Wizards at Bucks
Teams on opposite ends of the spectrum meet Saturday when the visiting Washington Wizards play the Milwaukee Bucks. The Wizards enter with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference after having throttled LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 91-78 on Friday. Milwaukee, on the other hand, trailed by as many as 52 points in a 124-83 loss at Toronto on Friday.
John Wall had 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting and seven assists against Cleveland as Washington won for the fourth time in five games. Milwaukee shot just 36.5 percent from the field and was outrebounded 57-30 in having its three-game win streak snapped. Washington easily defeated Milwaukee 108-97 on Nov. 1 behind 19 points, 10 assists and five steals from Wall.
TV: 8:30 p.m ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (8-3): Wall bounced back from a poor performance in a 105-102 loss to Dallas on Wednesday, when he shot 5-of-17 for 11 points and missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer. Washington has received a lift with the return of Bradley Beal (broken left wrist), who had 21 points in 26 minutes against Dallas and scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting versus Cleveland. Beal averaged 17.1 points and shot 40.2 percent from the arc last season.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (7-6): Milwaukee has something special in 19-year-old rookies Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who became the first set of teenage teammates to both score 14 or more points in a game Wednesday in Brooklyn. Parker scored 15 points against the Raptors and Antetokounmpo seven in only 15 minutes as he battled an ankle sprain suffered in Brooklyn. Milwaukee's first five losses were by a combined 41 points - the same margin of defeat Friday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks G Brandon Knight scored 24 points in the first game this season against Washington.
2. The Wizards are off to their best start since 1974-75.
3. Washington is 27-14 since last season's All-Star game.