NBA notes: Paul George to replace DeMarcus Cousins in All-Star game

Oklahoma City forward Paul George will replace injured New Orleans center DeMarcus Cousins on Team LeBron in the NBA All-Star game.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the decision Saturday, a day after Cousins went down for the season after tearing his left Achilles’ tendon. The All-Star Game is Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.

George is averaging 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.17 steals in his first season with the Thunder after seven with Indiana.

Cousins was voted to start and drafted to Team LeBron by captain LeBron James.

During the Thunder’s 121-108 victory over Detroit on Saturday, guard Andre Roberson was taken off on a stretcher during Saturday night’s game at Detroit after he was unable to reach an alley-oop pass and landed hard on the floor.

It wasn’t clear if Roberson slipped or if his left leg gave way as he was beginning his jump, but he sailed through the air and appeared to land on his tailbone or lower back. He remained down on the court for a while, lying on his side as concerned teammates gathered around.

Etc.

John Wall has a recurrence of soreness and swelling in his left knee and is sitting out the Washington Wizards’ game against the Atlanta Hawks. Wall was selected to his fifth All-Star team as a reserve on Tuesday despite missing a total of nine games in late November and early December with the sore knee. He received platelet-rich plasma injections in late November to reduce the inflammation that caused the soreness. …

The Memphis Grizzlies say guard Mike Conley will have season-ending surgery to smooth a bone in his left heel and is expected to return healthy for next season’s training camp. Conley has not played since Nov. 13 after starting 12 of Memphis’ first 14 games this season. The Grizzlies announced Nov. 17 that Conley was out indefinitely with a sore left heal and Achilles tendon. Conley averaged 17.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists over 31.1 minutes in his 11th NBA season. …

Following days of drama with the never-a-dull-moment Cleveland Cavaliers, Isaiah Thomas spoke to reporters for the first time Saturday since the struggling team — Cleveland is 4-7 in January — held a heated meeting that came after Kevin Love went home during a lopsided loss to San Antonio last Saturday because the All-Star was sick and then missed practice the following day.

“I didn’t call him out,” said Thomas, who has struggled in his return from a hip injury. “I asked him why wasn’t he at the game, supporting his teammates. And then after the game, I didn’t ask him because he wasn’t there. So I was seeing where he was. So I didn’t call him out any. So those reports that whoever is saying that, there’s no bad blood between me and him. We go back to fifth and sixth grade. I asked him a question where he was and it was never clarified. And that’s all it was.”