NBA Previews

Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham wasn’t about to change his approach after his team took a 44-point loss on Monday. The Lakers passed their first test since that pounding in Philadelphia, but the degree of difficulty gets kicked up when Los Angeles visits the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. After the Lakers’ 138-94 loss to the 76ers on Monday, Ham chose to keep things positive. “To me, insults very rarely get you improvement,” Ham

The Minnesota Timberwolves will shoot for their third win in a row when they oppose the Utah Jazz on Thursday night in Minneapolis — and they might have to do so without top scorer Anthony Edwards. Minnesota boasts the best record in the Western Conference at 13-4, including a 119-97 road win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday and a 106-103 home victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. Now, the Timberwolves might have

While the Brooklyn Nets were unable to advance in the NBA’s in-season tournament, they earned something more important for the road ahead: another victory Tuesday. The Nets pushed themselves over the .500 mark for the third time with their second three-game winning streak of the season. Brooklyn’s attempt at a fourth straight victory comes Thursday night when it plays host to the Charlotte Hornets. When the Nets reeled off their first three-game winning streak, Oct.

The Miami Heat still do not know whether star forward Jimmy Butler will be available Thursday when they play host to the Indiana Pacers. Miami, which has lost three straight games, will also host Indiana on Saturday. Butler has an ankle injury, which has caused him to miss each of the past two games. He ranks third on the team in scoring with 20.7 points per game. In addition to Butler, the Heat have other

The Sacramento Kings get less than 24 hours to calm the emotions of a dramatic win when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. The Kings doubled their pleasure on Tuesday in a 124-123 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Not only did they get the better of their regional rival for the first time in three tries this season, but they also advanced to a home date Monday against the New Orleans

The Denver Nuggets could have several key players return to action for their matchup against the visiting Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Nikola Jokic (lower back pain), Jamal Murray (right hamstring strain) and Aaron Gordon (right heel strain) were all listed as questionable to face the Rockets, who dropped to 0-6 on the road this season by losing 121-115 to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. Even if all three starters remain sidelined, the Nuggets have proven

The Phoenix Suns will shoot for their eighth consecutive victory on Wednesday when they complete a three-game road trip with a matchup against the Toronto Raptors. The Suns kept their streak alive Sunday when Devin Booker sank a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left to defeat the New York Knicks 116-113. “It’s a shot that I’ve imagined in my head multiple times,” said Booker, who wound up with 28 points on 10-of-25 shooting. “So it

The Miami Heat will play host to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night in their last group-stage game of the NBA’s in-season tournament. Milwaukee (3-0 in the tournament) would win the East Group B with a victory on Tuesday. If Miami (2-1) wins and the New York Knicks (2-1) defeat the Charlotte Hornets, it would come down to point differential over the four games. The Bucks are coming off a 108-102 win over visiting Portland.

The New York Knicks couldn’t complete a second straight comeback from a second-half, double-digit deficit Sunday night. But the echoes of the Knicks’ comeback win Friday night will still be reverberating Tuesday. New York attempts to clinch a wild card to the knockout round of the NBA’s in-season tournament when it hosts the Charlotte Hornets in the East Group B finale for both teams. Each squad was off Monday after losing Sunday. Devin Booker drained