The atmosphere figures to be tense when the road-challenged Golden State Warriors take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

The two teams just had a testy experience in Memphis when the Grizzlies routed the Warriors 131-110 on March 9. It marked Memphis’ first win in three meetings with Golden State this season.

Golden State’s Draymond Green and Memphis’ Dillon Brooks often have expressed their dislike for each other, magnified by last season’s Western Conference semifinals ithat the Warriors won in six games. The latest matchup featured in-game animosity and postgame barbs and continued for several days.

Brooks was quoted as saying, “I just don’t like Golden State. I don’t like anything to do with them.”

Green’s reply included this shot at Brooks: “If you ever wondered why the Memphis Grizzlies are not ready to compete for the championship, look no further than this idiot right here.”

The Grizzlies share the second-best record (42-27) in the Western Conference with the Sacramento Kings and have avoided slippage despite star point guard Ja Morant serving a suspension for detrimental conduct. Memphis is 4-3 entering the eighth and final game of Morant’s punishment.

The Grizzlies also figure to be exuberant after setting a franchise record by recovering from a 29-point, third-quarter deficit on Friday to post a 126-120 overtime victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs.

The Warriors (36-35) are trying to grab a top-six playoff spot in the West but have lost five of their past seven games. Golden State currently is in the first play-in spot after the Dallas Mavericks used a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night and move into the sixth spot.

The Warriors also possess a horrid 7-28 road record, and Friday’s 127-119 to the Atlanta Hawks was their 10th consecutive away from home.

Still, Golden State coach Steve Kerr continues to expect a turnaround.

“It’s not mental,” Kerr said after the loss to the Hawks. “I think we’re competing. We’re playing pretty well. It’s hard to win on the road in this league. We’re just not getting it done.”

Green missed Friday’s contest due to an automatic one-game suspension for receiving his 16th technical foul on Wednesday during a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Stephen Curry scored 31 points on 12-of-27 shooting against the Hawks. Two nights earlier, he matched his season high of 50 while sinking 20 of 28 shots against the Clippers.

The game against the Grizzlies is the third of a five-game road excursion for the Warriors. Forward Kevon Looney said the club needs to focus on how it’s playing as opposed to where.

“We’re in these games on the road, we’re playing decent playoff teams, so it’s not easy to win but we still got to figure it out,” Looney said. “We’ve got to be able to push through, we’ve got to be able to win on the road to complete the goal that we want.”

Meanwhile, Memphis played a poor first half before the impressive rally against the Spurs. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said he had nothing to say to his players at halftime.

“We didn’t watch any film,” Jenkins said. “I just opened up the floor to the players to talk and said, ‘What do you got for me?’ Four or five guys spoke up and said it was unacceptable what we were doing in the first half.

“We were too casual, we weren’t communicating, we weren’t executing our coverages, we weren’t playing with physicality, we weren’t trusting the pass.”

Tyus Jones has stood out while filling in for Morant and had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on Friday for his first career triple-double. Jones has reached double digits in assists in four of the seven games Morant has missed.

–Field Level Media

The Sacramento Kings will aim to continue their ascent on Saturday night when they visit the Washington Wizards.

The Kings (42-27) have won 10 of their past 12 games overall and 12 of their past 16 on the road to clinch their first winning season since 2005-06. That season remains noteworthy for Sacramento, as it was the last time the franchise qualified for the playoffs.

His team’s accomplishment notwithstanding, De’Aaron Fox said he’d rather look ahead than behind.

“I don’t think anybody on our team was coming into the season like, ‘Oh, we (just) want a winning record,'” Fox said following the Kings’ 101-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday. “But I think it’s good. I think it’s good for the franchise, it’s good for the city, it’s good for the fan base to finally get that out of the way.

“But, for us, we know that we still want to do bigger things.”

Domantas Sabonis collected 24 points and 21 rebounds on Thursday, marking the fourth time this season he has reached the 20-20 plateau. Sabonis also had five assists and four blocks vs. Brooklyn.

“I don’t know if (Sabonis) knows another way. He’s got one gear, and it’s the highest gear,” Sacramento coach Mike Brown said. … “He sets the tone for us with his physicality. He was great (Thursday) because — we stay on him about it — but he’s got to continue playing as hard as he does and as physical as he does, but doing that while showing his hands (on defense) so he doesn’t get in early foul trouble.”

Sabonis recorded 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the Kings’ 125-111 loss to the Wizards on Dec. 23. Fox added 26 points and seven rebounds.

Sacramento, however, might be without starting shooting guard Kevin Huerter, who is day-to-day after an MRI revealed a mild strain of the popliteus muscle in his right leg. Terence Davis and Kessler Edwards could see additional playing time should Huerter sit out on Saturday.

