The Detroit Pistons dropped their last three on the road, including a 111-104 setback at Miami on Wednesday that marked the start of a stretch with five of six away from home. The Pistons will try to rebound and snap the road slide when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

The Boston Celtics seek their longest winning streak since their memorable 16-game run earlier this season when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. The Celtics rebounded from a 5-6 stretch with four straight wins, including a decisive 102-88 triumph over Eastern Conference rival Cleveland on Wednesday at home.

The Miami Heat are getting healthier while piling up victories and hope to continue that trend Friday night when they host the struggling New York Knicks, who won the first meeting this season by 29 points. The Heat have won five of seven and nine of their last 13 after outlasting Detroit 111-104 on Wednesday as guards Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson led the way again.

The Milwaukee Bucks are creeping up the standings in the Eastern Conference with wins in three of their last four games, but the lone loss in that span was an overtime setback at the Toronto Raptors. The Bucks will try to return the favor when the Raptors visit Milwaukee on Friday.

Both the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks have climbed out of last place in their respective conferences, but both enter their meeting Friday in Dallas on a sour note. The Bulls dropped three in a row following a 10-2 surge and they are giving up an average of 120.7 points during the slide.

The San Antonio Spurs suffered through a disappointing three-game road trip, but the bigger picture is always what is in the team's view. The Spurs will try to pick things up during a brief stop at home when they host the Phoenix Suns on Friday.

The Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets have played some extremely one-sided contests this season and both will try to be on the right side of things when they finish their four-game season series in the Mile High City on Friday. After a 10-point Utah win in the season opener for both teams on Oct. 18, the next two meetings were decided by an average of 26.5 points, with the Nuggets picking up their first victory in the series with a 107-83 triumph at home the day after Christmas.

The Memphis Grizzlies are starting to pick up the pace offensively, but hanging with the Washington Wizards may be a tough task. The Grizzlies will try to slow a Wizards offense averaging 118.7 points during a three-game winning streak when they host Washington on Friday.

The Portland Trail Blazers did not have Damian Lillard last weekend when they suffered a surprising loss at Atlanta, but get a chance at revenge Friday when the struggling Hawks come to town with the All-Star guard back in the lineup. Lillard, who missed five games with a hamstring injury, returned Tuesday and scored 25 points - including six 3-pointers - in 33 minutes in a 127-110 loss at Cleveland.

The Charlotte Hornets are beginning to pile up some impressive victories and will try to cap a winning four-game road trip when they visit the slumping Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. The Hornets won three of five since a 3-10 slump, including victories at the defending champion Golden State Warriors to begin the trip and a 131-111 runaway win at Sacramento on Tuesday.