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Injured starters Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic might as well be labeled the cavalry for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have lost three of five without Vucevic (groin) entering Friday’s visit from the Charlotte Hornets and have been treading water with LaVine sidelined with right foot inflammation since late November. Both former All-Stars were cleared to return on a minutes restriction on Friday just as the high mileage of life without them was setting in

Joel Embiid will look to continue his historic season Friday when the Philadelphia 76ers host the New York Knicks. In the Sixers’ 110-97 win over the Chicago Bulls Tuesday, Embiid returned from an 11-day absence caused by a sprained right ankle to produce 31 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists and two blocked shots. It was Embiid’s second triple-double this season and the seventh of his career. The reigning Most Valuable Player also compiled his 14th

The Washington Wizards have an immediate opportunity to exact a measure of revenge from a humiliating defeat when they get a rematch Friday with the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland. The Cavaliers got scoring and rebounding from all 11 players who saw action when they thumped the visiting Wizards 140-101 in the opener of the same-site, two-game sequence on Wednesday. While equaling their largest margin of victory over the Wizards, the Cavaliers recorded season-bests in several

Coming off an exhilarating victory against the league-best Boston Celtics, the Oklahoma City Thunder appeared fatigued but nearly forced overtime to give themselves a chance at another win in Atlanta. Two nights after their five-game winning streak ended, the Thunder attempt to start another run Friday when they visit the struggling Brooklyn Nets. Oklahoma City is attempting to avoid losing consecutive games for the third time this season. The Thunder last took consecutive losses Nov.

The last time the Atlanta Hawks and the Indiana Pacers met, the scoreboard operator had a busy night. The teams combined for 309 points in a 157-152 Pacers win Nov. 21 in Atlanta, resulting in just the 12th 300-point regulation game in NBA history. There’s no reason to believe that Friday’s matchup at Indianapolis won’t feature similar offensive explosions. The league’s highest scoring team at 126.9 points per game, Indiana hasn’t shown signs of slowing

The Boston Celtics will be looking to avoid back-to-back losses Friday when they face the visiting Utah Jazz. Boston had its six-game winning streak end Tuesday with a 127-123 loss at Oklahoma City. Kristaps Porzingis made 12 of his 18 field goal attempts and led the Celtics with 34 points in the loss. “They did a really good job of getting out quick and speeding up the game,” Porzingis said. “They just sped up the

The Portland Trail Blazers experienced one of the worst nights in franchise history and don’t even have a day off to set it aside. One night after losing by 62 points to tie for the fifth-largest defeat in NBA history, the Trail Blazers will be back in action Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis. “It was almost like a perfect storm, to be honest with you,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said of the pummeling

The Denver Nuggets assume they are going to get every opponent’s best shot, just because they are the reigning champions. But the next challenger coming to town Friday night is already playing at a high level. The New Orleans Pelicans are surging, having won six of their last seven games and seven in a row on the road. New Orleans is coming off two impressive road wins in California and will try to take the

After opening the season by losing 16 of their first 23 games, the Utah Jazz have undergone a transformation in recent weeks. Utah is 9-2 over its last 11 games heading into a matchup against the Toronto Raptors on Friday in Salt Lake City. Utah’s current three-game winning streak includes impressive victories over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Denver Nuggets. The Jazz turned in another dominant performance in their 124-111 home win

The San Antonio Spurs have rediscovered their winning formula and will look to build just their second win streak of the season when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. The Spurs head home for a two-games-in-two-nights homestand before heading on a five-game trip against Eastern Conference teams. San Antonio’s most recent outing was a 130-108 win at Detroit, the only team in the NBA with a worse record than the Spurs. “We had the