Bradley Beal scored 24 points in the initial meeting with the Kings and added 22 in Washington’s 117-94 setback to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. Beal has reached the 20-point plateau in 32 games this season, including seven of his past eight appearances for the Wizards (32-38).

Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and nine rebounds on Friday as Washington fell for the sixth time in eight games. Porzingis has at least 20 points in 41 games this season, including 22 of his past 30 appearances.

“We didn’t do a very good job of creating leads or early separation, and kind of allowed them to kinda set a tone blowing our actions up, which facilitated some of those turnovers,” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “I thought how they got out, got behind us a little bit early in the game, and that’s what kind of got them going.”

Kyle Kuzma returned from a one-game absence due to right knee soreness and scored seven points while batting foul trouble. He had 32 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the floor in the previous meeting against the Kings.

–Field Level Media

The Toronto Raptors will pursue their third straight victory — and the seventh in a row at home — when they play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.

The Raptors (34-36) will aim to complete a sweep of their three-game homestand after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-111 on Thursday.

The Timberwolves fell 139-131 in double overtime to the host Chicago Bulls on Friday. Minnesota (35-36) lost Anthony Edwards in the first quarter due to a sprained right ankle, and he did not return. He played eight minutes and scored eight points.

Edwards will be reassessed on Saturday, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said post-game.

The setback was Minnesota’s fourth in five games.

The Raptors got 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists from Pascal Siakam and 16 points and 12 rebounds from Jakob Poeltl in their victory over the Thunder.

All five Toronto starters scored in double figures, with Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes each putting up 19 points and O.G. Anunoby contributing 17. Gary Trent Jr. added 23 off the bench.

“I always say you’ve got to take what’s there, right?” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “Some nights it’s a very equal-opportunity thing, some nights it isn’t so much depending on the coverages. But I thought everybody had their moments (Thursday), all the way through.

“Those six guys really all produced, shot a pretty good percentage. Good number of assists, which is good, low turnovers. So there was a lot of good, good stuff there.”

Siakam had been in a bit of a slump recently, managing just 12 points in each of his previous two games, but he shot 9-for-19 from the field on Thursday.

“He had a few of the hard-driving baskets, a few spin moves all the way to the rim,” Nurse said. “Five offensive rebounds, so he’s in there trying to find a bunch of different ways to score. … and I thought he did a good job of stepping into some threes that maybe he wouldn’t take normally.”

With Christian Koloko playing 12 minutes off the bench on Thursday, it meant that Precious Achiuwa did not play. However, Koloko sustained a broken nose for the game, and he was listed as questionable for Saturday.

The Timberwolves stumbled in the opener of a three-game trip on Friday, squandering a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead before Chicago won the marathon contest.

Mike Conley led Minnesota with 28 points, shooting 8-for-12 from 3-point range. Jaden McDaniels added 25 points.

Edwards was injured late in the first quarter when he landed awkwardly after jumping while throwing a pass.

“I saw the whole play — he came down on (Nikola) Vucevic’s foot,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Those are always super painful. It went completely over. We knew it was real, and I knew it was going to be bad.”

Finch did not know how long Edwards would be out.

“Ant’s a tough kid, man, super tough,” Finch said. “Had the (walking) boot on (during the game) already.”

Minnesota center Rudy Gobert produced 21 points, 19 rebounds and five blocked shots before fouling out in the first overtime.

“He was awesome,” Finch said. “Offensively, he was a huge-impact guy just rolling, sealing, fighting for offensive rebounds, keeping things alive.”

–Field Level Media

After recording arguably their best win of the season, the Indiana Pacers will look to carry that momentum into a Saturday night matchup against the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.

Indiana (32-38) won for the fourth time in six games on Thursday, beating the host Milwaukee Bucks 139-123.

The Pacers now turn their attention toward another Eastern Conference power, Philadelphia (47-22), which has won seven straight.

Rookie Andrew Nembhard provided a spark on Thursday for the Pacers, who scored a season-high 84 second-half points and snapped a 10-game, head-to-head losing streak against the Bucks. Nembhard had a team-high 24 points in the victory.

Indiana enters Saturday’s game a half-game out of 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 12 games remaining. Teams seven through 10 will advance to the play-in tournament.

The win over Milwaukee was even more surprising considering that Indiana played without All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton and rookie Bennedict Mathurin, both of whom sat out due to right ankle sprains. Both will be sidelined again on Saturday.

With Haliburton out, Nembhard scored the second-most points of his career on Friday.

“He set the tone,” teammate T.J. McConnell said. “I’ve been singing his praises all year, and I will continue to do so throughout his career. Andrew is a special player. Everything we have asked from him this year, he’s done. He’s guarded the best players on defense. He set the tone for us tonight.”

Indiana has dropped its past five meetings against Philadelphia, including the first three matchups this season. Sixers star Joel Embiid scored 42 points in a 147-143 win over the Pacers on March 6.

