The Detroit Pistons are sliding in the wrong direction and will try to reverse course on Wednesday, when they host the Milwaukee Bucks. Detroit has lost three consecutive games by an average of 19 points during a funk in which they have dropped six of seven contests.

The Toronto Raptors are clinging to the top spot in the Eastern Conference and continue a relatively favorable stretch of the schedule when they visit the stumbling Orlando Magic on Wednesday. Beginning with Monday's 123-94 rout of the Detroit Pistons, the Raptors play seven of nine games against sub-.500 squads with contests against each of the three worst teams in the East entering Tuesday.

The Indiana Pacers suffered an odd letdown on Monday at the lowly Dallas Mavericks to snap a four-game winning streak. The Pacers had no trouble with the Hawks at home in their previous game and will try to pick on the Eastern Conference's worst team again when they visit Atlanta on Wednesday.

The Boston Celtics have taken advantage of some struggling teams to rediscover the form that made them the top team in the Eastern Conference until recently. They'll now turn their attention to one the East's hotter squads when the Charlotte Hornets pay a visit to Boston on Wednesday.

The Golden State Warriors insist there are no distractions associated with their once-per-season visit to the nation's capital as they face the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. The Warriors had no interest in making the customary White House visit that is tradition for NBA champions and instead spent their off-day on Tuesday hanging out with children at an African-American museum.

The race to the bottom in the Western Conference is heated, with four teams fighting for the most ping pong balls in the NBA draft lottery. Two of those teams meet on Wednesday when the Memphis Grizzlies host the Phoenix Suns.

The Dallas Mavericks forgot they were supposed to be tanking on Monday and instead pulled off an impressive win with a 109-103 triumph over the Indiana Pacers. The Mavericks will try to make it two in a row against playoff-hopeful opponents when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.

The New Orleans Pelicans own the longest non-Houston winning streak in the NBA and are being driven by transcendent performances from superstar Anthony Davis. Davis and the Pelicans will try to make it seven in a row when they visit the team directly in front of them in the standings at the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

The red-hot Houston Rockets are looking to match their season-best winning streak of 14 games when they renew their heated rivalry with the host Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. When the teams played in Los Angeles last month, the Houston trio of Chris Paul, James Harden and Trevor Ariza attempted to crash the Los Angeles locker room afterward to confront Blake Griffin (since traded) and Austin Rivers.