Jazz at Wizards
The red-hot Utah Jazz try for their ninth straight victory and seventh in a row over Washington when they visit the Wizards on Sunday. Donovan Mitchell, Utah's leading scorer at 24.2 points per game, has battled an illness during the last two games, finishing with four points and four assists in 22 minutes of Friday's 109-92 victory over Charlotte.
"Basically, he fought through some stuff tonight,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters. “When you look - what did he have, four points or something? - he still defends and other guys have an opportunity to score but he didn't let his teammates down on the defensive end.” Utah, which won 13 of its last 14 games and seven of eight on the road, kicks off a three-game trip Sunday. “It is going to be a great challenge for us to carry this on not on home court, to go on the road again and beat good teams,” the Jazz's Bojan Bogdanovic told the media. “In every aspect, we can still improve.” Injury-riddled Washington has won three of four games - the second time it's done that this season - after a 111-101 victory over Atlanta on Friday gave it three straight wins at home.
TIME: 3:30 p.m. ET. TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE JAZZ (26-12): Mitchell shoots 48.9 percent from mid-range this season, which is fifth-best in the league behind Houston's Chris Paul (57 percent), Cleveland's Kevin Love (53.8), Indiana's Jeremy Lamb (50) and Milwaukee's Khris Middleton (49.7). Rudy Gobert (14.6 points, team-high 14.4 rebounds) is the only NBA player averaging a double-double while shooting better than 65 percent from the field (66.9). Bogdanovic (20.7 points) averages three 3-pointers, which would be the most in a season in club history ahead of Rodney Hood (2.6 in 2017-18).
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (13-25): Bradley Beal (team-high 27.8 points per game) and Thomas Bryant practiced Saturday but are listed as questionable to play Sunday because of lower leg and foot injuries, respectively. Washington got a boost Friday as Davis Bertans (15.3 points) returned after missing nine games with a quad injury and contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. Jordan McRae (13.5 points per game) had 29 points, a career-high eight rebounds and six assists against Atlanta after scoring a total of 28 in his previous two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Washington paces the NBA in charges drawn at 1.37 per game.
2. Utah leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage at 39.2.
3. The Wizards average 114.8 points per game. If they finish the season at 110 or higher, it will mark the first time since 1977-79 that they recorded back-to-back campaigns with that many.