Andrew Wiggins is ready, but the Warriors will make the final call on when the Golden State forward returns to the court.

Wiggins said Tuesday he plans to play again soon. The Warriors all but eliminated any possibility Wiggins will play Friday for the first time in nearly two months.

He was on the Golden State bench in street clothes on Tuesday and has missed 23 games dealing with a personal matter.

“There’s no way he’s playing in the next few days,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “But I think once we have an assessment over the next couple of days, we’ll have a better idea of when he might be able to play.”

The Warriors (42-38) visit Sacramento on Friday and close out the regular season Sunday at Portland. But assessing Wiggins’ physical health and overall readiness is top priority for the Warriors.

Wiggins declined to disclose details around his absence. Multiple reports Tuesday indicated Wiggins left the team to be with his father, who is dealing with a medical matter.

“I’d rather keep it private,” he said. “It’s for me and my family and people close to family.”

Kerr said just having Wiggins around the team is a boost because of his “calming presence.”

Wiggins would have an extra week to get back up to speed if the Warriors remain among the top six seeds in the Western Conference. If Golden State falls to seventh, it enters the play-in tournament involving the Western Conference teams seeded 7-10.

“When you’re in a certain situation and your family needs you and requires your attention and love, that’s my first priority,” Wiggins said. “My career, everything. Family is always first for me. When I felt like I was in a safe space to come back, we got everything settled, not totally settled, but in a safe place where I can come back.”

Wiggins, 28, is averaging 17.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 37 starts this season.

–Field Level Media

Time is running out for the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks to make a move in the standings.

The Kings (48-31) used a 121-103 victory at New Orleans on Tuesday night to clinch the Pacific Division title and keep pace with the Memphis Grizzlies (50-29) in their bid for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

The Kings hold the conference-record tiebreaker over the Grizzlies should they finish in a tie, but that would require Memphis losing at least twice in its final three games.

After a stopover in Dallas, Sacramento finishes up with a home game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday and then travels to tussle with the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.

“I’m excited for this organization,” gushed rookie Keegan Murray, who scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers against the Pelicans. “It’s really cool for the city.”

Meanwhile, the Mavericks (37-42) caught a break Tuesday when the Warriors posted a 136-125 victory versus Oklahoma City, dropping the Thunder (38-42) into a tie in the loss column with Dallas in their battle for the 10th and final play-in berth in the West.

The Thunder hold the season-series tiebreaker over the Mavericks, meaning even if Dallas were to sweep its remaining games, Oklahoma City could claim the spot by winning its final two against the visiting Utah Jazz on Thursday and host Grizzlies on Sunday.

After facing the Kings, the Mavericks wrap up with home games against the Chicago Bulls on Friday and San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

The season series between the Kings and Mavericks will be decided on Wednesday. The clubs split a two-game, same-site set in Sacramento in February, with the Kings rebounding from a 122-114 loss with a 133-128 overtime victory the next night.

Domantas Sabonis was the star of Tuesday’s win at New Orleans, recording a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

Kings coach Mike Brown didn’t say after the game whether going for the No. 2 seed was more important than resting his players for the start of the playoffs next week. But the Kings’ postgame celebration of the franchise’s first division title since 2003 might have provided the answer.

The last time the Kings saw the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving was playing in just his second and third games with the team since being acquired from Brooklyn on Feb. 6. He had 25 points and 10 assists in the opener of the two-game set, then 28 and seven, respectively in the overtime loss the next night.

Luka Doncic played only the second game of the sequence, going for 27 points and nine rebounds.

Having returned home from a five-game trip, the Mavericks will take the court saddled with a three-game losing streak. Irving and Doncic played together in each of the three losses.

Both, however, are listed as questionable for the game against the Kings, with Irving bothered by a right-foot injury and Doncic a bruised thigh.

A report circulated Wednesday that Irving and Doncic would be shut down for the rest of the season, but Doncic insisted that won’t be the case at this point.

