January 13th NBA Game Previews

The Milwaukee Bucks take on the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.

The Bucks (7-4) are running hot after having started the season on shaky footing, having won five of their last six games. Their most recent success was an impressive 121-99 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 22 points, adding six rebounds, four assists, one steal and two blocks. Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis generated matching 20-point tallies, with Middleton also hauling in 10 rebounds. Bryn Forbes provided 14 points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals. Jrue Holiday supplied 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.

The Bucks will continue to be without Torrey Craig (nose) for Wednesday's contest. Portis (knee) will be listed as probable.

The Pistons (2-8) are having about as difficult a time as their record indicates, as they'll come into Wednesday's game having lost four of the five games. Their most recent stumble came against the Utah Jazz, having dropped a 96-86 decision Sunday night. Jerami Grant paced the Pistons with 28 points, supplementing them with four rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. Saddiq Bey registered 12 points, three boards and one assist. Blake Griffin managed 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. Mason Plumlee and Delon Wright contributed matching six-point, three-assist, two-steal tallies.

The Pistons will continue without Killian Hayes (hip) for Wednesday's game. Derrick Rose (knee) carries a probable designation.

Wednesday's contest marks the third and final meeting between the teams this season. The Bucks hold a 2-0 series lead, having notched 125-115 and 130-115 wins on Jan. 4 and 6.

Jazz, Wizards postponed.

The Dallas Mavericks will visit the Charlotte Hornets at Spectum Center on Wednesday evening.

The Hornets (6-5) are trending in the right direction following a sluggish start to the season and pushed their winning streak to four games following their 109-88 home win over the New York Knicks on Monday. Gordon Hayward led the Hornets in that game with 34 points on 11-of-17 shooting, three rebounds and three assists, in 34 minutes. Devonte' Graham added 19 points, seven assists and three steals, while P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges chipped in 13 points each. The Hornets shot 49 percent from the field, including 13-of-32 from long range, and it's clear their offense has been clicking in all cylinders of late. The play of rookie LaMelo Ball off the bench has sparked the Hornets as well, and they are slowly looking like a potential playoff contender if they manage to sustain their play over a prolonged period of time.

Charlotte is close to full strength entering this game and their lone injury casualty is Cody Zeller due to a knee injury.

The Mavericks (5-4) didn't play Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans, and they had extra rest ahead of this contest that also marks their return home. The Mavs have won their last three games in a row and will look to keep the momentum going to add to their, 2-1, home record. Luka Doncic is leading the way for Dallas by averaging team-highs of 26.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game. Tim Hardaway Jr. has been off to a strong start to the season, averaging 18.4 points, while shooting 43.8 percent from long range. The Mavs are averaging 110.0 points per game, and they are holding opponents to an average of 105.7 points against, which is one of the best marks in the league.

The Mavericks will be depleted, as they already know Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber, Josh Richardson, Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith are expected to miss this contest due to quarantine under COVID-19 protocols. Kristaps Porzingis will be a game-time call due to a knee problem but is expected to make his season debut here.

The game between the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics scheduled for Wednesday night at TD Garden has been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.

The Brooklyn Nets take on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

The Nets (6-6) come into Wednesday's contest starting to pick up a bit of momentum, as they've prevailed in three of their past five games. Brooklyn's most recent success came Tuesday night, when they toppled the Denver Nuggets by a 122-116 score. Kevin Durant paced the Nets with 34 points, complementing them with 13 assists and nine rebounds. Caris LeVert turned in 20 points, six assists and five rebounds. Bruce Brown delivered 16 points six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Joe Harris furnished 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot finished with 11 points.

The Nets will continue without Kyrie Irving (personal), Tyler Johnson (COVID-19 protocols) and Nicolas Claxton (knee) on Wednesday.

