After getting a pair of much-needed victories and receiving somewhat positive injury news, the Los Angeles Lakers will carry plenty of optimism into a Friday home matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Lakers (36-37) earned a hard-fought, 122-111 home victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, media reports indicated that LeBron James would be back in the fold before the end of the regular season.

Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of James’ workouts as the superstar looks to return from a right foot tendon injury, “They’re intense and they’re going well.”

James responded to the reports about his status with a Thursday tweet: “There wasn’t an evaluation today and there hasn’t been any target date for my return. I’m just working around the clock, every day (3X a day) to give myself (the) best chance of coming back full strength whenever that is. God bless y’all sources. I speak for myself!”

The Lakers, who are trying to lock down a spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament, have been finding a way to pull off success without their star. They are 7-5 since James was injured in a Feb. 26 victory against the Dallas Mavericks.

While Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell led the initial charge after James went down, a new go-to player has emerged. Austin Reaves scored a career-high 35 points in a victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday, and that earned him a start on Wednesday. He turned that opportunity into a 25-point, 11-assist performance against the Suns.

“Since Bron’s been out, we’ve had to have multiple guys fill what he does because he does everything on the court,” Reaves said, according to the Orange County Register. “So I’ve tried to be more aggressive offensively both ways, getting teammates involved, and then also scoring and getting to the line.

“So it’s really just been going back and playing basketball the way that I love, the way that I’ve always played and having fun with it.”

Reaves is averaging 19.8 points per game in the past nine contests after putting up 10.8 per game in 46 games to start the season.

The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also is on a tear, but his production was expected as he has developed into a legitimate star.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting on Thursday, but the Thunder (36-37) dropped a 127-105 road decision to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Thunder saw the Clippers shoot 56 percent from the field and 48.6 percent (18 of 37) from 3-point range.

Despite the defeat, which came two days after a 101-100 road victory over the Clippers, Oklahoma City has won eight of its past 11 games. Still, the latest loss dropped the Thunder out of a play-in tournament spot in the West, although they are tied with three teams that are eligible, one of which is the Lakers.

“We didn’t execute well enough, weren’t physical enough throughout the game,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “We had moments early, certainly, but we weren’t where we needed to be. So turn the page and we have another opportunity (against the Lakers).”

–Field Level Media

The Dallas Mavericks are in a tough spot in their bid to reach the postseason.

However, they have a nice situation coming over the next few days: a pair of games against the struggling and short-handed Charlotte Hornets. The teams face off Friday night in Dallas before meeting again on Sunday in Charlotte.

These are key games for the Mavericks, who have been teetering near the playoff line in the Western Conference.

Dallas (36-37) has lost two in a row and five of its past seven. The Mavericks’ most recent game was a controversial 127-125 home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban stated his intention to file a protest over the result due to an incident in the third quarter. After a timeout, the Warriors got an uncontested dunk off an inbounds pass when the Mavericks thought they were supposed to get the ball.

Aside from their anger at the refs, the Mavericks were happy to see Luka Doncic stand out in his return from a five-game absence caused by a left thigh strain. The superstar guard posted 30 points and 17 assists.

“Every time you lose, it’s bad,” Doncic said. “We’ve got to focus (on) what’s next. We’ve got to be focused on winning.”

The Hornets (23-51) have lost five of their past six games, including a 115-96 road setback against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.

Guards Terry Rozier (foot) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (shoulder) were unavailable for the Hornets by halftime.

“We’ll get to Dallas and see how they feel,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. “We’re going to have to wait and see who’s available.”

The Hornets finished Thursday night’s game with a further reduced bench because guard Dennis Smith Jr. exited in the third quarter due to an illness. That left Charlotte with seven available players.

“We got disorganized and made some mistakes,” Clifford said. “We don’t have a lot of room for error.”

For the second time in their past three games, the Hornets didn’t have a player reach the 20-point mark.

Guard Kyrie Irving has led the Mavericks in scoring eight times since early February, but he is questionable for the Friday game after sustaining a foot injury earlier in the week and the missing Wednesday contest. He has scored 20 or more points in 12 of 13 games since joining Dallas in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

Irving scored 28 points against the Hornets while playing for the Nets on New Year’s Eve. He blistered Charlotte for 33 points in a Dec. 7 game.

Tim Hardaway Jr. also sat out Wednesday because of illness, leaving the Dallas rotation short-handed. Like Irving, he was listed as questionable to play Friday.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks have received nice boosts from rookie guard Jaden Hardy, who scored 27 points off the bench against Golden State.

“Now with Timmy out, you look at Josh (Green) and Hardy getting those minutes,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “Again, Hardy has been fantastic in those minutes.”

