NBA Previews

Bradley Beal returns to Washington for the first time when the Phoenix Suns visit the Wizards on Sunday. Beal, who averaged 22.1 points per game over 11 seasons in Washington and is the second-leading scorer in franchise history, was traded to the Suns in June. The shooting guard is averaging 17.1 points per game for Phoenix but has missed 24 games this season with back issues and an ankle sprain. “I have no idea what

The Memphis Grizzlies will attempt to end a four-game losing streak when they visit the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. The four-game skid began with a 116-110 road loss to the Indiana Pacers last Sunday. Memphis followed that up with home losses to the Sacramento Kings, 103-94 on Monday, the Cleveland Cavaliers, 108-101 on Thursday, and the Golden State Warriors, 121-101 on Friday. The Grizzlies, who have dealt with injuries to their top players throughout

The Orlando Magic’s drive to end their three-season playoff drought gets a boost over the next four weeks. They get three matchups with the Pistons, including a visit to Detroit on Sunday afternoon. Orlando has a 2-1 record during its current five-game road trip. After a two-point loss to Dallas, the Magic answered with a 10-point win over San Antonio and a 108-106 victory over Minnesota. Orlando trailed by 17 in the first half against

Sacramento might not have a representative selected for the NBA All-Star Game, but the Kings head into Chicago for their matchup with the Bulls on Saturday riding plenty of positive momentum. Sacramento improved to 4-1 on its current seven-game road swing with a 133-122 defeat of Indiana on Friday. The win avenged a home loss to the Pacers two weeks prior. Domantas Sabonis surpassed Oscar Robertson for a franchise record with his 30th consecutive double-double

Atlanta guard Trae Young will continue his pursuit of a side door into the upcoming NBA All-Star Game when the Hawks host the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. In his first game since learning he was not among the seven reserves named to the Eastern Conference roster for this month’s All-Star Game, Young sent Eastern coaches, players and fans a bit of a message with seven 3-pointers, 32 points and 15 assists during Atlanta’s

One team that has been terrible at exacting revenge duels another that hasn’t been great at preventing it when the Golden State Warriors visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night. The pairing is a rematch from a 116-107 Grizzlies home win over the Warriors last month in a game Memphis won from the free-throw line and 3-point arc. The Grizzlies prevailed despite making 12 fewer field goals than the visitors, including 22 fewer from inside

When the Indiana Pacers welcome the Sacramento Kings to Indianapolis on Friday, it will be almost two years since the organizations executed a trade that reshaped both sides. The Feb. 9, 2022, deal sent Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson to Indiana for Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a 2023 second-round draft pick. Haliburton is headed to his second consecutive All-Star Game later this month. On Tuesday and Thursday, Haliburton played consecutive

Five years ago, Portland and Denver played an epic seven-game series in the Western Conference semifinals. Since then, the teams have gone in different directions. The Trail Blazers won the 2019 postseason matchup with an impressive Game 7 win on the road and went on to the conference finals. That marked the high point. In the years that followed, Portland has gone from contender to rebuilding, trading away Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic

After scoring 130-plus points in three of the previous four games, the Houston Rockets appeared to have resolved at least one of their lingering issues while trudging through an extended rut. But on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Rockets were disjointed on offense en route to a 110-99 loss that dropped them back to a season-worst three games under .500. Houston, which missed 31 of 44 3-pointers, will complete a brief three-game homestand