And on this roadtrip, where the Jazz will face the Pelicans once more on Monday night, it was really, really important for the Jazz decision makers to find a way to finagle a loss against the Pelicans.

The Utah Jazz have hit the cellar of the Western Conference. Zion Williamson highlighted a 24-point, 14-rebound performance with an array of thunderous dunks during a dominant fourth-quarter stint, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Utah Jazz 136-123 on Friday night to open a two-game set.

The battle of the second and third-ranked teams in the Western Conference features some of the league's up-and-coming franchises. The third-seeded Memphis Grizz

The Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler have had a falling out and all indications are that the relationship could be beyond repair. A new piece by ESPN's Ramona Shelbu

The Cavaliers are 20-2 on their home court. Cleveland ranks third in the Eastern Conference with 29.1 assists per game led by Darius Garland averaging 6.8. The Suns are 8-12 on the road. Phoenix allows 114.3 points to opponents and has been outscored by 1.1 points per game.

Early returns: Utah made a high-risk trade for Sergachev — in terms of acquisition cost and with the seven seasons left on his contract at an $8.5 million cap hit, especially coming off an injury-plagued year. It’s too early to make a long-term read on the trade, but the early dividends have been promising.

The Thunder has a 99.8% chance of being the No. 1 seed in the West, according to basketball-reference.com. Seems low.

But Sunday, Jan. 12 NHL action has two of the Western Conference leaders looking to skate, shoot and score in their push to the top of the conference. The Vegas Golden Knights (28 wins ...

Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings was named Western Conference Player of the Week after multiple dominating performances.

BOTTOM LINE: Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves host the Cleveland Cavaliers in a non-conference matchup. The Timberwolves are 10-9 on their home court. Minnesota is third in the Western Conference in team defense, allowing just 107.6 points while holding opponents to 45.3% shooting.

After the Houston Rockets 125-103 win over the Portland Trailblazers the Rockets moved their record to 28-13 at the mid-way mark of the regular season. They are

Sunday night’s highly anticipated Western Conference clash between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers could be missing James Harden.