Our basketball predictions: Utah to keep up with the Kings, Mavericks to get past the Hawks, and the Clippers to demolish the Wizards.

Kings @ Jazz: Utah hasn’t done a good job of keeping up with the Kings. With the Lakers and Hornets still in contention, a win here against the Kings could be their biggest challenge of the year. The last time these two met the Kings they went the entire fourth quarter without a field goal. With Ron Artest more used to the Kings, an incident like that won’t happen again. Predicted score: Utah wins 88-86

Mavericks @ Hawks: Dallas may have the best road record in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean they win their games handily. Lately, the Mavs have struggled to eliminate weak teams like the Hawks. Dallas is strong when taking big leads in the first half and needs to do that here for an easy win. Predicted score: Dallas wins 103-99

Wizards @ Clippers: Both teams are pretty similar and should match up well most nights. But the Wizards are on the West Coast tour and play at 10:30 ET. Gilbert Arenas will have to carry them as he tries to increase his PPG stat to 30 a night. Elton Brand could have another big game here against a much smaller Antawn Jamison. Predicted Score: LA Clippers win 102-87