Clippers at Wizards
The Los Angeles Clippers look to to extend their winning streak to double digits Friday when they visit the Washington Wizards. The Clippers won their ninth straight, 103-96 against Indiana on Wednesday, for the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. The Wizards, however, have the second-best home record in the NBA (10-2) and have won six of their last seven overall.
Los Angeles is averaging 114 points during the streak and leads the league in field-goal percentage (48.4) for the season and is second in 3-point percentage (38.1), but Washington ranks fifth in points allowed per 100 possessions (102.2) and is fifth in field-goal percentage defense (43.0). This game also features a great point guard matchup between Chris Paul and John Wall, who are tied for the league lead in double-doubles for guards (13). Paul's team has won all six of the matchups against Wall's team, including four since Paul has been with the Clippers.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (16-5): Paul had 17 points and 15 assists against the Pacers. He has averaged 17.7 points on 47.4 percent shooting and 9.8 assists in matchups against Wall. Prior to scoring 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting against the Pacers, Blake Griffin averaged an NBA-high 29.5 points on 60.7 percent shooting in his previous six games, shooting better than 50 percent in each.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (15-6): Bradley Beal converted an alley-oop pass from Andre Miller at the buzzer Wednesday to give the Wizards a 91-89 victory over the Orlando Magic. "I didn't even see Andre throw the ball," Beal said. "We practice situations like that all the time and they actually win games." Wall, who has tallied 16 points on 42.5 percent shooting and nine assists but 4.5 turnovers in his matchups against Paul, had 21 points and 11 assists against the Magic - his personal-best sixth straight game with 10 or more assists.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Washington trailed Orlando by eight points in the fourth quarter and by five with 1:38 to play, just two days after overcoming a pair of seven-point deficits in overtime to beat Boston.
2. Paul's 5.89 assists-to-turnover ratio through 21 games is the second-best in NBA history, just behind the NBA record set by the Charlotte Hornets' Muggsy Bogues in 1989-90.
3. The Clippers are 15-1 when scoring 100 or more points and the Wizards are 12-0 when holding teams under 100 points.