Kidd said Hardy is learning when it’s best to drive and when it’s best to slow down and take a jumper.

“As a young player, it takes some time,” Kidd said. “He has the talent to do it, which is always helpful.”

The Friday contest will be the final home game for the Mavericks until a three-game stretch from April 5-9 to conclude the regular season.

Since the loss of rookie center Mark Williams to a thumb injury, the Hornets have taken severe rebounding lumps. The Pelicans pounded Charlotte on the boards by a 52-38 count.

Dallas has rebounding issues as well. The Mavericks have been outrebounded in their past three games, including by 13-board margins against both the Memphis Grizzlies and the Warriors.

–Field Level Media

Isaac Okoro hit a game-winning 3-pointer in the final second as the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers rallied in the final two minutes for a stunning 116-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night in New York.

The Cavaliers won for the ninth time in 12 games by outscoring the Nets 12-2 over the final 2:13.

Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points to lead the Cavaliers, who trailed by nine with 3:32 remaining. Evan Mobley collected 26 points and 16 rebounds as Cleveland moved five games ahead of the fifth-place New York Knicks.

Mikal Bridges scored 32 points, but the Nets lost their season-high fifth straight and fell a half-game behind the Miami Heat into seventh ahead of Saturday’s visit there. Spencer Dinwiddie added 25 points while Joe Harris contributed 15.

Clippers 127, Thunder 105

Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 24 as Los Angeles took control in the second half and beat visiting Oklahoma City.

Bones Hyland had 16 points and seven assists for Los Angeles, which avenged a 101-100 home loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday. The Clippers played without All-Star guard Paul George, who sprained his right knee Tuesday and will miss the remainder of the regular season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 30 points against his former team. Josh Giddey scored 18 points, and Jalen Williams added 16.

Pelicans 115, Hornets 96

Brandon Ingram had his first career triple-double, Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double and host New Orleans defeated Charlotte.

Ingram finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Valanciunas had 20 points and 19 rebounds as the Pelicans won their third straight game to strengthen their standing in the tightly bunched battle to reach the Western Conference play-in tournament. CJ McCollum scored 20, Trey Murphy III had 19 and Naji Marshall added 16.

P.J. Washington scored 18, Svi Mykhailiuk had 15 and Gordon Hayward added 12 to lead the Hornets (23-51), who lost starting guards Terry Rozier (foot) and Dennis Smith Jr. (illness) in the first half.

Magic 111, Knicks 106

Paolo Banchero scored 21 points as host Orlando held off New York despite squandering a 19-point third-quarter lead.

Cole Anthony had 18 points off the bench for the Magic, who have won three of four to move within four games of the Chicago Bulls in the race for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. Wendell Carter Jr. and Franz Wagner each scored 16 points apiece.

Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley scored 25 points each for the Knicks, who lost their third straight. Julius Randle had 23 points.

–Field Level Media

Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 24 as the Los Angeles Clippers took control in the second half to beat the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder 127-105 on Thursday.

Bones Hyland had 16 points and seven assists, while Terance Mann scored 14 points and Nicolas Batum added 12 for Los Angeles (39-35), which avenged a 101-100 home loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Leonard shot 13-for-15 from the floor and had six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City (36-37) with 30 points against his former team. Josh Giddey scored 18 points, and Jalen Williams added 16.

The Clippers played without All-Star guard Paul George, who sprained his right knee in the Tuesday loss. George will miss the remainder of the regular season and will be reassessed in two to three weeks.

Leonard opened the game shooting 7-for-7 from the field and scored 15 points in the first quarter to help put Los Angeles ahead 36-29. The Clippers shot 63.6 percent from the field for the period.

Oklahoma City trailed 42-31 early in the second quarter before holding the Clippers to 12 points over the final 10 minutes of the half, which ended with the teams tied at 54. Gilgeous-Alexander had 19 points before the break to lead all scorers.

Leonard was held scoreless in the second quarter before responding with 15 in the third. After Oklahoma City moved ahead 68-65 on a Giddey 3-pointer, the Clippers began to take control over the final seven minutes of the period.

Los Angeles owned a 92-80 advantage at the end of the third quarter after draining two 3-pointers in the final minute. The Clippers carried the momentum into the fourth and outscored the Thunder 24-9 to begin the period.

Westbrook, who finished with seven assists, scored five straight points to put the Clippers ahead 116-89 with 4:51 remaining.

Ivica Zubac had a game-high 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, which shot 56 percent from the field and 48.6 percent (18 of 37) from 3-point range.

Oklahoma City, which had won the first three meetings against the Clippers this season, shot 44.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent (13 of 39) from beyond the arc.

–Field Level Media