Philadelphia is in the midst of playing seven road games in an eight-game span. The Sixers will complete a back-to-back set on Saturday, but the fact that they cruised to a 121-82 win over the host Charlotte Hornets on Friday allowed them to limit the starters’ minutes. James Harden logged a team-high 31.

Embiid finished with 38 points and 13 rebounds in just 29 minutes. He has at least 30 points in eight straight games.

“It’s awesome,” Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s scoring, but he’s also dominating the game on the other end. He’s making the right passes, he’s including his teammates. Then defensively, he’s just been dominant.”

Harden contributed 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his fifth triple-double of the season. Tobias Harris added 18 points.

Philadelphia forward Jalen McDaniels has missed the past two games because of a right hip contusion and is listed as day-to-day.

The Sixers are third in the Eastern Conference and hold a four-game lead over the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers with 13 games to play.

“We’ve got one of the hardest schedules remaining. It’s great for us,” Harden said. “Every game is a playoff atmosphere; it’s the intensity. The possessions, they count.”

The Sixers’ final stretch will continue against Indiana, which is being careful not to overreact after knocking off Milwaukee.

“It’s a big win, but you’ve got to keep things in perspective,” Pacers center Myles Turner said. “It’s a game-by-game basis. We’re at the end of the year here and know these games matter. These games count. That’s our mentality going forward. It’s a big win for morale, but the job is not finished. We still have a lot of climbing to do.”

–Field Level Media

Kyrie Irving scored 38 points in his return from a foot injury and Maxi Kleber made a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the visiting Dallas Mavericks pulled off a 111-110 victory on Friday to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a month.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Christian Wood each scored 12 points as the Mavericks won without Luka Doncic, who has missed the last four games with a thigh injury but could be back Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Mavericks moved two games ahead of the Lakers in the Western Conference standings while winning the season series between the teams 3-1.

Anthony Davis scored 26 points with 10 rebounds for the Lakers after missing Wednesday’s defeat to the Houston Rockets because of load management. Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Dennis Schroder added 15 as Los Angeles played its 10th consecutive game without LeBron James (foot).

76ers 121, Hornets 82

Joel Embiid poured in 38 points and rested in the fourth quarter as Philadelphia won its seventh game in a row by blowing out the host Hornets.

Embiid shot 16-for-21 from the field and delivered five assists. He compiled all of his 38 points with more than two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Terry Rozier’s 14 points, P.J. Washington’s 12 points and Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 11 points led Charlotte. The Hornets — who lost their fourth game in a row and are in danger of going winless on a five-game homestand that wraps up Monday night — also got 10 points from reserve Kai Jones.

Hawks 127, Warriors 119

Trae Young scored 25 points and made a key defensive play in the final minute to help host Atlanta defeat Golden State.

The Hawks led by four points when Young stole the ball from Stephen Curry and scored with 45.1 seconds left. Young then iced the game with two free throws. Young finished with 12 assists to secure his 34th double-double, and added six rebounds and a steal.

Curry led Golden State with 31 points, and Kevon Looney racked up his 12th double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds. The Warriors have lost 10 straight road games.

Celtics 126, Trail Blazers 112

Jayson Tatum recorded 34 points and 12 rebounds to lead Boston over host Portland.

Jaylen Brown added 27 points for the Celtics. Marcus Smart had 15 points, six assists and four steals, Derrick White added 13 points and Al Horford had 12 points and 10 assists as Boston won for the fourth time in five games.

Damian Lillard scored 25 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t prevent the Trail Blazers from dropping their fifth consecutive contest and 10th in the past 13 games.

Cavaliers 117, Wizards 94

Darius Garland had 24 points, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley added 20 apiece and host Cleveland led wire-to-wire in a win over Washington.

Caris LeVert scored 15 points and Mobley tallied eight rebounds and four blocks for Cleveland, which completed a three-game season sweep of the Wizards. Garland contributed nine assists while shooting 11 of 19 from the field.

Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and nine rebounds.

Bulls 139, Timberwolves 131 (2OT)

DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 49 points to go with 14 rebounds and Zach LaVine added 39 points as host Chicago outlasted Minnesota.

DeRozan and LaVine combined for 63 of their points after halftime, helping the Bulls win for the third time in four games. The duo finished 30-for-50 from the field.

Mike Conley sank eight 3-pointers while leading Minnesota with 28 points. Jaden McDaniels followed with a career-high 25 points. Minnesota, which lost Anthony Edwards to injury early in the game, produced six double-figure scorers, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the team’s fourth loss in five games.

Rockets 114, Pelicans 112

Jabari Smith Jr. drilled a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining and Houston rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit to beat visiting New Orleans for its third win in a row.

