NBA Previews

It won’t make up for what happened in the 2023 playoffs, but the Minnesota Timberwolves are riding high into Saturday’s game in Minneapolis against the Utah Jazz after picking up a big victory in their most recent performance. On Wednesday, the Timberwolves handed the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets their first loss of the 2023-24 season with a 110-89 blowout victory at home. Anthony Edwards scored 24 points for Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 21 points

Managing expectations will be at the forefront Saturday when the Houston Rockets play host to the Sacramento Kings. After finishing with the third-best record in the Western Conference last season, while snapping a playoff drought that covered 16 seasons, the Sacramento Kings have not opened this campaign like a house ablaze. The Kings led the NBA in offensive rating a year ago at 118.6 but have slipped to eighth thus far in the early stages

The Atlanta Hawks have been on a roll over their last three games. After losing their first two games of the season, they have averaged 128 points in comfortable wins against Milwaukee, Minnesota and Washington. They’ll seek a fourth straight win when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night. “The sky was not falling when we lost our first two,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said, “and we don’t need to congratulate ourselves for

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey is reaping the benefits of James Harden’s absence. Maxey has emerged as one of the league’s most promising young talents, and he will look to keep up his high level of play on Saturday afternoon when Philadelphia faces the visiting Phoenix Suns. With Harden holding out for a trade, Maxey stepped into a starting role, excelling right out of the gate. He averaged 30.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.3

The Los Angeles Lakers look to put a halt to their early road woes on Saturday night when they open a four-game road swing against the Orlando Magic. The Lakers began the regular season with a 119-107 loss in Denver on Oct. 24 before dropping a 132-127 overtime decision in Sacramento five nights later. Los Angeles rebounded in short order, with D’Angelo Russell scoring 28 points in a 106-103 victory over the Magic on Monday.

Through their early games, the Brooklyn Nets boast a top-10 offense in terms of scoring and field goal percentage, while the Chicago Bulls are towards the bottom of the NBA in those categories. How those teams perform in both areas could determine whether they get a trip to Las Vegas next month, since Brooklyn’s visit to Chicago on Friday is their first of four group-stage games in the NBA’s new in-season tournament. The Nets and

The Miami Heat, who are set to host the Washington Wizards on Friday night in their first game of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, are slumping. Miami has lost four straight games for the first time since it had that exact skid this past February. “We don’t want to dig this hole too deep,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “That’s the concern.” Miami will hope to rebound when it faces the Wizards. Both teams are

Most teams welcoming a new coach and a seven-time All-Star likely would experience a few growing pains, and the Milwaukee Bucks are proving to be no exception. After splitting their first four games, the Bucks’ adjustment period continues when they face the visiting New York Knicks on Friday in their first game of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament. Milwaukee coach Adrian Griffin is looking for an improved defensive effort after his team lost 130-111 to

The Utah Jazz used a near-historic first half to snap out of a funk and get back into the win column Wednesday night. Utah will be hard-pressed to match its first-half production in the blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies when the Orlando Magic visit Salt Lake City on Thursday night. It will be a rare home back-to-back for the Jazz, who had lost two in a row before their 133-109 victory on Wednesday. Against