Welcome to Day 8 of seeding games inside the NBA campus at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida.

The Sacramento Kings got the action underway early, extending the New Orleans Pelicans' woes behind a 49-point first quarter. The Phoenix Suns kept rolling in the bubble, improving to 4-0 with a win over the Indiana Pacers. And the race for No. 8 in the Western Conference continues with the Portland Trail Blazers facing the Denver Nuggets tonight.

Both Los Angeles teams play at night, as the LA Clippers get a look at their likely first-round foe in the Dallas Mavericks, while the Los Angeles Lakers face the Houston Rockets without LeBron James, who will sit due to a sore groin.

The only Eastern Conference matchup of the day featured MVP favorite Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks clinching the East's No. 1 seed with a 23-point rally against the Miami Heat.

Here's the latest on the standings, the games to watch Thursday and Friday, plus everything you need to know. Check back here for highlights and updates throughout the day.

PAST BUBBLE INTEL: July 30 | July 31 | Aug. 1 | Aug. 2 | Aug. 3 | Aug. 4 | Aug. 5 | Full standings | Playoff matchups

Latest buzz

Ben Simmons has partially dislocated kneecap

Ben Simmons suffered a subluxation of the left knee cap, Sixers say. He's considering treatment options and currently out.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 6, 2020

Simmons left Wednesday's win over the Washington Wizards after he went up and grabbed a rebound midway through the third quarter. Sixers head coach Brett Brown said that the team should know within the next 24 hours what the next steps for Simmons will be.

MORE: What Simmons' knee injury means for Philly

LeBron sitting tonight against Houston

The Lakers star is out against the Houston Rockets because of his right groin, the team announced. James, 35, missed 27 games last season because of a groin injury suffered on Christmas Day. This season, he sat out games in December and February for the same reason. James has averaged 33.5 minutes in the Lakers' four games since the season restart, scoring nearly 20 points per game.

This Derrick Jones Jr. brick is a masterpiece

Miami's high-flyer won the 2020 dunk contest with slams just like this one. Except, you know, those went in.

Derrick Jones Jr. tried it ? pic.twitter.com/D2KnM0TKYs

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 6, 2020

Is time running out for Zion and the Pelicans?

The New Orleans Pelicans came into the bubble with what was expected to be a great chance at -- the very worst -- making the play-in tournament for the Western Conference's No. 8 seed. On Thursday, the Pelicans had a chance to be 1.5 games back of the Memphis Grizzlies if things broke their way. Instead, a disappointing 140-125 loss to Sacramento sent the Pelicans into a tie for the worst record of the six teams vying for the final spot in the West (New Orleans still remains 2.5 games back of Memphis).

With several teams to climb, the Pelicans will have to see how much more they can get from Zion Williamson, who had 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting Thursday in only 22 minutes of work.

"We've got to come together as a team," Williamson said about getting on the right track defensively. "Our coaches have to come together, and we've all got to just figure out how we're going to adjust."

Luckily for the Pelicans, they get right back at it on Friday night against the Washington Wizards, one of two teams who haven't won a game in the bubble.

-- Andrew Lopez

Shaq is virtually everywhere

The Hall of Famer and TNT NBA analyst was "courtside" for the Heat-Bucks and Pacers-Suns matchups.

.@SHAQ checks in to the virtual fans section ?

(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/Qz2OY3hIYr

— ESPN (@espn) August 6, 2020

SHAQTUS joining the virutal fans today!

Thanks for coming @SHAQ! pic.twitter.com/EmNU2vQUEA

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) August 6, 2020

Some interesting packages are arriving to the bubble

Thursday's must-see games

Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks | 4 p.m. ET

The Bucks are looking to get back on track after back-to-back losses -- a close loss to the Houston Rockets and then another to the Brooklyn Nets, although Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton didn't play in the second half against the Nets. However, both are expected to get back to their normal minutes Thursday against Miami.

