NBA Previews from The Sports Network

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ATLANTA HAWKS (40-23) AT WASHINGTON WIZARDS (21-40), 7 P.M.

(Sports Network) - The Atlanta Hawks hope to avoid a third straight loss when
they wrap up a three-game road trip Thursday night against the Southeast
Division-rival Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.

Atlanta is winless so far on the trek and is coming off Monday's 99-98 setback
at New York in which Josh Smith posted a team-high 25 points, grabbed 10
rebounds and handed out six assists. Al Horford did his best with 18 points
and 12 boards for the Hawks, who have dropped two in a row since a four-game
winning streak. Horford was unable to get off a possible game-winning shot as
time expired.

"When I caught the ball, your instinct is just to shoot the ball. I wasn't
aware of the clock, I didn't know what was going on. I just threw it up
there," Horford told NBA.com "Obviously, it wasn't good but we had our
chance."

Joe Johnson had 22 points and Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jamal Crawford
posted 16 in defeat. Crawford leads the NBA in scoring among players that have
not started a game.

The Hawks, who are 15-16 as the guest, fell four games behind Orlando for
Southeast supremacy, but are tied with Boston for the third spot in the
Eastern Conference standings. Both Atlanta and the Celtics have dropped two in
a row since four-game win streaks.

Washington has lost four straight and opened a short homestand with Tuesday's
96-88 setback versus the Houston Rockets. Andray Blatche and Nick Young both
netted 18 points, while Al Thornton ended with 15 points and nine rebounds for
the Wizards, who are winless in their last four home games and 12-20 in DC.

"Their bigs outran our bigs," said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders. "We don't
run as fast from offense to defense as defense to offense."

James Singleton added 12 points in the loss, Washington's sixth in its last
seven tries. In 11 games since the All-Star break, Blatche has averaged 23.5
points and 10.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Tonight's game is the third of four meetings between the Wizards and Hawks, as
Atlanta holds a 2-0 edge and will visit Washington again on April 10. The
Hawks have won the past seven matchups between the teams and are unbeaten in
the previous four contests at the Verizon Center.


CHICAGO BULLS (31-32) AT ORLANDO MAGIC (45-20), 8 P.M.

(Sports Network) - The surging Orlando Magic shoot for their seventh straight
win tonight in the conclusion of a three-game homestand versus the Chicago
Bulls at Amway Arena.

Orlando is riding a six-game winning streak and improved to 2-0 on the
residency with Tuesday's 113-87 drubbing of the Los Angeles Clippers behind 22
points and 15 rebounds from Dwight Howard, who posted his league-leading 51st
double-double of the season. Howard had an NBA-best 69 double-doubles in
2007-08, and finished second in that category last season with 63.

"With the playoffs coming up, we just want to make sure we get ourselves
prepared for what's ahead by challenging ourselves every night to get better,"
said Howard.

Jameer Nelson totaled 17 points with eight assists, Rashard Lewis chipped in
15 points and Vince Carter netted 13 for the Southeast Division-leading Magic,
who have won five in a row at home and are 26-6 in central Florida in 2009-10.

The Magic are creeping up the Eastern Conference standings, and sit five games
behind top-seeded Cleveland in the No. 2 spot.

Chicago has dropped five in a row and completed a winless four-game homestand
with Tuesday's 132-108 decision to the Utah Jazz at the United Center.

Derrick Rose, who is averaging 26.6 points, 6.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds in
his last six contests, led the Bulls with 25 points and 13 assists. Brad
Miller had 20 points, while Luol Deng and Ronald Murray totaled 14 points
apiece for Chicago, which is a game off the sixth postseason spot in the
Eastern Conference. Toronto, Charlotte and Miami are all even for sixth, while
the Bulls are on the outside looking in at the ninth spot.

"We played well enough offensively, but we can't control the paint right now,"
said Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro.

The Bulls will open a four-game road trip Thursday against Orlando, Miami,
Memphis and Dallas, and are 12-19 away from the Windy City this season. Back
on January 15, Chicago owned a road record of 4-15 and have gone 8-4 as the
visitor since. Deng (calf) will miss Thursday's game, while Miller is probable
with a thumb injury. Miller is posting 16.5 ppg in his last four outings.

The 2009-10 series between Orlando and Chicago is tied at a game apiece, but
the Magic have won 10 of 13 and 11 of the last 15 meetings. The Bulls have
lost four straight and five of their last six at Orlando.


PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (38-28) AT GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (17-46), 10:30 P.M.

(Sports Network) - Hoping to keep their playoff aspirations alive, the
Portland Trail Blazers will hit the road for back-to-back games starting with
tonight's showdown against the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena.

Portland is eighth in the Western Conference standings, just a game behind No.
7 San Antonio, and will also visit Sacramento on the road swing. The Blazers
are 17-15 away from the Rose Garden, where they handed the Kings an 88-81
setback on Tuesday. Brandon Roy led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds,
while Andre Miller had 14 points and five assists for Portland, which has won
four of its last five games.

"We didn't dominate this game like we wanted to come out, but we'll take the
win," Roy said. "We've got to continue to improve. I thought our defense got
better, but offensively, we weren't very good tonight."

Miller is averaging 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.28 steals
since January 2. LaMarcus Aldridge had 13 points and seven boards in the
recent victory, and is posting 19.5 points and 8.4 rebounds in the last 28
games for a Portland defense allowing the fewest points per game (95.1) of any
team in the conference.

The Blazers have held their opponents under 100 points in 46 games this
season, the most by any team in the West, and have won 41 straight contests
when keeping the opposition to 88 points or less, including an 18-0 mark in
2009-10.

Golden State is playing out the string and is still searching for its first
win this month, having dropped every test of a recent five-game road trip. It
has lost 11 in a row away from Oakland, including Monday's 135-131 decision at
New Orleans Arena.

Anthony Morrow made all six of his three-point tries on his way to 28 points
for the Warriors, who got a career-high 28 points from Reggie Williams. Corey
Maggette and Devean George each had 18 points in a losing effort.

"I thought we played good defense," Williams said. "I thought where it killed
us was on the boards. I didn't do a good job rebounding. That definitely
didn't help."

The Warriors will commence a four-game homestand Thursday versus the Blazers,
Raptors, Lakers and Hornets, and own a 13-18 home mark. In injury news for
Golden State, leading scorer Monta Ellis, who is averaging 25.7 ppg, has
missed six straight games with a back issue and is questionable for tonight.
Also, head coach Don Nelson is still seven wins away from breaking Lenny
Wilkins' all-time record of 1,332 victories.

Portland and Golden State have split a pair of matchups so far this season,
with each team holding serve as the host, while the Warriors have won 13 of
the previous 18 matchups between the clubs. The Blazers have lost nine in a
row and 12 of their last 16 visits to Oakland.

Portland last won the series, a 4-0 sweep, in 2002-03.