick, that gives you a lot of confidence."

De’Aaron Fox had some added motivation when his Kentucky Wildcats took on Lonzo Ball’s UCLA Bruins in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. According to Sports Illustrated, that reason was to “shut LaVar Ball up.”

He’s defying every analytic trend and dominating all the same.

There’s two ways to look at DeMar DeRozan’s season this year.

This is really happening.

The Sacramento Kings have traded three-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi to the New Orleans Pelicans. In return, the Kings receive rookie guard Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, and a 2017 first-round pick and second-rounder (via Philadelphia), according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Uh, so free agency is RIDICULOUS.

Free agent DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a deal with the Golden State Warriors, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo. The deal is for one year and $5.3 million, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

DeMarre Carroll hasn’t held his tongue since the Raptors traded him in a salary dump to the Brooklyn Nets on July 9. And in his July 19 introductory presser with local Nets media — after already addressing his role in Toronto’s offense — Carroll acknowledged again that he wasn’t the best fit for the Raptors’ isolation-heavy system that ran primarily through DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, and, later, Serge Ibaka.

Schröder fuels Atlanta’s comeback with another big performance.

Dennis Schröder came into this season as a bit of a question mark but he is quickly establishing himself as a go-to player for the Atlanta Hawks.

After a somewhat up and down start to the season, Schröder has put together one of the best months of his career in December. That was on display Friday night when he scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help Atlanta steal a road win in Denver.

The Atlanta Hawks didn’t just lose to the Brooklyn Nets 116-104 on Sunday. They also might have lost the services of Dennis Schroder for maybe a few games.

Schroder injured his left foot late in the Nets game while driving baseline to the basket. The 24-year-old guard stepped on the foot of Brooklyn’s Caris Levert before sprawling to the floor and grimacing in pain.