Wizards at Bulls
The Washington Wizards are starting to get some players off the injury list and are hoping to turn the improved health into more victories. The Wizards will try to ride Bradley Beal and company to a win when they begin a stretch with six of seven on the road by visiting the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.
Beal (leg) missed seven of the previous eight games but returned against Utah on Sunday and scored a team-high 25 points on 11-of-25 shooting in 27 minutes but could not keep Washington from squandering a 15-point, second-half lead in a 127-116 loss. "It felt good," Beal told reporters. "The biggest thing is just being out there with my teammates. Just being able to get a rhythm, get up and down. (It) felt good for sure." The Bulls are struggling with losses in seven of their last eight and are limping home after dropping a 113-101 decision at Boston on Monday but are not getting discouraged. "When you go through adversity sometimes it can be difficult to stay the course with our practice and our walkthroughs," Chicago coach Jim Boylen told reporters. "Our guys have been terrific."
TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Washington, NBCS Chicago-plus
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (13-26): Washington also got center Thomas Bryant (foot) back from a 20-game absence on Sunday and he delivered eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench. "I've been working hard since this injury," Bryant told reporters. "Literally the next day I'm trying to condition on the bike and trying to get my body right. For me to be able to come out and play for my teammates today felt great. For them to accept me from the start felt great as well." Bryant will continue to work his way back in off the bench behind center Ian Mahinmi, who collected 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds in Sunday's loss - his second straight double-digit scoring performance.
ABOUT THE BULLS (14-27): Zach LaVine scored 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting in Monday's setback and is doing his best to pull Chicago out of its funk with an average of 30.1 points in seven games this month. LaVine, who leads the team at an average of 24.5 points, could use some help from power forward Lauri Markkanen, who was limited to nine points on 4-of-9 shooting in 25 minutes on Monday. Markkanen, who averaged 18.7 points last season, is down to 15.1 in 2019-20 and went 0-of-3 from beyond the arc on Monday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards PF Davis Bertans averaged 16 points in two games since returning from a quad injury and is 7-of-15 from 3-point range.
2. Bulls PF Thaddeus Young scored 17 points on Monday after totaling eight points in the previous two contests.
3. Chicago earned a 110-109 overtime win over Washington at home on Dec. 18 behind 31 points from Markkanen.