The New Orleans Pelicans and the Oklahoma City Thunder are battling to get into the Western Conference play-in tournament as they meet Saturday night in New Orleans.

The Pelicans entered Friday’s play tied with the Lakers for ninth place, but the Thunder were lurking just a game back, tied with the Blazers just a half-game behind the 11th-place Jazz.

OKC expects to have All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander back after he sat out the team’s most-lopsided loss of the season, 132-101 at Phoenix on Wednesday, for abdominal strain injury maintenance.

New Orleans coach Willie Green said Friday that forward Brandon Ingram, the team’s second-leading scorer, is questionable after leaving the home game against Dallas on Wednesday after sustaining a sprained ankle.

The Pelicans overcame Ingram’s absence to defeat the Mavericks 113-106 as CJ McCollum scored 16 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter.

“CJ shot the cover off the ball, especially down the stretch,” Green said.

It was just the Pelicans’ second victory in eight games. Green said the team’s focus is to “control the controllable” as leading scorer Zion Williamson (hamstring) remains sidelined indefinitely.

“We can follow a game plan, we can execute, we can limit our turnovers, we can rebound and we can play as hard or harder than other teams,” Green said. “That has to be our focus coming down the stretch.”

The Thunder couldn’t contain Devin Booker of the Suns on Wednesday as he scored 30 of his 44 points in the first half and finished 17 of 23 from the field, including 6 of 10 on 3-pointers.

That performance came one night after the Warriors’ Stephen Curry scored 40 points against the Thunder, who won anyway.

Lindy Waters gave OKC a lift by scoring a season-high 23 points off the bench, but the Thunder starters combined for just 31 points, shooting a combined 9 of 39 from the floor.

“It’s slippery,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of the poor shooting. “You make a couple of those and it stabilizes the game and you’re down by four or six instead of 15.”

An overall disparity in shooting from the floor was a primary factor in the lopsided loss. The Thunder shot 37.5 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent on 3-pointers. The Suns shot 52.1 percent from the floor and 46.5 percent on 3-pointers.

“A lot of (the Suns’ baskets) were over a hand,” Daigneault said. “A lot of them were one of those ones that if you just froze it on the rise of the shot, we’d be OK with the contest. It was just one of those nights.”

New Orleans is trying to sweep the season series with Oklahoma City. The Pelicans beat the Thunder 105-101 on Nov. 28 in New Orleans and twice in Oklahoma City — 128-125 in overtime on Dec. 23 and 103-100 on Feb. 13.

–Field Level Media

The Memphis Grizzlies slowly are adjusting to playing without the face of the franchise in Ja Morant, having done so for their last three games with at least three more games ahead without him.

The Dallas Mavericks likely will put the wheels in motion on that process for themselves on Saturday when they visit the Grizzlies in the opener of a home-and-home series in Memphis. The Mavericks star Luka Doncic will not play due to a left thigh injury.

Dallas has dropped seven of its last 10 games heading into its series vs. Memphis, which snapped a three-game skid Thursday with a 131-110 victory over the Golden State Warriors. The Grizzlies pulled away by outscoring the Warriors 32-17 in the final quarter.

“In the fourth quarter, we stayed disciplined on both ends of the floor,” said the Grizzlies’ Tyus Jones, who had 22 points and 11 assists. “Stayed locked into the game plan. … We continued to trust one another.”

That trust continued as the Grizzlies get acclimated to the absence of Morant. He is away from the club after posting a video on social media last weekend in which he appeared to display a gun at a Denver-area nightclub.

“We have had conversation in the past trying to guide him and him continue to evolve as a person and a player,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said Thursday. “Obviously, this came to a head the other day, so it put this process into action.”

Dillon Brooks said Morant has been in constant contact with the team since last Saturday. Brooks also had plenty of contact on Thursday with Golden State’s Draymond Green, with the two involved in a contentious duel on and off the court.

Desmond Bane, who scored 21 points against Golden State, had 14 in Memphis’ first meeting with Dallas — a 137-96 shellacking by the Mavericks on Oct. 22. Morant (20 points) and Doncic (32 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds) led the way for their respective teams.