“I’m playing,” he said of Wednesday’s game. “When there’s still a chance (for the playoffs), I’m going to play.”

–Field Level Media

The stakes have rarely been this high when the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers meet, with Wednesday night’s matchup between the teams a legitimate showdown as the regular season nears a close.

Known as a rivalry in proximity only, especially from the Lakers’ side, Wednesday’s game is poised to be remembered regardless of who wins.

Both teams enter 41-38 with three regular-season games remaining, although the Clippers technically are in sixth place in the Western Conference, which would give them a guaranteed spot in the first round of the playoffs.

The Lakers are in seventh place as the top seed in the play-in tournament.

The Clippers, who are the designated home team Wednesday, already have won the season series, going 3-0. Over the past three seasons, the Clippers have not dropped a game to the Lakers, going 10-0 in that stretch.

The Lakers forced their way into identical overall records with the Clippers this season on the back of a wild 135-133 overtime road victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday. They clinched a spot in the play-in tournament.

But it means Lakers veterans LeBron James and Anthony Davis will have little rest heading into Wednesday’s big game, if they play at all.

“We’ll figure it all out,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said, not committing to James, Davis or D’Angelo Russell playing Wednesday. “This time of the year, everybody has something a little going on with their bodies.”

James had 37 points in 38 minutes, including the game-winning score with 27 seconds remaining Tuesday. Davis had 21 points and 14 rebounds in 42 minutes.

“I haven’t played in a back-to-back in a long time,” Davis said. “We’ll all get a phone call tomorrow (about playing status) and go from there.”

While the Lakers are riding a four-game winning streak and an 11-4 record since March 5, the Clippers have been in flux since Paul George departed with a knee injury on March 21. The team has gone 3-3 since while clinging to a top-six playoff spot.

The Clippers are on a two-game skid after a 122-114 road loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. That game came a day after a 108-94 defeat at Memphis.

Kawhi Leonard scored 40 points with eight rebounds against the Pelicans, while Russell Westbrook had 10 assists.

Westbrook had a rocky ride coming off the bench with the Lakers earlier this season, but his earlier erratic play has been far more measured since he joined the Clippers on Feb. 24. Wednesday will be Westbrook’s first game against the Lakers since the midseason divorce.

“It’s an important game for us collectively, it’s probably going to be an important game for them as well, so it’s just going to be a big game overall making sure we’re ready to go,” Westbrook said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “My job is to make sure us in the locker room are locked in and ready to compete.”

At focus will be whether Westbrook tries to make a statement during the game.

The Clippers struggled to fit Westbrook into the rotation after he was acquired, losing his first four games. But the former MVP has settled in now with an average of 15.2 points and 7.8 assists with his new team, helping the squad to an 8-5 record since then.

–Field Level Media

The New Orleans Pelicans came up short in their first attempt to clinch a berth in the Western Conference play-in tournament.

They’ll try to come back from just their second loss in nine games when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

“It was not a great game for us,” New Orleans coach Willie Green said after his team’s 121-103 setback to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. “We have to bounce back quickly and be ready for (Wednesday).”

New Orleans (40-39) saw Sacramento take command of the game following a 40-point second quarter.

The Pelicans opened a 14-4 lead before the Kings started making 3-pointers, and New Orleans couldn’t keep up. The Kings made 17 of 42 from beyond the arc, while the Pelicans were 7 of 20.

“That’s a big deficit,” Green said. “We have to get that number higher. We have to trust each other, make the right play, and guys have to be ready to shoot it.”

Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 22 points, but that ended a streak of nine consecutive games in which he had scored at least 25. He averaged 30.3 points in that stretch and appeared poised to extend the streak when he scored 14 first-quarter points.

But the Kings began swarming him with multiple defenders, and the Pelicans’ offense stagnated.

