NBA Previews

The Milwaukee Bucks are 1-1 since firing head coach Adrian Griffin on Tuesday. Their transition continues with a home game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night as both teams complete a back-to-back set. The Bucks have had three head coaches in less than week. Assistant coach Joe Prunty replaced Griffin as Milwaukee beat the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday and lost a rematch Friday. He reportedly will coach the team against New Orleans

The Charlotte Hornets will try to make things right after one of their worst outings of a challenging season when the Utah Jazz visit Saturday night. It will take a significant turnaround after the Hornets tumbled to a 138-104 home loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday night. “We’ve had good spirit all year,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “You have to have the right attitude.” That might have been missing at times in the

For rebuilding teams, progress can be measured in various increments, such as matching and eventually surpassing a win total from the previous season with a little more than two months remaining in the regular season. It is a scenario the Houston Rockets will face Saturday night when they attempt to match last season’s win total in a game against the skidding Brooklyn Nets in New York. The Rockets own a 21-23 record under first-year coach

Kristaps Porzingis was uncertain if he would be in the lineup for the Boston Celtics when they play the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night. Porzingis sprained his left ankle in the third quarter of Boston’s 143-110 road victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday. He was taken to the locker room and did not return to the game, although he did return to the bench in the fourth quarter. Porzingis was listed as

Only Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant have ever had to produce a follow-up act like the one Luka Doncic faces Saturday night. The Dallas Mavericks star will be back on the court against the visiting Sacramento Kings, one night after pouring in a career-best and franchise-record 73 points during a 148-143 road win over the Atlanta Hawks. Doncic’s output tied for fourth highest in NBA history with Chamberlain (twice) and David Thompson, whose big outing

Things have quickly started to spiral for the Miami Heat. After winning nine of 13 games to bridge December and January, Miami has lost five straight as it gears up for a meeting with the host New York Knicks on Saturday afternoon. The Heat were most recently embarrassed on Thursday, falling 143-110 to the Boston Celtics in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals. Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro each had 19 points while

The Pistons will seek their second victory over the Washington Wizards this month when the teams meet on Saturday afternoon in Detroit. The Wizards will have a different head coach patrolling the sidelines for this matchup. Wes Unseld Jr. was moved upstairs Thursday into an advisory role. Assistant Brian Keefe was named interim head coach. The move didn’t change the team’s fortunes at the outset. The Utah Jazz extended Washington’s losing skid to six games

The Phoenix Suns acquired guard Bradley Beal in June, but the team struggled while the three-time All-Star missed 24 of the season’s first 30 games due to injury. Now fully healthy, Beal is a main reason behind the Suns’ rapid climb up the Western Conference standings. Phoenix has won seven straight games heading into a matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Friday in Indianapolis. Indiana is looking to build on an impressive 134-122 home win

The New Orleans Pelicans set a franchise record for points in a game when they beat the visiting Utah Jazz 153-124 on Tuesday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder were not as prolific on offense but still put up 140 points in a 26-point road win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. The high-powered offenses will meet Friday when Pelicans and visiting Thunder face off in New Orleans. Oklahoma City was completing a pair of