March 17th NBA Game Previews

The Phoenix Suns wrap up their four-game Eastern Conference road trip Sunday when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.

The Suns (39-28) improved to 2-1 on their road trip after taking down the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, 107-96, thanks to double-doubles from Devin Booker and Jusuf Nurkic. While far from a go-to option on offense compared to Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, Nurkic has been dominant on the glass this season. He’s averaging 11.1 rebounds per game this season, seventh-best in the NBA, and is averaging 15.9 boards per game in March including a 31-rebound performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 3. Phoenix will need Nurkic to continue to clean the glass if the team hopes to climb up from its seventh spot in the Western Conference.

Meanwhile the Bucks (43-24) currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference and are battling the Cleveland Cavaliers to keep that spot. Milwaukee is coming off a 114-105 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, thanks to another dominant performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo who finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Antetokounmpo has been an MVP-candidate this season, but how far the Bucks will go in the postseason could come down to the play of All-Star Damian Lillard. He’s certainly shown flashes of brilliance this season -- including a 41-point performance in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers on March 4 -- but the Bucks will need every ounce of Lillard’s star power if they hope to get past the Boston Celtics en route to the NBA Finals.

Antetokounmpo (hamstring), Malik Beasley (back) and MarJon Beauchamp (back) are all questionable for Sunday’s matinee.

Sunday’s contest is the second and final time the Suns and Bucks will play each other this season, with Phoenix leading the series 1-0 after taking the 114-106 victory on Feb. 6.

The Detroit Pistons will host the Miami Heat at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday.

These two teams already locked horns on Friday. The Heat (36-30) didn’t have problems getting past the Pistons (12-54) by a 108-95 score despite playing away from home. With that win, the Heat moved to 19-15 on the road, while the Pistons fell to 7-27 at home. However, nothing says these two teams will repeat performances here. The Pistons have been on the rise despite their recent results, while the Heat might be missing key players on both ends of the court once again.

During the previous head-to-head meeting, Bam Adebayo led the way for the Heat with 22 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals. Jimmy Butler had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Terry Rozier ended with 18 points and five rebounds. Miami shot 47.3 percent from the field and 20.6 percent from deep.

Meanwhile, Simone Fontecchio paced the Pistons with 24 points and six rebounds. Cade Cunningham only finished with 11 points (5-15 FG) but added nine assists and six rebounds, and Jalen Duren had 15 points and 17 rebounds. Detroit shot 42.9 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three-point range.

When it comes to injuries, Cade Cunningham (knee) as questionable. Quentin Grimes (knee) and Ausar Thompson (illness) are out. As for the Heat are listing Jimmy Butler (foot) as a true game-time decision. Kevin Love (heel) and Tyler Herro (foot) are out, while Josh Richardson (shoulder) is out for the season. Nikola Jovic (hamstring) is out as well.

The Denver Nuggets take on the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Nuggets (47-20) are rolling along in their quest to defend their Larry O'Brien Trophy, as their record attests. Denver enters Sunday afternoon's game running hot as well, having recorded five straight wins. Their most recent success came Friday night, when they toppled the San Antonio Spurs by a 117-106 score. Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 31 points, adding seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Jamal Murray generated a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double that included eight assists and four steals. Michael Porter Jr., Christian Braun and Justin Holiday all posted 13 points, with Porter adding seven rebounds and Braun recording four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Nuggets come into Sunday's game without any short-term injuries to report.

The Mavericks (38-29) have also been playing well recently, but they just saw a four-game winning streak snapped by 126-119 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night, a game Luka Doncic missed with a sore hamstring. Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 36 points, adding 12 assists, four rebounds and two steals. Tim Hardaway provided 23 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal. Daniel Gafford generated a 19-point, 15-rebound double-double that included one assist and one block. Derrick Jones netted 10 points.

The Mavericks will be without Josh Green (ankle) for Sunday's game. Doncic and Exum (foot) will carry questionable tags.

Sunday's game marks third and final meeting between the teams this season. Denver owns a 2-0 series lead.

The Toronto Raptors take on the Orlando Magic at Amway Center on Sunday evening.

The Raptors (23-44) have no postseason aspirations and have been dealing with the absences of several key players, so it's no surprise they'll enter Sunday having dropped six consecutive games. Their most recent stumble came Friday night against this same Magic team, which toppled them by a 113-103 score. Gary Trent Jr. led the Raptors with 31 points, supplementing them with four rebounds and one steal. Jordan Nwora furnished 14 points, five rebounds, two steals and one block. Bruce Brown delivered 12 points, five assists, four rebounds and one steal. Immanuel Quickley generated a 10-point, 10-assist double-double that included three rebounds and two steals. Kelly Olynyk and Jahmius Ramsey posted matching 10-point, one-steal tallies while pulling down nine and five rebounds, respectively.

