NBA NEWS - PREVIEW for WEEK 16

Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki - NBA photo   Doc Rivers, LA Clippers coach - NBA photo   New Orleans’ Anthony Davis - NBA photo   Houston Rocket's James Harden - NBA photo

Dominique Wilkins - - (Maxi Basket photo)

NBA Chinese New Year Celebration tips off Friday and runs through March 3 - Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki begins the week needing to play 61 minutes to reach 50,000 for his career - TERRIFIC TRIO: Houston is 20-1 when Clint Capela, James Harden and Chris Paul play together and 15-12 when they don’t - Doc Rivers, Clippers coach: Needs four victories to pass Cotton Fitzsimmons (832) for 14th place on the NBA’s all-time coaching wins list

NEW YORK, NY USA

Monday, January 29, 2018

MILESTONE WATCH

Chris Paul, Rockets: Needs seven assists to pass Andre Miller (8,524) for ninthplace on the NBA’s all-time assists list.

Dwyane Wade, Cavaliers: Needs 10 points to pass Larry Bird (21,791) for 32nd place and 32 points to pass Gary Payton (21,813) for 31st place in all-time scoring.

Doc Rivers, Clippers coach: Needs four victories to pass Cotton Fitzsimmons (832) for 14th place on the NBA’s all-time coaching wins list.

NBA CELEBRATES CHINESE NEW YEAR

NBA Chinese New Year Celebration tips off Friday and runs through March 3.

The celebration features a new television campaign starring New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, Boston’s Kyrie Irving and San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard. A record 12 NBA teams will host in-arena activities and a record 93 games will be broadcast in Greater China.

In addition, the Warriors and Rockets will wear Nike City Edition uniforms with Chinese characters and symbolism inspired by Chinese culture for a total of 12 games.

THREE POINTS

1. FEEL THE THUNDER: Oklahoma City begins Week 16 on an eight-game winning streak, putting it one game behind Minnesota for fourth place in the Western Conference and two games behind San Antonio for third. The Thunder is 22-8 since Dec. 1, the NBA’s second- best record during that time, behind Golden State’s 24-4 mark. OKC plays four games this week, including nationally televised matchups at Denver on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET, TNT) and home against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, ABC).

2. TIGHT AT THE TOP: Toronto opens the week trailing Boston by only one game for first place in the Eastern Conference, with the the Raptors and Celtics tied in the loss column. Each team plays four games this week before their Week 17 showdown at Air Canada Centre on Tuesday, Feb. 6 – the second of their four matchups this season. The Raptors have five of their next six games at home, where they own the NBA’s second-best record at 18-4.

3. TERRIFIC TRIO: Houston is 20-1 when Clint Capela, James Harden and Chris Paul play together and 15-12 when they don’t. The three standouts will look to lead the Rockets as they prepare to tip off February with a four-game road trip, which includes visits to San Antonio on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, TNT) and Cleveland on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET) in the latest edition of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC. Houston, which sits second in the West, has rebounded from a 2-7 stretch with eight victories in its last 10 games.

UP TO THE MINUTE

Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki begins the week needing to play 61 minutes to reach 50,000 for his career.

Nowitzki is set to become the sixth player to log 50,000 minutes in the regular season. The 39-year-old already ranks sixth in games played and has a chance this season to pass Kevin Garnett for fifth place.

In his 20th season, Nowitzki has never shot better from three-point range. He is making a career-high 42.8 percent from beyond the arc, good for 14th place in the NBA.

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

January 29, 1971 Hal Greer of the Philadelphia 76ers became the sixth player in NBA history at the time to score 20,000 points as the Sixers lost to Milwaukee 142-118.

January 29, 1980 Norm Nixon played a then NBA record 64 minutes for Los Angeles as the Lakers dropped a 154-153 four-overtime decision to Cleveland. This record was matched by Sleepy Floyd of Golden State seven years later and broken by Dale Ellis of Seattle, who played 69 minutes in a five-overtime game at Milwaukee on Nov. 9, 1989.

January 29, 1984 The NBA’s first All-Star Saturday took place in Denver at McNichols Arena. The inaugural Schick Legends Classic was won by the West, 64-63. The first Nestle Crunch Slam-Dunk winner was Larry Nance, who used a two-ball windmill dunk to beat favorites Julius Erving and Dominique Wilkins.

January 29, 1988 The Detroit Pistons drew a then NBA regular season record crowd of 61,983 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome, and the fans went home happy after watching the Pistons down Boston 125-108. The Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, and the Atlanta Hawks broke the attendance record by drawing 62,046 fans to the Georgia Dome on March 27, 1998.

January 29, 2000 Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz became the third player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points, as he finishes with 35 in a 96-94 loss to Minnesota at Target Center. Malone’s historic basket came when he made a layup with 8:53 left in the third quarter, and thus took his place in NBA annals alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 career points) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419).