The Cavs haven't lost three straight all season; prior to last night at Philadelphia, only once had Cleveland lost as many as two in a row in this fun-filled campaign. Kenny Atkinson should have no trouble reminding his troops about playing better defense after allowing the Sixers to hit 132 last night, the second-highest allowance of points by Cleveland this season (the Hawks scored 135 back on Nov. 27, part of Atlanta's back-to-back sweep). This is also a quick payback spot for the Cavs after a bitter Wednesday loss at Houston when Darius Garland would miss a pair of free throws in the final seconds that proved the difference in a 109-108 loss. Play Cavs

We had been thinking the Magic could struggle for a bit once Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner returned to active duty after lengthy absences. It turns out that was spot-on, as Wagner finally returned to active duty on Thursday vs. Toronto but it helped little as the Magic lost for a fifth straight game. Orlando had been earlier struggling to fit Banchero, who missed more than two months, back into the flow, as Jamahl Mosley recalibrates his rotations that eventually worked so well with both stars sidelined. One constant with Orlando, however, is lower-scoring games, which the Magic's recent stretch of scoring below 100 in five of six has sustained; Orlando is under three straight and 12 of tis last 16. Play Pistons-Magic Under

The Sixers season seems to have stalled on the Walt Whitman Bridge; Joel Embiid remains sidelined and Philly has slipped to 15-27 and on the wrong side of the East's play-in cut line. Meanwhile, it's a rare chance to go with the Cavs off of a loss (Wednesday at Houston), as they're 5-1 after previous defeats, the only loss those puzzling back-to-back losses vs. the Hawks in late November. Philly might have bottomed out in the 144-109 loss at Denver on Thursday; Sixers fans can only hope so, as that result stretched the losing skid to seven straight, and the last three of those, the Sixers haven't been closer than 13 points. Play Cavs

Besides Philly's seven-game skid minus Joel Embiid (who hasn't played since January 4 and remains out tonight), there are other developments for the Sixers. No surprise that no Embiid has slowed the offense considerably, as Philly hasn't scored more than 109 in regulation time across its last six games. Minus Embiid, Tyrese Maxey is carrying a very heavy offensive burden now as he has led the Sixers in scoring in ight of the nine games Embiid has missed in this recent absence. Meanwhile, the Cavs can play tight defense when the mood strikes as in the last two vs. the Suns and Rockets, games that both handily stayed under earlier this week. Play Cavs-Sixers Under

The Wizards keep losing, so they question remains the same,..by how much? Often competitive for a few games before getting lambasted. as the last two vs. Sacto and the Lakers (23-point losses to each). Other losing margins in this 11-game skid are 41 (vs. OKC), 33 (vs. Chicago), and another 23-poitn margin (vs. Houston).The Clips are off of a draining OT last night vs. Boston, but have proven resilient this season, and even without most of their key cogs last night (Kawhi, Harden, Powell, Dunn), and might get a couple of those back for tonight. Note the Clips won the first meeting by 25 on November 27 in D.C. when only harden among the big guns was able to play, and scored 43. Play Clippers

Hard to tell sometimes who is going to be on the floor for the Clippers, whose injury list is long. Last night, no Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Norman Powell, or Kris Dunn, yet still pushed the Celtics into OT behind Derrick Jones, Jr and Kevin Porter. A couple of those could feature tonight, and it's the night after a tough OT loss, but the constant with the Clippers has been solid defense, which kept Boston on 103 thru regulation last night, part of allowing only 94 ppg across the past six. The Wizards aren't scoring points on this road trip (barely 100 pg last three) as they are in the midst of another long drought, this time 11 losses in a row. Play Wizards-Clippers Under

Now that it looks as if Trae Young has a probable designation for tonight, expect the Hawks to make a quick recovery from a poor effort vs. the Pistons when missing 32 of 38 triples in a 114-104 loss last night. Atlanta had won its previous four games handily at State Farm Arena and also destroyed the Raps in the most-recent meeting on December 29 when the Hawks rolled 136-107. Young scored 34 that night as Atlanta stretched 6-point halftime lead into a 29-point cushion at the end. Toronto has stirred a bit the past week with wins in three of four, but road trips have been nightmares lately for Toronto, which has lost nine straight away, many by big margins. Play Hawks

