Competition : Basketball - NBA
Date : 14 November 2015
Kick-off : 22:30 (GMT +2)
Venue : Staples Center (Los Angeles, CA)

Competition : Basketball - NBA
Date : 14 November 2015
Kick-off : 05:00 (GMT +2)
Venue : Sleep Train Arena (Sacramento, CA)




The Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets posted rare victories their last time out thanks to outstanding long-range shooting that was surprising in one team's case but not for the other.

The Kings are insisting that some internal turmoil is behind them as they prepare to host the Nets on Friday night.

These teams entered Wednesday with a combined record of 1-14 before Sacramento (2-7) ended a six-game slide with a 101-92 win over Detroit while Brooklyn snapped an 0-7 start with a 106-98 victory at Houston.

The Kings shot a season-high 56.3 percent on 3-pointers, with four from DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins is 8 for 19 on 3s after entering the season shooting 15.9 percent in 69 attempts.

"I picked my spots tonight and I was pretty successful," Cousins said.

The added dimension to his game is a major reason why Sacramento is one of the best 3-point shooting teams at 37.9 percent.

Brooklyn is second-worst at 26.8 percent. The Nets shot a season-best 47.1 percent by making 8 of 17 against the Rockets after not being better than 33.3 percent in any game.

"If we go 8 for 22, I'll be happy with 8 for 22, that's what I said before the game looking at prior stats of other teams," coach Lionel Hollins said. "I said, 'Shoot if we can do that, get eight 3s, I'll be happy.'"

The Kings defend the 3-point line well, limiting foes to 31.3 percent shooting. Hollins doesn't expect his team to start firing away since it averages 15.4 attempts for one of the league's lowest marks.

"I hope that's not the equation to us winning, making 3s, but it's always nice to make a certain amount of 3s," Hollins said. "We hadn't even been getting 3s before."

Sacramento prevailed one day after a team meeting that was also attended by upper management, including general manager Vlade Divac. Cousins issued an apology in the wake of a report surfacing that George Karl wanted to suspend the big man for two games after the All-Star center yelled profanity at the veteran coach.

"I'm not sure a panic button was pushed as you all magnified it," Karl said. "Team meetings and six-game losing streaks happen. The newness to our team? I don't know. But I thought the last two days have been good for us."

Cousins had a season-high 33 points with nine rebounds while Rudy Gay made his first five shots and scored 25.

"The best thing that came out of the meeting? This win," Cousins said. "But I'll take the hit. If it results from this every night, I'll take the hit and I'll be the scapegoat."

Rajon Rondo played all 48 minutes for the second straight game, notching his second triple-double with 14 points, 15 assists and 11 boards. He has been forced to shoulder the entire point guard load with injuries to Darren Collison and Seth Curry.

Rondo guides an offense that averages 103.5 possessions per 48 minutes for one of the league's fastest paces. Brooklyn averages 96.7 for one of the more deliberate tempos.

Joe Johnson had 16 points and a season-high 10 assists Wednesday. He leads Eastern Conference players with a 4.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Competition : Basketball - NBA
Date : 14 November 2015
Kick-off : 04:00 (GMT +2)
Venue : Pepsi Center (Denver, CO)




The Houston Rockets' shaky start is quite the contrast from the red-hot fashion in which they opened 2014-15.

Both ends of the floor look like major concerns for Houston heading into Friday night's meeting with the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

Houston won 19 of its first 24 games for the league's third-best start last season. The Rockets (4-4) have struggled to find consistency this time around, though, having their four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday in a 106-98 home loss to previously winless Brooklyn.

"I'm worried about our team right now," coach Kevin McHale said. "We haven't caught a rhythm yet. I've said it all since we've been together. We haven't been able to put together long runs of just good, solid basketball."

James Harden scored 23 after finishing with 37 or more in three of his previous four, but even with those dominant performances, the three wins came by a combined 15 points.

Houston is attempting an NBA-high 32.1 3-pointers per game, but was 8 of 34 against the Nets and is shooting 28.4 percent from deep on the season. The Rockets' league-leading 32.7 attempts per game in 2014-15 were much more palatable given their 34.8 3-point percentage.

The defensive play may be even worse, as Houston is surrendering 108.3 points per game. Brooklyn had averaged 88.8 in its previous six contests.

"We have not been very good defensively. We've got guys not doing assignments," McHale said. "A lot of it's effort. Some of it's communication. ... We're not playing very good."

