NBA Previews

The Los Angeles Clippers will seek to continue their domination of the Portland Trail Blazers when the teams wrap up a two-game set on Friday night in the Pacific Northwest. Los Angeles has won eight straight games against the Trail Blazers and improved to 3-0 this season with Wednesday night’s 116-103 victory in Portland. Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden were all solid contributors for the Clippers (43-25) on Wednesday. George scored 27 points,

The Oklahoma City Thunder aim to extend their winning streak to four games Friday against the undermanned Toronto Raptors. Chet Holmgren had 35 points and 14 rebounds Wednesday night as the Western Conference-leading Thunder (48-20) defeated the visiting Utah Jazz 119-107. The Raptors (23-46), meanwhile, lost their eighth in a row on Wednesday, 123-89 to the visiting Sacramento Kings. Immanuel Quickley (personal) was added Wednesday to the long list of Raptors on the sidelines. The

The race for playoff positioning will intensify on Friday in San Francisco when the Golden State Warriors seek a season sweep against the Indiana Pacers, who are playing their second game on a five-game road swing. The Pacers (39-31) are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, holding the last guaranteed playoff spot to avoid the play-in tournament, after a 122-103 rout over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. Pascal Siakam scored 25 points and grabbed

The Boston Celtics are cruising along with a seven-game winning streak and the Eastern Conference leaders have a golden opportunity to keep the good times rolling during a six-game road trip. The Celtics begin the journey against the downtrodden, depleted Detroit Pistons on Friday. As it stands now, Boston will only play one team with a winning record (the New Orleans Pelicans) during its trip. The Celtics (55-14) already defeated the Pistons this week, recording

Kevin Durant continues to rack up accomplishments, and the end of his career is nowhere in sight. Durant will show up to the arena as the eighth-leading scorer in NBA history when the Phoenix Suns host the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night. Durant scored 22 points in Phoenix’s 115-102 home victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday to pass Shaquille O’Neal (28,596) on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Durant’s total sits at 28,610. “Teammates throughout

Judging by the first two meetings of the Jazz and the Mavericks this season, it is anyone’s guess what will happen Thursday when Utah visits Dallas. The teams have played two wildly different contests against each other. Dallas crushed visiting Utah 147-97 on Dec. 6. On New Year’s Day, the Jazz made an 87-point turnaround, smashing the Mavericks 127-90 in Salt Lake City. After the Thursday contest in Dallas, the teams will face off again

The Orlando Magic have the comfort of knowing they will be playing beyond the end of the regular season. The New Orleans Pelicans are confident that they will be, too. Still, there’s work to be done, and both teams will try to strengthen their postseason prospects when they meet Thursday night in Orlando. The Magic (41-28) clinched at least a play-in spot when they defeated the visiting Charlotte Hornets 112-92 on Tuesday night. The fifth-place

The Los Angeles Clippers aim to snap out of their funk when they face the host Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night in the first game of a two-game set between the teams. The Clippers have lost four of their past five games and have fallen five games back of the top spot in the Western Conference. Los Angeles (42-25) and the Trail Blazers (19-49) will play again on Friday night in Portland. The Clippers

Two teams looking to avoid their conferences’ play-in tournaments meet when the Philadelphia 76ers visit the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Teams in seventh through 10th place in compete in the tournament. Philadelphia (38-30) holds the sixth seed in the East, while Phoenix (39-29) sits in eighth place in the West. The Sixers are beginning a four-game West Coast trip after posting a 98-91 home win over the Miami Heat on Monday. Tyrese Maxey had 30