Wizards at Rockets
The Houston Rockets look to extend their longest winning streak of the season to seven when they host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. The Rockets, who embark on a five-game road trip after the All Star break, have won 14 of 18 outings since the calendar turned to 2014 and are tied for the third in the league in scoring offense. Bradley Beal will try to provide an encore after scoring a career-high 37 points in Washington’s 92-89 loss at Memphis on Tuesday.
Houston put up 114 points and shot 52.1 percent in a victory at Washington on Jan. 11 and has beaten the Wizards four straight at home. Washington, which stands in the bottom third of the league in shooting percentage defense, will have to deal with James Harden outside and Dwight Howard inside. Leading scorer John Wall must rebound from a season-low five points Tuesday with a big effort for the Wizards.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Washington, CSN Houston
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (25-26): Beal raised his season average to 17 points after making 15-of-24 from the field, including 5-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc, Tuesday to give Washington a chance. Wall is 7-of-23 from the field over the last two contests after scoring 27.7 points per game over the previous three. Power forward Nene has been a major factor during the last 11 games, averaging 15.8 points, and will need to team with leading rebounder Marcin Gortat (12.1 points, 8.7 rebounds) to control the powerful Howard frontcourt.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (35-17): Harden finished with 19 points, despite an off shooting night, but the Rockets continued to show their depth by rolling over Minnesota 107-89 on Monday. Harden leads the way at 23.6 points per contest while Dwight Howard averages 18.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 57.8 percent shooting and Chandler Parsons chips in with 17 points a game. Terrence Jones is averaging 14.8 points over the last six games and scored 19 to go along with a career-high 17 rebounds against Washington last month.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Rockets 7-0 C Omer Asik recorded 11 rebounds in 21 minutes combined the last two games after missing more than two months with a knee injury.
2. Washington F Trevor Ariza, who is four 3-pointers short of 500 in his career, collected 23 points and 14 rebounds in the loss to Houston last month.
3. Houston has won 13 straight contests when scoring 100 or more points.