Houston may be able to capitalize on a vulnerable 3-point defense for Denver (4-4) that has allowed its last six opponents to shoot 41.1 percent with 11.2 made 3s per game. The Nuggets won 103-102 at home against Milwaukee on Wednesday despite the Bucks going 10 for 22.

The Rockets were cold from deep in the season's first meeting, though, going 8 for 35 in a 105-85 opening home loss Oct. 28. They shot 34.5 percent from the field with Harden and Ty Lawson combining to go 9 for 31.

Harden, who scored 22, is still averaging 33.0 points in his last five meetings. He's shooting 24.7 percent from long distance this season but is up to 40.0 over his last three.

Kenneth Faried finished a putback of Danilo Gallinari's missed shot with five seconds left against Milwaukee. Gallinari scored 25 and the victory was a boost for a Nuggets team that learned earlier in the day that Wilson Chandler would undergo season-ending surgery for a torn labrum in his right hip.

Chandler has averaged 13.3 points for Denver since being acquired from New York in 2011.

"Thank goodness we had just enough in us to come out of here with the win," coach Michael Malone said.

Nuggets point guard Jameer Nelson is questionable after missing the last two games with a lower-back injury.

Gallinari scored a team-high 23 in the first meeting as Denver shot 50.6 percent and was 13 of 27 from 3-point range. The Nuggets blocked 10 shots while winning for only the second time in eight meetings.

Competition : Basketball - NBA
Date : 14 November 2015
Kick-off : 03:30 (GMT +2)
Venue : American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)




With an emotional home game against public enemy No. 1 DeAndre Jordan behind them, the Dallas Mavericks want to be able to look back and call it a springboard victory.

They could take a first step toward that goal against the woeful Los Angeles Lakers.

The Mavericks will try to extend their longest winning streak in the series to nine Friday night when the visiting Lakers should have Kobe Bryant back as they look to avoid a second straight 1-8 start.

Dallas thrived in a charged atmosphere against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday when Jordan visited for the first time since reneging on a verbal deal with the Mavericks in July.

Dirk Nowitzki finished with a season-high 31 points, hit 5 of 6 from 3-point range and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Wesley Matthews scored 25 in the 118-108 victory.

"It was a lot of hype in the air, as expected, and it was a fun game against a great, deep team," Nowitzki told the team's official website. "It was just going back and forth. And then there in the fourth, it was almost a playoff atmosphere."

Dallas bounced back from a 120-105 loss to previously winless New Orleans a night earlier. Now it's hoping to gain some momentum from a win over one of the Western Conference's top clubs.

The Mavericks seek a third straight home victory after shooting a season-high 55.3 percent and making 11 of 24 from 3-point range against the Clippers. They've won eight straight overall versus the Lakers, including the last four at American Airlines Center by an average of 17.5 points.

"We can't get it all on the offensive end," Matthews said. "We've got to focus on the defensive end."

The Lakers have shown improvement on the defensive end, allowing 99.8 points per game in the first four of this five-game trip after giving up 116.8 during an 0-4 start. Still, they're on the verge of dropping eight of their first nine for the second straight season after Nikola Vucevic hit a 20-footer at the buzzer in Orlando's 101-99 victory on Wednesday.

Roy Hibbert paced Los Angeles with 15 points after scoring two in a 101-88 loss at Miami a night earlier. Rookie D'Angelo Russell added 14 after he totaled 10 over his previous two games.

Bryant, who has averaged 15.0 points on 31.5 percent shooting over his last five games, is expected to return after missing the past two with a back injury. He's only been able to play in two of the last eight matchups with Dallas, totaling 32 points on 9-of-37 shooting.

The 37-year-old Bryant scored 15 on just 3-of-15 shooting in the first meeting Nov. 1 when Dallas opened the game with a 15-0 run en route to a 103-93 victory at Staples Center.

Nowitzki led the way with 25 points and nine rebounds and Zaza Pachulia contributed 16 and 12 as the Mavericks (4-4) outrebounded Los Angeles 49-42. That could be a key again since the Lakers rank last in the NBA with a minus-7.0 rebounding margin.

"Teams are killing us on the offensive glass," Los Angeles coach Byron Scott said. "Our guys have just got to do a much better job of finishing plays."

Dallas forward Chandler Parsons is expected to play after resting Wednesday as he continues to work his way back from offseason knee surgery.