The Raptors will remain without RJ Barrett (personal), Scottie Barnes (finger), Chris Boucher (knee) and Jakob Poeltl (finger) for Sunday's game.

The Magic (39-28) counted Friday's win over Toronto with eight wins in the last 10 games, including two straight. Against the Raptors, Franz Wagner led the Magic with 19 points, complementing them with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Paolo Banchero supplied 17 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and one steal. Jalen Suggs compiled 16 points, three assists, one rebound and three steals. Wendell Carter Jr. contributed 15 points, eight boards and three assists. Cole Anthony finished with 12 points and three rebounds.

The Magic will come into Sunday's game without any injuries to report.

Sunday's game marks third and final meeting between the teams this season. The Magic holds a 2-0 series lead.

The Washington Wizards play host to the Boston Celtics at Capital One Arena on Sunday evening.

This marks the second game of a back-to-back for the Wizards (11-56), as they are coming off a 29-point loss in Chicago on Saturday. They fell behind early in the game and trailed by 22 points at halftime. They had no answers in the third and could not cut into the deficit the rest of the way, as they fell short for a third straight loss. Corey Kispert led the squad with 16 points, three rebounds, three steals and three blocks, in 29 minutes of action. Bilal Coulibaly followed up with 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Jordan Poole chipped in 13 points, eight assists and a steal. The Wizards will look to end the slide and get back on track as they return home to kick off a four-game stand with the opportunity to improve on their, 4-26, home record.

Meanwhile, the Celtics (52-14) enter on a four-game win streak and hope to keep rolling with the chance to add to their, 22-11, road record. Unfortunately, they have been struck by injury trouble, as their top two scorers, Jaylen Brown (ankle) and Jayson Tatum (ankle) are both listed as questionable for action, while Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) and Derrick White (hand) will be sidelined. The squad will have to rely on bigger contributions from the likes of Jrue Holiday, who averages 12.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 0.9 steals, and Al Horford, who averages 8.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. Sam Hauser has also shown he can step up as a solid contributor, while he is averaging 8.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists on the season.

The San Antonio Spurs play host to the Brooklyn Nets at Moody Center on Sunday evening.

The Spurs (14-53) enter on a three-game slide but hope to turn things around as they face the fourth game of an eight-game home stand with the chance to build on their, 7-24, home record. Victor Wembanyama continues to lead the team, averaging 20.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.4 blocks per game. Devin Vassell is averaging 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.0 steals, while Keldon Johnson averages 15.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The Spurs average 112.2 points per game, but they give up an average of 119.8 points per game, which is sixth most in the league.

Meanwhile, this marks the second game of a back-to-back for the Nets (26-41), after a 21-point loss in Indiana on Saturday. They were out to a great start in the game, but they fell apart after the first quarter and suffered their fourth loss in the last five games. Cam Thomas led the team with 22 points, eight rebounds and two assists, in 32 minutes of action. Cameron Johnson followed up with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Dennis Schroder added 13 points, two rebounds, five assists and a steal. Nicolas Claxton finished with nine points, 10 rebounds, a steal and two blocks. The Nets will look to get back on track as they face the sixth and final game of a road trip with the opportunity to improve on their, 10-23, road record.

The Los Angeles Clippers play host to the Atlanta Hawks at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

The Hawks (29-37) have been one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA but it's hard to blame them when peeking into the training room. They've had more injuries than almost anyone else, losing Trae Young, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu to severe injuries. That's way too many to overcome, and it's tough to see where they go from here. That has them entering this matchup amid a three-game losing streak, narrowly losing to the Utah Jazz in their most recent outing on Friday. Dejounte Murray is averaging nearly 30 points per game in this expanded role, but he simply can't do it all by himself.

The Clippers (42-24) are in one of their worst stretches of the season, entering this matchup losing three of their last four games. That might not sound too bad on the surface, but it's ruining any chances of finishing with the best record in the Western Conference. The three teams ahead of them can't stop winning, with LA sitting 4.5 games back of the Denver Nuggets in first. They're also just 1.5 games up on the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns in sixth and seventh, so LA has to do everything possible to avoid falling into the Play-In Tournament. As long as James Harden, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are healthy, this will remain one of the favorites in the Western Conference.

These teams played a shootout on February 5, with Los Angeles prevailing, 149-144. They've won four of their last six games over the Hawks in total.