But the health of Doncic is troublesome for the Mavericks, who have just 15 games remaining in the regular season. He scored 15 points before exiting in the third quarter of Dallas’ 113-106 setback at the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

“We all can see he’s not moving well, so shooting, defense, it’s affecting everything,” said Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who confirmed Friday that Doncic did not travel to Memphis. “He’s trying to fight through it and help his teammates, but he had to leave there, so hopefully it’s not something serious.”

Dallas is hoping to feature a new wrinkle for the Grizzlies with eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving, who was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets last month. He has averaged 27.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 11 games since joining the club, including 32.5 and 5.0 in four games this month. But he did miss practice Friday for personal reasons, with Kidd hopeful he will be on the court Saturday.

Irving, who had 27 points on Wednesday, has averaged 25.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two games against Memphis this season.

–Field Level Media

Dallas Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic will sit out Saturday’s road game against the Memphis Grizzlies due to his left thigh injury.

Dallas coach Jason Kidd said Friday that Doncic wouldn’t be on the trip.

“He’s day to day,” Kidd said. “We’ll see how he feels.”

Doncic injured the thigh during Wednesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Doncic, 24, is averaging 33.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists this season.

Dallas shooting guard Kyrie Irving missed practice Friday and it isn’t yet known if he will play in Saturday’s game.

“Ky was out, excused absence, personal reasons,” Kidd said. “Hopefully he will be able to join us in Memphis.”

Irving, 30, is averaging 27.5 points in 11 games since the Mavericks acquired him from the Brooklyn Nets.

–Field Level Media

The New York Knicks try to shake off a two-game losing skid on Saturday afternoon when they continue a four-game Western Conference road swing against the Los Angeles Clippers.

New York opened its West Coast road trip Thursday with a 122-117 loss to the Sacramento Kings, in a game that went down to the wire. RJ Barrett scored 25 points, while Julius Randle went for 23 points and 10 rebounds, but the Knicks could not withstand a 15-point fourth quarter from the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox.

“One possession game, we needed a stop, didn’t get it,” Randle said. “Happens like that sometimes. So regroup, get to (Los Angeles), regroup, get a win.”

The loss at Sacramento followed a 112-105 loss to the struggling Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday that ended a nine-game winning streak. The 105 points were the fewest the Knicks scored since Feb. 7, and matched their lowest scoring output in a loss since Jan. 18.

New York looks to avoid a three-game skid as it embarks on the first of two consecutive games at Los Angeles – the first against the Clippers, then a matchup with the Lakers on Sunday night.

The Clippers come in looking for their third straight victory.

Los Angeles snapped out of a five-game losing streak Sunday when it won a come-from-behind, 135-129 decision over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Clippers followed that Wednesday with a renewed effort on the defensive end during a 108-100 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

“Even when we lost those games, we were confident in ourselves,” said the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, following his 24-point, 12-rebound performance against the Raptors, the team he led to an NBA championship in 2019. “And I’m on the floor. Whenever I’m playing, I feel like we can win a basketball game.”

Dealing with the residual effects of a previous knee injury, and resting to avoiding any setbacks, has cost Leonard 28 games thus far in 2022-23, but the five-time All-NBA selection has been on a tear of late.

Wednesday marked his sixth consecutive game scoring at least 21 points in a run that included a 34-point performance in the win over Memphis and a 44-point outing against Sacramento.

Paul George has been in every Clippers lineup since Jan. 31. The six-time All-NBA selection has scored 20-plus points in 11 of the last 13 outings, and recorded a 42-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win over Memphis.

While the Clippers have been healthy and near full-strength in recent weeks, New York arrives with some lineup uncertainty. Jalen Brunson aggravated a foot injury at Sacramento after scoring 19 points and departed after playing fewer than 20 minutes.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said Brunson’s issue appeared to be “soreness.” His status for Saturday still is to be determined.

Brunson, who is averaging a career-best 23.8 points per game and dishing out 6.1 assists, missed the previous two games before New York began the road trip at Sacramento.

“It’s obviously going to be tough to replace his production,” Randle said. “We’ll do it. We’re up to the task.”

–Field Level Media