The Heat, meanwhile, could be without guard Jimmy Butler, who sat out Tuesday's game because of a sprained right ankle. The injury isn't thought to be serious, but his status for the Bucks game is unknown. The matchup to watch here will be Antetokounmpo against Heat center Bam Adebayo. When the teams met on March 2, Adebayo was pivotal in holding Antetokounmpo to 13 points, tied for his season low, on 6-of-18 shooting. -- Lopez

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Denver Nuggets | 8 p.m. ET

Both teams here are jockeying for position in their own ways. After a clutch performance by Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday, Portland finds itself 1½ back of the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoff race. Meanwhile, Denver is holding its own as it attempts to wrestle the second seed away from the LA Clippers, potentially earning the right to avoid a matchup with the Lakers until the conference finals. Denver has held the upper hand over Portland this season, picking up victories in the first three matchups by an average score of 116.3 to 99.3. Denver is one of only two teams this season (the Clippers are the other) to hold Portland under an average of 100 points. -- Lopez

Additional games

• Indiana Pacers vs. Phoenix Suns | 4 p.m. ET

• LA Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks | 6:30 p.m. ET

• Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets | 9 p.m. ET

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Full scoreboard for Thursday

Play-in watch

The Eastern Conference play-in game participants are all off on Thursday, so our attention shifts squarely to the Western Conference.

And watch out for Phoenix. Devin Booker & Co. remain undefeated in the bubble, improving to 4-0 with a win over Indiana. Meanwhile, New Orleans' pursuit took another hit -- this time at the hands of De'Aaron Fox and Sacramento. Portland faces Denver in the evening.

Eastern Conference

7. Brooklyn Nets | 32-36 (.471) | --
8. Orlando Magic | 32-37 (.464) | --
9. Washington Wizards | 24-44 (.353) | 7.5 GB

Western Conference

8. Memphis Grizzlies | 32-37 (.464) | --
9. Portland Trail Blazers | 31-38 (.449) | 1.0 GB
10. Phoenix Suns | 30-39 (.435) | 2.0 GB
11. San Antonio Spurs | 29-38 (.433) | 2.0 GB
T-12. Sacramento Kings | 29-39 (.426) | 2.5 GB
T-12. New Orleans Pelicans | 29-39 (.426) | 2.5 GB

Friday's must-see games

Utah Jazz vs. San Antonio Spurs | 1 p.m. ET

After such a strong start, time is starting to run out on the Spurs. The margin of error gets thinner by the game, and they face a Jazz team desperate to start rebuilding rhythm and chemistry. Seeding isn't necessarily a maximum priority for Utah -- figuring things out is. -- Royce Young

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Memphis Grizzlies | 4 p.m. ET

Things are starting to get pretty must-win-ish for the Grizzlies. Not only are they at risk of flipping from eighth to ninth, thereby needing two wins in the play-in rather than just one, but they might fall out of it altogether. The Blazers are just one back; the Spurs are two. And the Thunder aren't exactly an ideal matchup with their size, length and depth. -- Young

Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors | 9 p.m. ET

With these teams having a chance to see each other in the second round of the playoffs, it will be interesting to see how both coaches approach it. The Raptors have been extremely impressive in the bubble, and the Celtics bounced back from a tough loss to Miami by dropping a cool 149 on the Nets. -- Young

Additional games

• Sacramento Kings vs. Brooklyn Nets | 5 p.m. ET

• Orlando Magic vs. Philadelphia 76ers | 6:30 p.m. ET

• Washington Wizards vs. New Orleans Pelicans | 8 p.m. ET

Full scoreboard for Friday

Analysis and intel

The Celtics will go as far as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum carry them

As expectations evolve in Boston, the Celtics' final form will be molded by their young wings.

What we're seeing and hearing inside the NBA bubble

A 22-team breakdown of the latest insights on teams playing in Orlando.

Real or not: Memphis' playoff chances, Tatum's trajectory and big restart questions

Our NBA experts weigh in on the biggest trends after the first weekend of basketball.