Like usual, the daily injury report asks all sorts of questions about the Clippers' potential lineup. For the moment we know that Kawhi Leonard is out again for tonight, while a slew of others (James Harden and Norman Powell included) carry questionable designations for tonight. No matter who has featured for the Clips, however, Ty Lue has been able to extract some solid defense all season from his troops, trending under once again (four of five). Boston hits Inglewood allowing just 94 pg its last three and already having clocked the Clips once at TD Garden by 32 on November 25 against a Kawhi-and-Powell-less Clippers, and hits tonight on a 7-2 under run. Play Celtics-Clippers Under

Not the same old Warriors, who have been on the end of some frightful beatings while shorthanded the past month, including a blowout loss at home vs. the Kings on January 5. Monday's 40-point loss to the Celtics was also the worst home defeat of the Steve Kerr era. Still no Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, or Draymond Green available to support Steph Curry, and must acknowledge the drag this has on Golden State, which has failed to cover in 11 of its last 15. Meanwhile, the eye test says Sacto, which has caught fire for interim Doug Christie, 9-1 SU (7-1-2 vs. spread) last ten, helped by no injury concerns at the moment, and with an on-fire DeMar DeRozan (24.3 ppg this month). Play Kings

We've seen enough from Charlotte lately to give the Hornets a whirl at this price. Winners in four of five, Charlotte is finally healthy and watching its big two of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges take turns leading on the scoresheet across the uptick. For Bridges, he's scored 20+ in five straight; for Ball, he's scored 23+ in nine straight dating to mid-December. Memphis is obviously capable especially with Ja Morant healthy and in the lineup, but in a curious twist this month, the road team has covered in the last six Grizzlies games. Play Hornets

We'll give a bit of a mulligan to Orlando, as this has been a difficult stretch, with losses to the T-wolves, Bucks (twice), Celtics, and Nuggets the past two weeks. Paolo Banchero has at least returned to active duty for the Magic, though enduring the worst game of the five since being reactivated on Sunday vs. the Nuggets when scoring only 10 on 4 for 17 FG shooting. Banchero, however, did score 20 or more in the previous four games. Orlando also recently won 106-97 at Toronto (January 3) without Banchero or either of the Wagners. The Raps do own recent wins over the Warriors and Celtics but regressed in Friday's heavy loss to Milwaukee, and have lost 17 of their last 20. Play Magic

Losses in three of five suggests Boston, by its standards at least, hits MLK Day in a bit of a funk. Whenever the Celtics have wobbled lately, however, they have usually been able to call upon their defense to straighten things out, and worth noting that Saturday's OT loss to the Hawks still stayed under at TD Garden, and unders indeed 6-2 the last eight for the Cs. Meanwhile it hasn't been the same explosive Warriors for a while now as Steph Curry often left on his own to repel the opposition, especially with Steve Kerr's ranks thinned with Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski out, and Steph playing on a bad ankle in recent games. Play Celtics-Warriors Under

The Hawks play in streaks and now are on the ascent with wins in three straight and four of five after taking out the Celtics in a wild OT affair on Saturday night. Trae Young appears to have tapped another rich vein of form as he has led Atlanta in scoring eight times in the last nine games, topping out with 43 in last Tuesday's win vs. the Suns. Atlanta is also doing damage recently on the road, with back-to-back away wins at Chicago and Boston. Meanwhile, save a recent blowout of the Bucks, the Knicks have looked mostly flat in January, with just three spread covers their last nine amid some growing defensive concerns for Tom Thibodeau. Play Hawks.

Check the injury report at FedEx Forum, as Ja Morant's status needs to be monitored for the Griz after a sore foot kept him out of Friday's game vs. the Spurs. It should be noted that Memphis didn't need him to blow out the Spurs by 28, completing an impressive sweep in San Antonio after romping on Wednesday as well. Santi Aldama led the push with 29 points in the Friday win. Also note a recent win on January 11 at Minnesota when Morant was not the main contributor, scoring just 12, with Jaren Jackson badly hurting the T-wolves with 33. Minnesota has lost 3 of 5, and a chance Rudy Gobert (ankle) doesn't go, or is limited, this afternoon Play Grizzlies.

The Lakers make their first-ever visit crosstown to the Intuit Dome in what will also be a battle for first place in the Pacific Division. Kawhi Leonard is due back tonight for the Clips after skipping the second of a back-to-back at midweek against the Blazers. With another back-to-back slated tomorrow vs. the Bulls, keep an eye on the statuses of James Harden, Norman Powell, and Kris Dunn, who all made it onto tonight's injury report but have been featuring in recent games. Whoever has been on the court for the Clips lately has been contributing to superb defense, holding each foe beneath 100 points in the win streak as the Clips' under stretch is now 10-3 across the last 13 games. Play Lakers-Clippers Under