The Knicks (5-6) appeared to be building some serious momentum recently with a three-game winning streak that pushed their record to 5-3. However, New York has followed that up with a three-game skid, with their most recent loss a 109-88 stumble against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night. Kevin Knox led the way with 19 points, complementing them with five boards, two assists and one block. Elfrid Payton followed with 15 points, adding six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Austin Rivers supplied 13 points, four boards, one assist and one steal. Mitchell Robinson generated a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double that also included two steals and two blocks. R.J. Barrett and Julius Randle put up matching 11-point, five-assist tallies, with Barrett also pulling down nine rebounds.

The Knicks will list Reggie Bullock (hip) as doubtful for Wednesday's game, while Alec Burks (ankle), Frank Ntilikina (knee) and Obi Toppin (calf) will remain out.

Wednesday's contest marks the only meeting between the teams this season. The Nets and Knicks split the four-game 2019-20 season series.

The Minnesota Timberwolves play host to the Memphis Grizzlies at Target Center on Wednesday evening.

This marks the third game of a four-game home stand for the Timberwolves (3-7), as they get set to take on the Grizzlies in the first of two consecutive games. The Timberwolves' home stand began with two consecutive games against the Spurs, where they lost the first but came up with a win in the most recent contest. After missing a few weeks of action with a wrist injury, Karl-Anthony Towns returned to the lineup in the first game of the home stand on Saturday and finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, in the overtime loss. He did not play the following night where the Timberwolves walked away with an eight-point win, but he is expected to be ready to go on Wednesday. D'Angelo Russell has been solid to start the season, averaging 20.3 points, 5.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds, in 31 minutes per game. Ricky Rubio has been coming off the bench and is averaging 6.3 points, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals, in 24 minutes per game.

Meanwhile, this marks the second game of a three-game road trip for the Grizzlies (4-6), which they began with a win in Cleveland on Monday and will finish up with two straight games in Minnesota. The Grizzlies will be looking to add to their 3-1 road record and also build on on a two-game winning streak. In the absence of Ja Morant (ankle), Tyus Jones has been playing well at the point and is averaging 12.0 points, 8.5 assists and 3.5 steals over the last two games. Dillon Brooks is the Grizzlies' active leading scorer, averaging 17.4 points on 40 percent shooting, while Jonas Valanciunas is averaging 14.0 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. The Grizzlies have been strong defensively, as they are holding their opponents to an average of 108.0 points per game, which is eighth fewest in the league, but they are only scoring an average of 105.4 points per game, which is fourth fewest.

The Oklahoma City Thunder play host to the Los Angeles Lakers at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Wednesday evening.

This marks the second game of a back-to-back for the Lakers (9-3), who are coming off their third straight win, and the Thunder (5-5), who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday night.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder in Tuesday's loss on, with 20 points, nine rebounds and two steals, while Hamidou Diallo followed up with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Darius Bazley, George Hill and Luguentz Dort added 12 points each. This marks the second game of a four-game home stand for the Thunder, as they continue to search for their first home win of the season. The Thunder are averaging 104.6 points per game, which is third fewest in the league, but they have been giving up an average of 109.2 points against.

Meanwhile, this marks the third and final game of a road trip for the Lakers, which began with two consecutive wins in Houston. LeBron James led the Lakers on Tuesday night, with 26 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a block, in 29 minutes. Anthony Davis followed up with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell chipped in 14 points each. The Lakers improved to 6-0 on the road with the win and they will be looking to keep the momentum going as they focus on closing out their road trip. The Lakers continue to be one of the best defensive teams in the league, as they are holding opponents to an average of 44.2 percent shooting, which is fourth lowest in the league.

The Atlanta Hawks travel to Arizona to face the Phoenix Suns at Phoenix Suns Arena on Wednesday.