New Orleans is expected to provide an update Wednesday on All-Star forward Zion Williamson, who hasn’t played since Jan. 2 because of a strained right hamstring. He was cleared to resume basketball activities last week.

It’s unlikely that Williamson will be available Wednesday, but the Pelicans haven’t ruled out his return before the end of the regular season Sunday.

The Grizzlies (50-29) are nearly locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference after recording a 119-109 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday in Memphis’ home finale. The Grizzlies have a two-game lead on third-place Sacramento with three games to play.

“Fifty-win seasons are not frequent throughout the NBA,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. … “We’ve got three more (games) to focus on, but any time you can clip that 50-win mark, it’s pretty special.”

The Grizzlies started fast and finished strong Tuesday, but in between saw the short-handed Blazers fight back from a 19-point, first-quarter deficit. Portland outscored Memphis 37-25 in the second quarter to pull within 66-62 at halftime.

“Our urgency defensively slipped major in that second quarter,” Jenkins said.

The Blazers led 101-96 with nine minutes to go, but Desmond Bane made three 3-pointers during a 22-2 Memphis run.

“For us to be able to stay together and come back and get a win was big-time,” said guard Ja Morant, who scored 23 points for the Grizzlies.

“Obviously everyone’s going to be talking about the standings and (playoff) matchups,” Jenkins said. “Who knows who the heck you’re going to play in the first round?

“Right now we’ve got a lot of stuff to work on. We’ve got to control our own business.”

Memphis leads the season series with New Orleans 2-1. The home team has won each game.

–Field Level Media

The Milwaukee Bucks will look to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday night when they host the Chicago Bulls.

The Bucks (57-22) will be playing the second night of a back-to-back after recording a 140-128 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 28 points and 10 assists and added 11 rebounds.

Antetokounmpo, however, slightly downplayed the significance of having home-court advantage and talked up several other Eastern Conference teams.

“At the end of the day, Boston is a beast, Philly is a beast, Cleveland is a beast, New York is a beast,” Antetokounmpo said.

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, in turn, was just happy to with the one-game-at-a-time approach.

“These games, you got to have a good focus and come out of halftime ready,” Budenholzer said. “Lot of good play all up and down the roster, we shot it well. The guys had good focus and got an important win for us.”

Chicago (38-41) has clinched a berth in the play-in tournament and appears to be destined for the No. 10 spot. The Bulls could meet up with Milwaukee in the first round should they advance to the first round.

Chicago is coming off a 123-105 loss at home against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. The Bulls’ Zach LaVine scored 26 points, DeMar DeRozan had 21 and Nikola Vucevic collected 19 points and 10 rebounds.

“We had a rough shooting night from three — that happens — but we could be a lot better defensively,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “We competed, but we did not compete at the level that was good enough to win the game. That’s the bottom line. That part of it is disappointing.”

Antetokounmpo leads the Bucks in scoring (31.1 points a game) and rebounding (11.8) this season. Jrue Holiday has a club-best 7.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game, while Brook Lopez averages 2.5 blocks.

The Bulls are led in scoring by LaVine and Derozan with 25.1 and 24.9 points per game, respectively. Derozan also leads in assists (5.1), while Vucevic grabs 11.1 rebounds per contest.

“Every one of these games is a must-win game for us,” LaVine said. “Obviously we didn’t do good enough. They wanted it more than us. It’s tough to have that type of result at this point in the season.

The Bucks expect Khris Middleton to be able to play despite missing Tuesday’s game to manage his return from a knee injury. Pat Connaughton will be doubtful for Wednesday’s game, according to Budenholzer, after he sustained a right ankle sprain on Monday. Grayson Allen is not expected to play Wednesday because of an ankle injury.

The Bulls are looking to clinch the season series against their I-94 rival for the first time since the 2015-16 season. They won the first two matchups this season, including one in overtime, but the Bucks bounced back with a 112-100 victory on Feb. 16.

–Field Level Media