Magic’s Hill Is Expected to Make Season Debut

After spending all season on the sidelines because of an abdominal injury, forward Grant Hill is expected to play for the Orlando Magic tonight against the Knicks at New York.

Hill had surgery for a sports hernia Oct. 31 and was expected to be out three to six weeks. He started practicing full-speed last week, but was held out of Saturday’s game against Denver to allow more practice time.

Hill has struggled with injuries since joining Orlando in 2000, but finally regained All-Star form last season, averaging 19.7 points and 4.7 rebounds.

Hedo Turkoglu has averaged 13 points in 33 minutes starting in Hill’s absence.

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The Houston Rockets were fined $100,000 by the NBA for a trip to Las Vegas last week that the league said violated spending rules.

Under NBA guidelines, teams are prohibited from providing any benefit or compensation to players that are not included in their contracts.

The Rockets are in the midst of a six-game, 11-day trip.

The players’ association said it would file a grievance over the fine.