Wizards at Suns
Two teams far out of the playoff picture square off Wednesday as the Phoenix Suns host the Washington Wizards. Phoenix will be looking to avenge a 127-105 setback in Washington on Saturday that extended its losing streak to four games and snapped its 10-game winning streak against the Wizards. The Suns snapped the skid two days later as they began their four-game homestand with a 23-point triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Washington concluded a perfect three-game homestand with Saturday's victory over Phoenix. However, the Wizards kicked off their four-game road trip with a 119-114 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. Washington is a league-worst 5-26 away from home, where it has lost four in a row. The Wizards are 11th in the Eastern Conference and trail eighth-place Milwaukee by 11 games, while the Suns - 14th in the West - are 12 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final playoff spot in the conference.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Washington), Fox Sports Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (23-43): Washington is hoping for a repeat performance from Martell Webster, who scored a career-high 34 points against the Suns on Saturday. Webster hit seven 3-pointers en route to becoming the Wizards' first 30-point scorer this season. His effort helped Washington to its best offensive output of 2012-13. "My teammates kept finding me," he said. "They encouraged me to continue to shoot the ball, and when you have that backing, it's easy to shoot." Webster has averaged 20.2 points over his last six games.
ABOUT THE SUNS (23-45): Michael Beasley has averaged 16.6 points in his last five meetings with the Wizards. He scored a team-high 21 in Saturday's loss. Phoenix has hit the century mark in points in 19 consecutive games against Washington and has averaged 112.2 during that stretch. Home-court advantage has been just that for the Suns in the all-time series as they've won 20 of the last 23 contests in Phoenix. While owning a horrid 7-28 road record, the Suns can even their home mark at 17-17 with a win over Washington.
OVERTIME
1. The Wizards have lost each of their last five visits to Phoenix.
2. Phoenix looks to avoid being swept in a season series by Washington for the first time since 2001-02.
3. Washington fell to a last-place team three times during its four-game road skid.
PREDICTION: Suns 99, Wizards 93