NBA Previews

Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton is making major in-roads on shedding his label as an underperformer. Ayton will chase his seventh consecutive double-double on Thursday night when the Trail Blazers host the stingy New York Knicks. Ayton is in his first season with Portland after five campaigns with the Phoenix Suns. He was the No. 1 overall pick by the Suns in the 2018 NBA Draft — two picks before superstar Luka Doncic —

In any showdown between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder, the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander figure to be at the center of both attention and action. That could be the case Thursday night when the Mavericks and Thunder meet in Oklahoma City. But all eyes will be on Mavericks 6-foot-10 forward/center Daniel Gafford, who has a chance to make history. After going 5-for-5 from the floor in Wednesday’s win over

Only four games separate the Los Angeles Clippers from the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets with 18 games remaining on their regular-season schedule. Sometimes, coach Tyronn Lue wonders whether the Clippers realize that. With Los Angeles on a two-game losing streak, Lue is challenging players to seize a greater sense of urgency beginning with Thursday’s visit to the Chicago Bulls. “We got to get better at understanding that all these games mean something,” Lue said. “Not

One week after the Kings put on an offensive show against the Los Angeles Lakers, they will seek to try it again when the teams meet Wednesday night, this time at Sacramento. The Lakers strutted out to an early 19-point lead last week before the Kings roared back in a dominating second quarter and scored 72 points by halftime. De’Aaron Fox ended up matching his career high with 44 points, and Domantas Sabonis added another

The Memphis Grizzlies haven’t exactly been lighting it up lately, but they are trying to take advantage of a nice stretch on the schedule. They will play their second home game against a lowly team in as many nights when the Charlotte Hornets show up Wednesday. The Grizzlies topped the visiting Washington Wizards 109-97 on Tuesday, picking up just their eighth home victory of the season. Rookie Trey Jemison’s career-high 24 points led Memphis. “Just

Eastern Conference counterparts jockeying for postseason position meet on Wednesday in Indianapolis when the Indiana Pacers host the Chicago Bulls. Indiana opened a back-to-back set on Tuesday with a 121-111 road win over one of the Western Conference co-leaders, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Coupled with the Philadelphia 76ers’ 106-79 defeat at New York, the Pacers moved to sixth place in the East — the last guaranteed playoff spot. Six Pacers scored in double figures, led

The Atlanta Hawks continue to fight through injuries as they enter Wednesday night’s road game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The short-handed Hawks are opening a five-game road trip and stand 5-3 over the past eight games despite the injury woes. Point guard Trae Young (hand surgery) hasn’t played since Feb. 23, and big man Onyeka Okongwu (toe) has been out since Feb. 12. Making matters worse, forward Saddiq Bey tore the ACL in his

It will be a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals on Wednesday — with a twist. The reigning-champion Denver Nuggets, led by two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, are set to visit the Miami Heat. Denver has won three straight games and nine of 10. Miami is going in the opposite direction with three straight losses, including an embarrassing 110-108 home defeat to the lowly Washington Wizards on Sunday. Going forward, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wants

While wins continue to be hard to come by for the Detroit Pistons, they have shown some progress in that department during their six-game homestand. The Pistons opened that stretch Thursday with a 118-112 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. After getting blown out by the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, they bounced back with a 114-97 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. Detroit will try to continue its momentum on Wednesday against the visiting Toronto