NBA Previews

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.

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

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

The New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 22-point deficit to win Wednesday night. The Detroit Pistons lost despite holding an 18-point lead Wednesday night. Both teams will complete back-to-back sets when the Pelicans host the Pistons on Thursday night. CJ McCollum scored 29 points to lead New Orleans’ comeback in a 110-106 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He made 10 of 17 field-goal attempts, including 5 of 8 3-point attempts, and added 11 rebounds

The new-look Philadelphia 76ers will host the Toronto Raptors on Thursday in their first game since trading away James Harden. The Sixers sent Harden, Filip Petrusev and P.J. Tucker to the Los Angeles Clippers in a complicated three-team deal that also included the Oklahoma City Thunder. Philadelphia acquired Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Kenyon Martin Jr. and Marcus Morris Sr. from the Clippers. The trade, officially announced Wednesday after news broke late Monday night, also involved

The first clash this season between the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks was a playoff rematch in name only. The Cavaliers will hope to be closer to full strength Wednesday night when they visit New York as a home-and-home set between the Eastern Conference rivals concludes. On Tuesday night, Julius Randle posted 19 points and 10 rebounds for the visiting Knicks, who pulled away in the second half to defeat the undermanned Cavaliers 109-91.