Anthony Davis was flat on his back, grabbing his right ankle and wincing in pain. And now the New Orleans Pelicans can only wonder if their best player will be ready for opening night.Davis sprained his ankle Wednesday in a preseason game against the Houston Rockets in Beijing, part of the NBA Global Games. The All-Star center was unable to play when last season ended because of shoulder and knee problems, and this season is presumably going to begin with him facing yet another injury issue.Its very frustrating, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. Its very frustrating in that we cant seem to get a rhythm or we cant seem to put the team together because theres always someone missing.Davis has never played in more than 68 games in a regular season for New Orleans, missing an average of 17 contests in each of his first four seasons. He needed surgery on his left knee to fix a problem in March.Davis was scheduled for more evaluation on his ankle Thursday, when the team is back in New Orleans. The Pelicans 13-hour flight home from Beijing was scheduled to land around 2:40 a.m. Eastern time.New Orleans used 42 different starting lineups in 82 games last season -- only one of those lineups for more than six games. And this season is starting with an array of injury concerns for the Pelicans, even before Davis got hurt when he was going against Houston center Nene during the first quarter.Guard ETwaun Moore (right heel contusion) got hurt Wednesday as well. Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter didnt even make the trip to China while dealing with the aftermath of knee surgeries, and starting point guard Jrue Holiday is out indefinitely to be with his wife, former U.S. soccer star Lauren Holiday -- who was diagnosed with a brain tumor while pregnant with the couples first child.The Holidays daughter was born last month, and Lauren Holiday is expected to have surgery to remove the benign tumor later this fall.---ROCKETS 116, PELICANS 104BEIJING -- James Harden scored 14 points and handed out eight assists for Houston, which remained unbeaten in four preseason games and swept two matchups with New Orleans on this trip to China.Bobby Brown led the Rockets with 18 points. Quinn Cook had 20 points for New Orleans, on 7 for 9 shooting.ROCKETS: Houston led by 25 points at halftime. ... Rookie Chinanu Onuaku had two points, notable that they came on free throws he shot underhanded -- something he did last season in college at Louisville as well.PELICANS: Langston Galloway had 16 points for New Orleans. ... First-round pick Buddy Hield missed all four of his shots and went scoreless. ... The Pelicans had 27 assists on 36 field goals.UP NEXT: Houston (4-0) plays host to Memphis on Saturday. New Orleans (1-3) goes to Atlanta on Tuesday.---SPURS 95, MAGIC 89ORLANDO, Fla. -- Pau Gasol scored 14 points for San Antonio, which won despite shooting 39 percent.LaMarcus Aldridge and Bryn Forbes each added 12 for the Spurs. Evan Fournier led all scorers with 20 for Orlando, while Jeff Green scored 11 for the Magic.SPURS: Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard both got the night off. ... San Antonio held Orlando without a field goal for nearly four minutes in the fourth quarter while pulling away.MAGIC: Bismack Biyombo had nine points and 11 rebounds. ... Orlando committed 23 turnovers. ... Aaron Gordon and Nik Vucevic each grabbed 10 rebounds, neither playing more than 21 minutes. ... Serge Ibaka made his debut with the Magic, scoring seven points in 20 minutes.UP NEXT: San Antonio (3-1) hosts Miami on Friday. Orlando (0-3) hosts Indiana on Friday.---PACERS 101, BUCKS 83EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Indiana outscored Milwaukee 49-12 over the final 17 minutes of the first half, going into the break with a 62-31 lead and cruising from there.Rodney Stuckey led the Pacers with 21 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points, six assists and five rebounds in 24 minutes for Milwaukee.BUCKS: Jabari Parker, John Henson and Michael Carter-Williams each scored 11 points. ... The Bucks were plus-12 when Henson was on the floor.PACERS: Paul George (illness) got the night off. ... Stuckey was 4-for-4 from 3-point range. ... Jeff Teague scored 15 points and Lavoy Allen finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. ... Al Jefferson grabbed 10 rebounds, all defensive, in 21 minutes.UP NEXT: Milwaukee (2-1) hosts Chicago on Saturday. Indiana (3-1) hosts former coach Frank Vogel and Orlando on Friday.---TIMBERWOLVES 105, NUGGETS 88LINCOLN, Neb. -- Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad each scored 18 points for Minnesota, and the Timberwoves pulled away in the second half.Wilson Chandler scored 16 points for Denver, which got 14 from Jamal Murray.NUGGETS: Denver shot 15 percent (3-20) from 3-point range and committed 25 turnovers. ... The Nuggets were outscored 55-38 in the middle two quarters.TIMBERWOLVES: Ricky Rubio had eight assists. ... Towns had eight rebounds and Muhammad shot 7-for-10 in 19 minutes. ... Minnesota shot 38 free throws in the game, 31 of those in the first half.UP NEXT: Denver (2-2) hosts Golden State on Friday. Minnesota (2-1) plays Miami in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday. Cheap Clearance Shoes . 