Competition : Basketball - NBA
Date : 14 November 2015
Kick-off 03:00 (GMT +2)
Venue : Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma City, OK)




Following a pair of high-scoring victories, the Oklahoma City Thunder must overcome Kevin Durant's absence for at least the next three games.

A visit from the winless Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night could help the Thunder keep their modest win streak going without one of the league's leading scorers.

Durant will miss at least seven to 10 days because of a strained left hamstring suffered in a 125-101 win over Washington on Tuesday. He was limited to 27 games in an injury-plagued 2014-15 as the Thunder missed the playoffs for the first time in six seasons, going 27-28 without him.

"Whenever I feel right and whenever I feel ready to play again, that's when I'll play," Durant said. "It was a long process of me getting back (from last season's injuries) and to get hurt again is unfortunate."

Three players topped 20 points for the Thunder (5-3) against the Wizards after Durant left with 14, about half his season average.

Russell Westbrook recorded his first triple-double of the season with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Dion Waiters scored a season-best 25 off the bench and Serge Ibaka had 23.

Waiters also made four of Oklahoma City's season-high 15 3-pointers.

"With Kevin not coming out of the locker room in the second half, I thought out guys came out with great focus," coach Billy Donovan said.

Donovan's team has scored at least 124 points in back-to-back games for the first time since February after averaging 100.3 during a three-game losing streak. Durant's absence could make it difficult for the Thunder to have a third consecutive high-scoring game, but they will face a team that's given up an average of 110.8 points in its last four.

Philadelphia (0-8) is also one of the league's worst offensive teams (92.9 points per game) but had its highest-scoring output Wednesday against Toronto.

The 76ers also gave up their most points in a 119-103 loss. Jahlil Okafor was a bright spot once again with 26 points, and the No. 3 overall draft pick is averaging 20.6 - eight more than any teammate.

Philadelphia has lost 18 in a row dating back to last season, one shy of matching the third-longest skid in franchise history. The 76ers had a league record-tying 26 consecutive defeats Jan. 31-March 27, 2014, and came within one loss of matching the NBA's worst start last season by going 0-17.

"You just can't get into a pity party," coach Brett Brown said. "You have to deal with it and try to figure out ways to try and steal a win."

That victory will be tough to come by in Oklahoma City, where the Sixers are 0-6 all-time. Philadelphia has lost 12 in a row in the series - its longest active skid against any opponent - since beating the Thunder on Nov. 15, 2008.

The 76ers, though, did take them to overtime in the latest matchup March 4 in Oklahoma City, but Westbrook had 49 points and a triple-double in a 123-118 victory with Durant sidelined.

Isaiah Canaan had a career-best 31 points for Philadelphia that day. He's scored at least 17 - about double his career average - in three of the past four games.

Waiters, a Philadelphia native, had 20 points and 10 rebounds in his most recent matchup with the 76ers for one of his two career double-doubles.

Competition : Basketball - NBA
Date : 14 November 2015
Kick-off 03:00 (GMT +2)
Venue : FedExForum (Memphis, TN)




Memphis' current losing streak started with a defeat in Portland. That was also the Trail Blazers' latest win.

While likely debuting at least one new player, the Grizzlies will try to avoid a fifth straight loss Friday night and extend the Blazers' woes by recording an eighth consecutive home win in the series.

Memphis (3-6) has dropped four straight beginning with a 115-96 loss to Portland on Nov. 5 on the second stop of a season-high five-game trip. The Grizzlies fell 100-84 to Golden State in their return home Wednesday, and their 34.3 percent shooting marked the fourth time they've connected at less than 36.0 this season. They had one such performance in 2014-15.

"We're frustrated, but we're confident at the same time. I know we can pull things together," forward Tony Allen said. "But looking at the standings, and being down (out of playoff position), it should frustrate you. It should hurt inside, because we know we're better than that."

The Grizzlies struggled more on defense against the Blazers, specifically in the middle quarters when they were outscored by a combined 72-48. Damian Lillard had 14 of his team-leading 27 points in a span of six-plus minutes in the third.

C.J. McCollum added 20 points while Courtney Lee was the Grizzlies' top scorer with a season-high 18.

The Blazers (4-5), though, have dropped seven in a row in Memphis. That includes three losses in last season's first-round playoff defeat.

Portland enters this one having dropped three in a row while giving up an average of 113.7 points on 52.2 percent shooting. The Blazers lost 113-101 on Wednesday to San Antonio in franchise great LaMarcus Aldridge's return to Portland, allowing a season-high 56.1 percent shooting.

