NBA Previews

The Sacramento Kings get an opportunity to take advantage of a travel-weary Dallas Mavericks squad when two of the top teams in the Western Conference duel for the first time this season on Sunday night in Texas. The Kings celebrated a fifth straight win and settled into their Dallas accommodations following a short trip from San Antonio one day earlier. The Mavericks closed out a generally successful, albeit grueling, four-game trip with a tough, 131-125

The Toronto Raptors are out for a victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday afternoon in order to complete their four-game homestand with a split. After winning the opener of the homestand by coming back from a 23-point deficit to defeat the Washington Wizards 111-107, the Raptors have lost two in a row. Toronto was down by 16 points at halftime Friday and came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter before losing

The last time the Nets welcomed the Philadelphia 76ers to town, Brooklyn saw its season come to an end. After being swept by Philadelphia in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series this past spring, the Nets will be out for revenge on Sunday afternoon when the teams reconvene in New York. If Brooklyn wants to redeem itself, it will have to do so short-handed. The Nets will be without guards Ben Simmons (back) and Cam

The San Antonio Spurs hope that a spirited effort, even in defeat, will carry forward and help snap a seven-game losing streak when they host the struggling and short-handed Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. The Grizzlies head to the Alamo City on three days’ rest after a 134-107 loss Tuesday in Los Angeles to the Lakers. Santi Aldama led Memphis with 24 points while David Roddy added 17, and Xavier Tillman and Desmond Bane scored 15

The Dallas Mavericks conclude a four-game road trip on Saturday when they visit the Milwaukee Bucks, who are playing their second game in a weekend back-to-back set. Milwaukee crushed Charlotte on Friday, 130-99, in an NBA in-season tournament matchup. Seven Bucks scored at least 11 points, led by Damian Lillard’s 27. Lillard scored just 12 points on Monday in his return from a two-game absence due to a calf injury. Lillard told the Milwaukee Journal

The Miami Heat bring a seven-game winning streak to Chicago for a Saturday matchup with the slumping Bulls. The catalyst behind Miami’s longest surge since the 2017-18 season: a complementary style. “We’re playing together basketball and we’re competing on the other end, getting stops and running in transition,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. Chicago can relate in part despite a three-game skid that includes consecutive home losses to Miami’s in-state counterpart, the Orlando Magic. After

The New Orleans Pelicans shook off a five-game losing streak with impressive home wins against the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets. They’ll try to continue their momentum when they play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night in the fourth game of a six-game homestand. The Pelicans had their most productive offensive game of the season in a 131-110 victory against the Mavericks on Tuesday and had three players score more than 20 points in

The Charlotte Hornets have addressed at least one potential distraction now that Miles Bridges is back in action. There is still the matter of the Hornets getting their act together in terms of winning games, something that has been troublesome so far this season. It’s not likely to get any easier for Charlotte, which has a home game Saturday night against the surging New York Knicks. Before Friday, Bridges hadn’t played an NBA game in

The New York Knicks have found a winning groove since their last appearance in the NBA’s in-season tournament. But the Washington Wizards will return to the in-season tournament battling the same malaise in which they’ve been mired all season. The Knicks and Wizards are slated to resume Group B play in the in-season tournament Friday night, when New York visits Washington in a battle of longtime rivals. Both teams were off Thursday after playing Wednesday