With four wins in their last five games the Charlotte Bobcats are looking to solidify their playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Charlotte enters play seventh in the East, 2 1/2 games ahead of eighth place Atlanta with a comfortable 5 1/2 game cushion over ninth place New York. "Confidence is everything," guard Kemba Walker told the Charlotte Observer recently, "and I think we have a lot of confidence at this time."

The Washington Wizards look to get their offense back in gear after two rough outings when they visit the Orlando Magic on Friday night. The Wizards averaged 87.5 points in losses to Miami and Charlotte, after posting 115.5 points per contest over the previous six, as they prepare to face a Magic team that has struggled on the defensive end much of the season. Washington is a half-game behind Brooklyn for fifth in the East and 13th-place Orlando comes in with four straight defeats.

The Philadelphia 76ers are closing in on the worst losing streak in franchise history, and ending it on Friday will be a tough task with the Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Pacers visiting town. Philadelphia has lost 18 straight games – two shy of the 20-game skid recorded by the historically bad 9-73 squad of 1972-73 – and has also lost a club-record 14 straight home games. Indiana halted a season-worst four-game losing streak by beating the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

Games between the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre have been tightly contested affairs of late. They've also favored the Grizzlies, who will try to continue that trend Friday night as they seek their fifth straight victory in Toronto. The former Vancouver franchise has won its last four visits to Canada, though the previous three victories were by an average of 3.7 points while the fourth - a 109-102 win in February 2010 - was decided in OT.

The Phoenix Suns open a three-game road trip at the Boston Celtics on Friday in great need of a victory. The Suns have dropped three straight for the second time in less than a month and entered Friday two games out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. At the very least, Phoenix is a bit more complete as it begins its trip, having welcomed back guard Eric Bledsoe in a 110-101 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday.

The slumping Miami Heat brought some of their road struggles home in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday and are suddenly having some trouble scoring. The Denver Nuggets, who visit the Heat on Friday, are usually very generous in giving up points to the opposing team and are 1-2 on their five-game road trip. Miami has dropped four of its last five contests and remains two games behind the Indiana Pacers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The struggling Portland Trail Blazers will attempt to salvage one win out of a five-game road trip as they wrap up the trek in New Orleans against the Pelicans Friday. Portland might be without All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who left Wednesday's loss to San Antonio with a back injury, crashing awkwardly after tangling with Spurs forward Aron Baynes. "Injuries are a part of the game," forward Dorell Wright told The Oregonian, adding, "I just pray that he's fine and has a speedy recovery."

The Western Conference-leading San Antonio Spurs haven’t lost in three weeks and look to record their ninth consecutive victory when they host the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. San Antonio has put together several strong performances since getting injured players like Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard back in action and holds a half-game lead over the second-place Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers lost 131-102 to Oklahoma City on Thursday and are tied with the Utah Jazz for last place in the West.

The Los Angeles Clippers will try to extend their winning streak to a season-long 10 games when they take the road to face the struggling Utah Jazz on Friday night. The streak is the third-longest in club history and more than halfway to the franchise-record of 17 straight wins set last season, the last of which came against the Jazz on Dec 30, 2012. L.A. won all four games against Utah last year and the first two this season, most recently a 102-87 win at Staples Center in Feb. 1.

The Golden State Warriors had their five-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday but still own a comfortable margin for a Western Conference playoff spot. The Warriors will try to continue moving up in the West when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. The Cavaliers did Golden State a favor by knocking off the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday and took the Warriors to overtime in the first meeting on Dec. 29.