The Philadelphia 76ers were one of the more active teams in front of Thursday's trade deadline as they continue to put together the pieces they hope will soon lead them back to the playoffs. The Washington Wizards, who visit the 76ers on Friday, did some dealing of their own and appear well-positioned to challenge for a spot in the Eastern Conference finals.

Plenty of teams seemed to want to pry Indiana Pacers All-Star forward Paul George away prior to Thursday's trade deadline, but he's staying in Indianapolis for the rest of the season. George will try to keep the Pacers on the path to the postseason when they return from the All-Star break and host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

The Boston Celtics chose to stand pat at the NBA trade deadline while the Toronto Raptors continued to tweak their roster in advance of the two teams meeting Friday night in Canada. The Celtics emerge from the All-Star break three games behind first-place Cleveland in the Eastern Conference after a 24-8 surge and they hope to continue to ride the momentum with the current roster.

The Chicago Bulls were involved in some wild trade rumors in the days leading up to the NBA's Thursday deadline but ended up hanging onto All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler and instead sent small forward Doug McDermott and starting power forward Taj Gibson to Oklahoma City. The Phoenix Suns, who visit the Bulls on Friday, decided to stick with their core at the deadline as well and will bring Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker and company on the three-game road trip.

The All-Star break may have come at the wrong time for the Milwaukee Bucks, who were finally beginning to build some positive momentum after a horrid stretch bridging January and February. The Bucks will try to find that spark again and post a fourth straight win when they return from the break and host the Utah Jazz on Friday.

Magic Johnson was part of the "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers who won five NBA titles in the 1980s but the Hall of Fame player is an unknown quantity when it comes to being an executive. Johnson is the new president of basketball operations of the Lakers, who resume play after the All-Star break by visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.

Two teams that consider themselves in the hunt for the final Western Conference playoff spot square off when the Dallas Mavericks visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. There are six teams vying for that final spot and the pressure is on teams like the Mavericks and Timberwolves after the New Orleans Pelicans bolstered their hopes by acquiring All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings.

The Miami Heat look to pick up where they left off before the All-Star break when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. The Heat's 117-109 win at Houston on Feb. 15 gave them 14 wins in their final 16 games prior to the intermission, and a quiet trade deadline day left the squad content to move forward with an improving roster.

The Brooklyn Nets possess the worst record in the NBA but they have experienced success against the Denver Nuggets in recent campaigns. Brooklyn posted a 116-111 home victory against Denver earlier this season and looks to down the host Nuggets for the seventh consecutive time Friday.

The Los Angeles Clippers have experienced few issues with San Antonio this season and look for their third win of the campaign over the visiting Spurs on Friday. Los Angeles averaged 111 points while winning by an average of 14.5 points in the first two meetings but Friday's encounter likely will be the first one without point guard Chris Paul.