Tonight in the NBA: Nets visit the Knicks

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The Sixers hope to build off their thrilling, come-from-behind win against the Raptors when they welcome the Spurs to the Wells Fargo Center tonight.

Doug Collins' crew has not won back-to-back games since Nov. 30, but they have a chance to do so against one of the NBA's elite (see story).

Now, here's a preview of tonight's action around the NBA:

Nets at Knicks, 3:30 p.m.
In a season full of memorable moments for Carmelo Anthony, he can create another Monday.

Anthony will be in the spotlight in the New York Knicks' annual Martin Luther King Day home game, with the rival Brooklyn Nets trying to move closer in the Atlantic Division race.

The Knicks star has scored at least 20 points in 25 straight games, the longest such streak of his career. Anthony has developed into an MVP candidate while lifting New York to possible championship contender status.

"I've been on some good teams, had good players on some of the teams that I've played with," Anthony said. "But as far as being a complete team from top to bottom, this is the best team I've been a part of."

Clippers at Warriors, 4 p.m.
It was easy to look at the Pacific Division prior to the season and picture an intense rivalry developing involving the Los Angeles Clippers.

It was a bit harder to imagine the other team being the Golden State Warriors.

The Clippers look to salvage a split of their season series with the Warriors and extend their latest winning streak to five Monday as they try for a rare victory in Oakland.

Most expected the Lakers-Clippers rivalry to flourish as Vinny Del Negro's team continued its rise as a contender, but instead the Lakers are floundering in 11th place in the West while the Clippers (32-9) are in a tight battle for the conference's top spot.

The team closest to the Clippers in the division is Golden State (24-15), which has handed the Clippers two of their losses. The Warriors won 114-110 at Staples Center on Nov. 3 and rolled to a 115-94 rout on Jan. 2 before falling 115-89 in L.A. three days later.
Lakers at Bulls, 9:30 p.m.
Frustrations appear to be taking their toll on the Los Angeles Lakers, who can't seem to right the ship.

The Chicago Bulls, in contrast, have mostly held their own, but coach Tom Thibodeau was anything but pleased with their latest effort.

The slumping Lakers try to avoid their longest road losing streak in eight seasons Monday night against a Bulls team that could be without leading scorer Luol Deng again.

Los Angeles (17-23) has lost eight of 10 overall after kicking off a three-game trek Sunday with a 108-103 defeat to Toronto. The Lakers, who fell behind by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter, are on the verge of their first six-game losing streak in opponents' arenas since a nine-game skid in 2004-05.

"I didn't feel like we were ready to play," point guard Steve Nash said. "We cut too many corners at too many different times in the game and had too big a hole to climb out of.

"We're just not finding any consistent level out of our group."

Wizards at Trail Blazers, 10 p.m.
Even without John Wall earlier this season, the Washington Wizards found a way to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers and end their franchise-worst start.

Now that Wall's back, the league-worst Wizards are looking to extend the Blazers' season-high losing streak to six when these teams meet on Monday night in Portland.

Losers of 12 straight to open the season, Washington (8-30) finally got into the win column with an 84-82 victory over Portland on Nov. 28.

The Blazers (20-20) will now get their first look at Wall this season after the point guard missed the first 33 games due to a stress injury to his left kneecap. The Wizards have won three times since the former No. 1 overall pick made his season debut five games ago.

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