The Washington Wizards aim to snap their season-high three-game winning streak when they wrap up a tough road trip against Western Conference contenders Monday versus the New Orleans Pelicans. The Wizards opened the five-game trip with a one-point win at Houston but have since lost at Dallas, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. The Pelicans hope to keep them reeling by snapping a six-game losing streak in the series dating to 2011.
The Wizards shot 60 percent in the first half of Saturday's 101-92 loss at San Antonio, but they couldn't close it out, the second straight game they've lost after leading in the second half. "You look at the stat sheet, we did everything right," Washington guard John Wall told reporters after the loss to the Spurs. "We've got to learn how to get to the level of these last two games we played. Execute and have guys make big plays and make those shots." The Pelicans could get one of their clutch shooters back Monday with Eric Gordon listed as a game-time decision after missing the past 21 games with a shoulder injury.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (22-11): Despite the rough patch, the Wizards are fourth in the Eastern Conference and only three games behind first-place Atlanta. The backcourt duo of Wall (17.2 points, 10.3 assists) and Bradley Beal (15.7 points) leads a group of six Wizards who average double-digit scoring, but it was center Marcin Gortat (12.3 points, eight rebounds) who led the way in an 83-80 win over New Orleans in the first meeting this season. Beal has been hot on the current road trip, averaging 19.8 points over the past four games.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (17-16): The Pelicans are 1 1/2 games behind Phoenix for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference and are coming off an impressive 111-83 rout of visiting Houston on Friday, but they haven't won consecutive games in more than two weeks. Of course, that narrative would be irrelevant if not for center Omer Asik's unfortunate tip-in on San Antonio's basket that forced overtime, where the Spurs eventually prevailed Wednesday night. New Orleans is a force at the offensive end with big man Anthony Davis (23.8 points, 10.5 rebounds) leading four players who average at least 15.3 points, and getting Gordon (9.5 points) back will help with the team's biggest weakness by solidifying its backcourt depth.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wall and Davis each have 19 double-doubles, tied with Orlando C Nikola Vucevic for the league lead.
2. The Wizards are 17-1 when holding opponents under 100 points while the Pelicans are 15-6 when hitting triple digits.
3. The Pelicans are 11-1 when blocking seven or more shots.