The Cleveland Cavaliers have been sputtering of late and are bracing for the upcoming return of Kevin Love from knee surgery. Cleveland won't have the All-Star power forward back for Thursday's home game against the Utah Jazz, but Love may play for the first time in five weeks when the Cavaliers visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

The odds that Russell Westbrook will become the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double increase with each passing game, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are riding their star's historic season toward the playoffs. Westbrook will try to post his fourth straight triple-double and lead the Thunder to their fourth straight win when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.

The Brooklyn Nets earned their first home win of 2017 against the New York Knicks on Sunday and will try to pull off another victory over their crosstown rivals when they visit Madison Square Garden on Thursday. The Knicks snapped a three-game slide with an 87-81 win over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday but watched forward Kristaps Porzingis go down in obvious pain.

The Atlanta Hawks hope to overtake Toronto for fourth place in the Eastern Conference so they can have homecourt advantage in their potential first-round playoff series but need to start taking care of business in their home arena. Atlanta is a suspect 19-15 on its own floor as it begins a two-game homestand against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday.

The Denver Nuggets are hot at a good point in the season and they look for their fourth consecutive win and eighth in the past 11 games when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. Denver, which hasn't been part of the postseason since a 57-win campaign under George Karl in 2012-13, holds a two-game lead over the Portland Trail Blazers for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

The Golden State Warriors ended a three-game losing streak on Tuesday by barely scraping by the Philadelphia 76ers but looked like they turned a corner with the way they played down the stretch. The Orlando Magic, who visit the Warriors on Thursday, will hope that's not the case as they attempt to avoid a fourth consecutive setback.