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SEATTLE -- With the New York Yankees facing an uphill climb to the playoffs, CC Sabathia picked a good time to return to form.Jacoby Ellsbury hit a two-run homer and Sabathia pitched seven innings to win for the third time in two months, leading the New York Yankees over the Seattle Mariners 5-1 on Tuesday night.Sabathia (8-10) was 2-6 with a 6.78 ERA in his previous 11 starts. He gave up a run in the third inning on a triple by Leonys Martin and single by Ketel Marte, but allowed just one single and his lone walk over the next four innings.I think its really big, because hes the one guy on in our rotation that has been through this a lot and theres always been a lot put on his shoulders and he could really help, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.Tommy Layne pitched a perfect eighth and Dellin Betances worked around a two-out single to finish the four-hitter.Seattle, which leads the majors with 62 home runs against left-handers, could muster little against Sabathia.The story tonight was our offense got just shut down, Mariners manager Scott Servais said. Thats the first time that has happened in a long time. Got to give credit to Sabathia. He threw the ball really well. Textbook, pitching 101, back and forth, changing speeds, on the edges, pitching inside. He was very effective against us tonight, obviously.After his recent struggles, Sabathia was pleased with his outing.It feels good. Were trying to win every game and to be able to be a part of that, feels good, he said. We were working the ball in and out really good, commanding both sides of the plate and I think that helped us out with two strikes.Taijuan Walker (4-8), recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Tacoma, allowed four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, with three walks and five strikeouts.Ellsbury staked New York to a 3-1 lead in the fifth with his sixth home run, a two-run shot to right-center that followed a leadoff double by Ronald Torreyes.The Yankees made it 4-1 in the sixth when Mark Teixeira doubled, took third on Brian McCanns groundout and scored on Aaron Judges sacrifice fly to center.New York added an unearned run in the ninth when Ellsbury reached on a two-base error by left fielder Guillermo Heredia and scored on Didi Gregorrius ground-rule double.ddddddddddddSABATHIA AT HOME AT SAFECOSabathia improved to 9-1 with a 2.09 ERA in 13 career starts at Safeco Field, including 6-0 with a 1.07 ERA in his last seven starts. Overall, he is 13-6 against the Mariners with a 2.64 ERA, his lowest against any AL opponent.TRAINING ROOM:Yankees: RHP Anthony Swarzak, who took the loss after giving up Mike Zuninos go-ahead three-run homer in a 7-5 loss Monday, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right rotator cuff inflammation. RHP Ben Heller, acquired from Cleveland in the trade for Andrew Miller on July 31, was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Heller also was with the Yankees from Aug. 11-13 but did not pitch.Mariners: RHP Tony Zych was recalled from a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma and activated off the 60-day disable list Tuesday. Zych was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 10 early season relief appearances before going on the 15-day DL (right rotator cuff tendinitis) in early May and was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 24. IF/OF Stefen Romero, who was called up Friday, was sent back to Tacoma.MORE MARINERS MOVES: To make room for Walker, the Mariners optioned RHP Cody Martin to Tacoma. Martin was called up Aug. 16, his third stint with Seattle this season. He made two spot starts without a decision, including Mondays 7-5 victory over the Yankees, when he allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings -- with all the runs coming on four home runs.UP NEXT:Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (10-4, 3.24 ERA) has won three consecutive starts for the first time since July 9-23 of 2015. He is 4-0 in four career starts against the Mariners, including 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA at Safeco Field. Tanaka will be facing former Japanese teammate Hisashi Iwakuma, with whom he played from 2007-11 with Rakuten. The two also met in April, with Tanaka getting the victory and Iwakuma the loss in a 4-3 Yankees win.Mariners: In a season of injuries, trades and roster shuffling, RHP Iwakuma (14-8, 3.78) has been the most consistent member of the rotation, leading in starts (25), victories and strikeouts. He is 13-4 in his last 17 starts. ' ' '