With the Rockets trailing by one point following a wild back and forth, Smith walked into a pull-up 3 after Houston secured possession with four seconds remaining. The Pelicans were unable to get off a shot on their ensuing possession, falling to 3-8 since the All-Star break.

Jalen Green paced Houston with 25 points while Kevin Porter Jr. added 20. Alperen Sengun added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 31 points and six assists, while Jonas Valanciunas had 22 points and 17 rebounds.

Grizzlies 126, Spurs 120 (OT)

Dillon Brooks had the game-tying 3-pointer to send the game into overtime and added a key basket from beyond the arc late in the extra period as Memphis defeated host San Antonio.

The Spurs led 84-55 after Malaki Branham’s 3-pointer with 7:50 to play in the third period. The Grizzlies then scored 26 of the quarter’s final 35 points to pull within 93-81 heading into the fourth quarter.

Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 28 points, Desmond Bane had 21, and Tyus Jones added a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points and Zach Collins had 24.

–Field Level Media

Kyrie Irving scored 38 points in his return from a foot injury and Maxi Kleber made a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the visiting Dallas Mavericks pulled off a 111-110 victory on Friday to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a month.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Christian Wood each scored 12 points as the Mavericks won without Luka Doncic, who has missed the last four games with a thigh injury but could be back Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Mavericks (36-35) remained ahead of the Lakers (34-37) in the Western Conference standings while winning the season series between the teams 3-1. Dallas had not won consecutive games since a three-game streak Feb. 6-10.

Anthony Davis scored 26 points with 10 rebounds for the Lakers after missing Wednesday’s defeat to the Houston Rockets because of load management. Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Dennis Schroder added 15 as Los Angeles played its 10th consecutive game without LeBron James (foot).

The Mavericks closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take an 89-80 lead into the final period. Irving, who missed the previous three games, scored five points in the run.

The Lakers opened the fourth quarter on a 12-5 run to pull within 94-92 and grabbed a 97-96 advantage with 7:09 remaining on a runner by Reaves for their first lead since the second quarter.

The Lakers went up 107-102 with 3:16 to play on a jumper by Davis but did not make another field goal. The Mavericks pulled to within 109-108 with 7.2 seconds remaining when Davis fouled Kleber on a 3-point attempt and Kleber made all three free throws.

Davis made just one of two free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining before Irving found Kleber for the game winner as time expired. The Mavericks outscored the Lakers 9-3 over the final 2:48.

The Mavericks led 62-54 at halftime after shooting 57.1 percent. The Lakers managed to shoot 52.4 percent in the first half but made just 3 of 11 attempts from 3-point range and 7 of 13 free-throw attempts.

–Field Level Media

Jayson Tatum recorded 34 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 126-112 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.

Jaylen Brown added 27 points for Boston, which trails the first-place Milwaukee Bucks by 1 1/2 games in the Eastern Conference. Marcus Smart had 15 points, six assists and four steals, Derrick White added 13 points and Al Horford had 12 points and 10 assists as the Celtics (49-22) won for the fourth time in five games.

Damian Lillard scored 25 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t prevent the Trail Blazers (31-39) from dropping their fifth consecutive contest and 10th in the past 13 games. Portland is in 13th place in the Western Conference and three games behind the final play-in spot.

Anfernee Simons scored 17 points, Matisse Thybulle had 12, Trendon Watford had a solid all-around game with 10 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals and Cam Reddish scored 10 points for the Trail Blazers.

Portland played without Jerami Grant (quadriceps) for the second straight game, while Boston was missing Robert Williams III (hamstring) for the seventh consecutive contest.

The Celtics shot 47.1 percent from the field and made 15 of 42 from 3-point range. Luke Kornet added 11 points off the bench.

The Trail Blazers made 48.1 percent of their shots, including 14 of 38 from behind the arc. Lillard made six treys.

Portland made a spirited fourth-quarter dash behind Lillard’s stellar period.

He scored six straight at one stretch as the Trail Blazers crept within 106-93 with 5:21 left. Lillard later drained a 3-pointer as Portland moved within single digits at 111-103 with 3:11 remaining.

A short time later, Brown slammed home a dunk and Horford swished a trey to give Boston a 13-point lead en route to finishing off the victory.

The Celtics held a 15-point halftime lead and increased the advantage to 74-55 on Tatum’s 3-pointer with 7:54 left in the third quarter.

Later in the period, Portland used an 8-1 run to move within 80-68 on Lillard’s 3-pointer with 3:54 remaining. Boston answered with nine consecutive points, capped by Smart’s layup, to boost the lead to 21 before the Celtics took an 89-70 lead into the final stanza.

Tatum scored 19 points in the first half as Boston took a 63-48 lead into the break. Tatum had 15 points in the first quarter, which ended with Boston leading 32-24.

–Field Level Media