NBA preview for November 17/22: Portland in action

There are not a lot of games going on in the NBA on Thursday night. The big sporting event in North America will be the Thursday night football game between the Tennessee Titans and the Green Bay Packers. However, the best team in the Western Conference so far this season will be in action. The Portland Trailblazers will host the Brooklyn Nets as part of a three-game set of games on Thursday.

Portland Trailblazers vs Brooklyn Nets (7 PM PT)

The Portland Trailblazers enter Thursday as a 10-4 team in the NBA. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets are 6-9 on the season.

The Nets appeared to hit a little bit better form when they parted ways with Steve Nash. However, the team is yet to get back to .500 on the season. Currently, they are on a painful road trip. They handled the Clippers easily to start their west-coast trip but have lost to both the Lakers and Sacramento in more recent games.

Portland looks like a tall order for the Nets to handle given that they lost their two most recent games by a combined 45 points. Portland backers will be wise to keep an eye on Jusuf Nurkic’s playing status in this game.

San Antonio Spurs vs Sacramento Kings (7 PM PT)

The Sacramento Kings will host the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. The two teams have gone in opposite directions lately. The Kings started the season 0-4 but have since improved to 7-6 on the season. Meanwhile, the Spurs started the season 5-2 but have since free fallen to 6-9 on the season. Rookie Keegan Murray is questionable for the Kings due to a back issue, according to James Ham of ESPN 1320 Sacramento.

Detroit Pistons vs LA Clippers (7:30 PM PT)

The Detroit Pistons will be in Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Thursday night. The Pistons are one of four teams not to win a road game so far this season. They are 0-7 so far but the Clippers are not a bad team for Detroit to try their luck against. LA is 3-4 when hosting so far this season.

LA backers will have to keep an eye on Paul George’s playing status. Luke Kennard is doubtful for the game, Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.com reports. John Wall is “Active” for the contest but there’s still no word on when Kawhi Leonard will start playing again for the Clippers. Detroit starters Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart will be out for the game as part of short-term recoveries from injury.