The Hawks (5-5) finally got a win on Monday, beating the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-94. While that may look like a spectacular win on the surface, it's far from. We say that because the Sixers were missing Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Shake Milton and Seth Curry in that game. That also followed up a four-game losing streak for Atlanta and it's hard to look at that victory and believe anything was solved. What was nice to see was Trae Young's return to form, collecting 26 points and eight assists in just 25 minutes of action. That's the stud we saw throughout most of last season and his struggles early on were a major reason why they lost four-straight. If he keeps doing that while John Collins and Clint Capela run the frontcourt, this club will be just fine going forward.

The Suns (7-4) looked unbeatable when they started the season with five wins in their first six games but they've gone on to post a 2-3 record since then. While that's not necessarily terrible, losing to the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons is. Those are two clubs that Phoenix should handle with ease and it's scary to see them completely dominated by the Wizards in their most recent game on Monday. That was a Washington team who was missing Russell Westbrook too and it was simply unacceptable to surrender 128 points to one of the worst teams in the NBA. The one thing that's really been holding them back is their rebounding, ranked 27th in the league. That's a strange stat to see with a stud like Deandre Ayton down low but one has to believe that number will improve as the season progresses.

These teams split their two-game season series last year, with the home team winning in dominating fashion. That gives the Hawks four wins in their last five games against the Suns.

The Los Angeles Clippers play host to the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center on Wednesday.

The Pelicans (4-5) were supposed to play on Monday but their matchup with the Dallas Mavericks got postponed because of COVID protocols. That was a game that New Orleans was looking forward to too, in desperate need to snap their three-game losing streak. What makes that losing slide even more frustrating is the fact that they all came down to the wire, with the Pelicans blowing fourth-quarter leads in two of them. It's not like they were tough teams either, losing the last two against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Hornets. This team has too much talent to lose to clubs like that and it's clear the Pelicans have some things to figure out. The biggest is what to do with their backcourt because Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe have been struggling mightily. Those guys are way too good to have the ugly numbers that they do and a little help on the offensive end could be just what the doctor ordered to end their slump.

The Clippers (7-4) enter this matchup trading off wins and losses in their last seven games, pulling out a 130-127 win over the Chicago Bulls in their most recent outing. That sort of stretch is pretty disappointing from a team like this though, winning by seven points or fewer in the three most recent victories. The one thing that's keeping them from being elite is their defense. Los Angeles currently ranks 16th in points allowed and dead-last in rebounding which is simply unacceptable from such a talented team. This team is full of elite defenders and it's just a matter of time before things change on that end of the floor. If that does happen, they're in a great spot considering Los Angeles has the best three-point and free-throw percentages in the NBA. That's a recipe for success and a lengthy winning streak is right around the corner if that continues.

Los Angeles dominated the four-game season series over New Orleans last year, winning three of four by an average of 17 points per game.

The Sacramento Kings play host to the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday.

The Trail Blazers (6-4) enter this matchup in the midst of a three-game winning streak, beating the Toronto Raptors on Monday in their most recent matchup. The nature of that win was equally as big as the result, winning on a game-winning shot from C.J. McCollum. The talented shooting guards has been amazing all season long, averaging 28.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He's always been a good player but these are the sorts of averages that will land him into the All-Star game for the first time in his career. The one disappointing part about that win was the fact that Jusuf Nurkic got injured. He left that game with a quad contusion and it's unclear whether he'll be ready to go here or not.

The Kings (5-6) also pulled off a huge win on Monday, beating the Indiana Pacers, 127-122. That victory actually snapped a stretch in which Sacramento lost five of their previous six games and it's big for this club to finally play some good basketball. The real revelation for this team has been the improvement of Harrison Barnes. The veteran has been slightly disappointed ever since he left the Warriors a few years ago and he's easily in the midst of the best season of his career. In fact, he's averaging 17.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. What makes that really strange is the fact that he's outperforming all of these youngsters. That means if they can just get a little more from Buddy Hield, De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III, this team could be dangerous later in the season.

These teams played on January 9, with Portland prevailing, 125-99. That gives the Trail Blazers eight wins in their last 11 matchups with the Kings dating back four years.