Wizards at Rockets
The Washington Wizards are establishing themselves as a power in the Eastern Conference but will get a better look at how they stack up against the rest of the league during a five-game road trip. The Wizards kick off the excursion by visiting the new-look Houston Rockets on Monday. Washington had the benefit of a home-heavy schedule early in the season and has not played more than two straight on the road in the first two months.
The Rockets brought two new pieces into the rotation in the last week as Corey Brewer and Josh Smith joined the team in an effort to boost the defense and provide more scoring options than just James Harden and Dwight Howard. Brewer is averaging 16.7 points in his first three games with the team while Smith performed well in a win at Memphis on Friday before slumping to five points on 2-of-7 shooting in Sunday’s loss at San Antonio. The Wizards hit the road coming off back-to-back wins over the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), ROOT Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (21-8): Washington is 7-4 on the road but has yet to play a Western Conference team away from home and will take on Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and New Orleans after Houston on the current trip. “It is a test,” forward Paul Pierce told reporters. “We get a chance to play against some of the upper-echelon Western Conference teams. It will be a great measuring stick about where we are.” Wizards point guard John Wall, who averages 17.8 points and 10.3 assists, gets a chance to measure himself against some of the great guards in the West like Harden, Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (21-8): Brewer fits right in with Houston’s open offense and went 6-of-8 from 3-point range on Sunday en route to 25 points. The veteran guard is 11-of-17 from beyond the arc since making his debut with the club and is getting steady minutes as the leader of the second unit. Smith, who fell out of favor in Detroit and was picked up after clearing waivers, moved into the starting lineup on Sunday after coming off the bench in his first game, pushing Donatas Motiejunas to the second unit.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Harden is averaging 34.7 points on 34-of-61 shooting in the last three games but committed nine turnovers on Sunday.
2. Houston has taken six of the last seven in the series, including both meetings last season.
3. Washington F Kris Humphries is averaging 16 points on 16-of-23 shooting in the last two games.