Preview Roundups
February 06, 2015
New York at Brooklyn 7:00 PM ET
Just days after president of operations Phil Jackson acknowledged that his triangle offense "has fallen flat on its face," the New York Knicks seek to continue their best stretch of the season Friday when they visit their cross-town rival Brooklyn Nets. Jackson, whose team has won five of eight after a 5-36 start, also told the New York Times this season was "like nothing I've seen before." The Nets sit in ninth place in the East but have won two straight for the first time in over a month.
Cleveland at Indiana 7:00 PM ET
Cleveland looks to keep alive one impressive streak while ending another when it visits Indiana on Friday. The Cavaliers are one win shy of matching their franchise-record 13-game winning streak after a 105-94 victory at home over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, but have dropped eight straight regular-season games in Indianapolis. Kevin Love scored 24 points and LeBron James had 23 against the Clippers as Cleveland picked up its fourth victory in a row by double digits.
L.A. Lakers at Orlando 7:00 PM ET
The Orlando Magic will have a new coach at the helm Friday when they host the Los Angeles Lakers after Jacque Vaughn was fired on Thursday. Assistant James Borrego takes over on an interim basis as the Magic tries to snap a season-high, 10-game losing streak that led to the end of Vaughn’s 2 ½-year tenure, which included a 15-37 start to each of the last two seasons and a 58-158 overall mark. The injury-plagued Lakers are in a similar funk while winning once in their last 12 games.
L.A. Clippers at Toronto 7:00 PM ET
The Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors enter Friday’s game in Toronto with identical 33-17 records and both are coming off painful losses. The Clippers' defeat will be a fresher in their minds and legs after they were blown out early Thursday night against the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers. The Raptors lost their second straight game to an inferior opponent Wednesday, falling by 16 points to the Brooklyn Nets.
Golden State at Atlanta 7:30 PM ET
The Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors both have comfortable leads on the rest of their respective conferences. The two juggernauts will try to decide which team in the best in the NBA when the Warriors visit the Hawks on Friday. Golden State owns the best winning percentage in the league at .830 but is two behind Atlanta in total wins as it embarks on a stretch of 10 of the next 11 games on the road.
Philadelphia at Boston 7:30 PM ET
The Philadelphia 76ers are playing for the future, but the present has been going pretty well of late. The 76ers seek a fourth win in six games when they visit the Boston Celtics on Friday. The Sixers losses during the stretch have been close contests to Atlanta and Cleveland, and Philadelphia is coming off its third consecutive home triumph, 105-98 over Denver on Tuesday.
Denver at Detroit 7:30 PM ET
The Detroit Pistons attempt to stop a losing funk against a Denver squad that is on an even worse skid when they host the Nuggets on Friday. Detroit was sailing along with 12 wins in 15 games and has since stumbled – mainly due to the loss of point guard Brandon Jennings – with five losses in seven games. Denver has been a disappointment all season long and has lost 11 of 12 games entering the finale of a three-game road trip.
Milwaukee at Houston 8:00 PM ET
The Milwaukee Bucks look to extend their season-high, five-game winning streak when they visit the equally-hot Houston Rockets on Friday night. The Bucks continue to steam toward a playoff berth with a vastly-improved defense and an offense that boasts several players who can contribute big numbers at different times. Milwaukee will have to contain the NBA’s leading scorer James Harden, who recorded 34 points - seven over his average - in a 117-103 victory over the Bucks on Nov. 29.
Memphis at Minnesota 8:00 PM ET
The Memphis Grizzlies will try to run their Western Conference-leading winning streak to nine games when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. The Grizzlies have won 12 of 13 overall and remain the hottest team in the West, but only made up two games on the first-place Golden State Warriors in that span. Minnesota is coming off a victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday and could see the return of key reserve Shabazz Muhammad, who missed the last 14 games with a strained oblique.
New Orleans at Oklahoma City 8:00 PM ET
Kevin Durant remains iffy as Oklahoma City hosts New Orleans on Friday in the teams' second meeting in three days. With Durant sidelined for the fourth time in five games due to a lingering toe issue Wednesday at the Pelicans, Russell Westbrook scored 45 points to lead the Thunder to a 102-91 victory. The win left Oklahoma City 11-16 without Durant and pulled the squad within a game of ninth-place New Orleans in the Western Conference as both teams attempt to track down the final playoff spot.
Utah at Phoenix 9:00 PM ET
The Phoenix Suns are in a rut and aim to halt a three-game losing streak when they host the Utah Jazz on Friday. Phoenix suffered a 108-87 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday and that marked the second time in three games that it scored fewer than 90 points. The Suns are still in possession of eighth place in the Western Conference, but the New Orleans Pelicans are just one game behind and the Oklahoma City Thunder are two back.
Miami at San Antonio 9:30 PM ET
The Miami Heat were a much different team when they faced the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals last season. The new-look Heat, who are in danger of not even making the playoffs with LeBron James off to Cleveland and Dwyane Wade hurt, will try to end their latest slide at two straight when they visit the Spurs in a Finals rematch on Friday. San Antonio is not at the top of the standings, either, but it has taken eight of its last 10.