Lillard scored a team-best 22 points while dealing with a torn nail on his right thumb. Meyers Leonard dislocated his left shoulder in the third quarter, and his status is unclear.

"It's pretty stiff and sore right now," Leonard said. "We'll see with time, but I'm hoping I can heal quick. It's frustrating, but it is what it is… I've done this a couple times but normally it's what they call a subluxed, so it slips in and out.

"This time it was a complete dislocation. We'll see, I'm hoping for a quick recovery. I want to get back to the court and play."

Gerald Henderson had 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting in 18 minutes in his Portland debut following offseason hip surgery.

Mario Chalmers will likely play his first game for Memphis after being traded from Miami with James Ennis on Tuesday. Memphis sent Beno Udrih and Jarnell Stokes to the Heat.

The Grizzlies' Marc Gasol, who had a season-best 26 points Wednesday, also had 26 points along with 14 rebounds in the series clincher in Memphis on April 29. He had 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting and five boards in the loss earlier this month.

McCollum is averaging 24.3 points on 54.7 percent shooting, including a 15-of-23 performance from 3-point range, in his last four games against Memphis.

Lee is averaging 19.0 points while shooting 67.3 percent in his past five such matchups versus Portland.

Memphis hasn't dropped five in a row since Dec. 11-18, 2013.

Competition : Basketball - NBA
Date : 14 November 2015
Kick-off 03:00 (GMT +2)
Venue : United Center (Chicago, IL)




The Charlotte Hornets have won four of five behind improved offensive play, especially from their bench.

They've also been taking care of the basketball well, which could be the difference against the more turnover-prone Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Friday night.

Charlotte posted the league's second-lowest field-goal percentage (42.0) and third-worst scoring average (94.2) in 2014-15. Those struggles resurfaced in the new season as the Hornets averaged 93.3 points on 39.1 percent shooting in the first three games.

Since then, however, they are averaging 106.2 points while shooting 47.7 percent.

They held on for a 95-93 home win against the New York Knicks on Wednesday as Kristaps Porzingis' buzzer-beating 3-pointer was ruled to be too late. Cody Zeller converted the go-ahead a layup on an inbounds play with 0.6 seconds left, finishing with 12 points and bouncing back after missing two free throws moments earlier.

The Hornets didn't shoot as well as they had been, shooting 41.7 percent, but committed an NBA season-low five turnovers compared to New York's 17.

"Again, the turnover game - if you're going to win, you can't turn the ball over," coach Steve Clifford said. "It was really probably the difference in the game."

Turnovers have been more of an issue for the Bulls, who are still adjusting to first-year coach Fred Hoiberg's offense and rank near the bottom of the league with an average differential of minus-1.6. Charlotte is plus-2.4.

Zeller, questionable for this contest with a strained left ankle, was one of three reserves to score at least 12 points along with Jeremy Lamb and Jeremy Lin, complementing starter Nicolas Batum's season-high 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting.

Those bench performances helped bail out Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker, who were a combined 4 of 21 from the floor. Six Hornets are averaging at least 10.4 points, and the club's bench is averaging 42.8 points.

Chicago (5-3) has split its last six games but beat up on hapless Philadelphia in a 111-88 victory Monday. The Bulls were 10 of 25 from 3-point range, with Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott hitting three apiece while scoring 20 and 18 respectively. That duo in particular helped Chicago compensate for Jimmy Butler's season-low seven points.

"We needed something like this," said McDermott, who is 19 of 33 from beyond the arc and has started three games in a row. "We've had a couple of good practices but it's good to play against someone else."

Joakim Noah had been listed as a starter but was a late scratch due to his sore left knee, which also gave him issues last season. Noah's 20.6 minutes per game are a career low, though Hoiberg said he got through all of Thursday's practice and would "hopefully" return for this game.

"There's nothing structurally wrong with it," Hoiberg said.

Chicago hopes to get Kirk Hinrich back from a toe injury that has limited him to only one game - he saw five minutes of action at Brooklyn on Oct. 28.

The Hornets have won four of the last six meetings, though Chicago has taken 12 of the last 16 at the United Center and is 3-1 there this season. Charlotte made 14 of 23 shots from beyond the arc in a 130-105 rout at home Nov. 3, with Jeremy Lamb scoring 20 to pace seven players in double figures.

Derrick Rose has played in only three of the teams' last 15 meetings, averaging just 10.3 points on 33.3 percent shooting. He's shooting 36.8 percent this season.