76ers’ Fultz will miss three games

Philadelphia 76ers rookie guard Markelle Fultz will miss the next three games with soreness in his right shoulder.

Fultz, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft, has had problems with his shoulder all season that have greatly affected his free-throw mechanics. Fultz’s form has been widely mocked as his shots clanked off the backboard.

Fultz is shooting 33 percent, 50 percent from the free-throw line and has not attempted a 3-point shot all season.

Fultz will miss Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets and road games Saturday at Dallas and Monday at Houston.

The 6-foot-4 guard out of Houston is the latest in a string of 76ers’ first-round picks who missed time with injuries, joining Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel in recent years.

The Sixers gave Fultz a cortisone injection this month and said he will be evaluated again on Tuesday.

SPURS’ PARKER PRACTICES WITH G LEAGUE AFFILIATE » Tony Parker is taking another step toward returning to the San Antonio lineup.

The Spurs’ point guard, who hasn’t played since rupturing a tendon in his left quadriceps during last season’s Western Conference semifinals, practiced Wednesday in San Antonio with the team’s G League affiliate.

The Austin Spurs are holding their training camp at the Spurs’ facility, which gave Parker the chance to get a workout.

It is unclear how many times Parker will practice with Austin.

“He wants to come back immediately,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said Wednesday in Miami, where the Spurs are playing the Heat. “But he knows he’s got to be prepared for it, be 100 percent before he can come back. It’s not an injury where you can come back too soon.”

Parker has been able to play some 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 in recent days, but the team has not released any timetable for when they expect to get their longtime starter back on the floor.

Parker was quoted Sunday in the San Antonio Express-News saying that his return will come “when Dr. Popovich says so.”

Parker was one of three Spurs players out for Wednesday. Neither he nor All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard (right quad) have played yet this season, and Joffrey Lauvergne (right ankle sprain) is also sidelined after getting hurt Monday.

When Parker does return, this will be his 17th NBA season, all with San Antonio. He’s a six-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion, who averaged 10.1 points and 4.5 assists last season.

NASCAR

WALLACE TO BECOME FULL-TIME DRIVER » Darrell Wallace Jr. will drive Richard Petty’s iconic No. 43 full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series next year.

The team did not immediately disclose a car manufacturer or sponsor in Wednesday’s announcement.

The 24-year-old Wallace, more commonly referred to by his nickname “Bubba,” became the first black driver to race at NASCAR’s top level since 2006 when he replaced an injured Aric Almirola earlier this year.

Wallace won the Truck Series race at Martinsville in 2013 to become the first black driver to win at a national NASCAR series event since Wendell Scott in 1963. NASCAR says there have been at least seven black drivers in its series previous to Wallace, including Scott, who raced from 1961-73 in Cup, Willy T. Ribbs, who did three Cup races in 1986, and Bill Lester, who raced sporadically from 1999 until 2007 at all three national levels.