Wizards at Clippers
The Washington Wizards are in position to climb up the Eastern Conference standings after rolling off five straight victories. Washington attempts to stretch its streak to six when it visits the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, and Los Angeles can relate to the situation. The Clippers are tied for fifth with the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference while Washington is a half-game behind the fourth-place Chicago Bulls and one game behind the third-place Toronto Raptors in the East.
The Wizards posted a 104-96 win over the Clippers on Dec. 12 and completing a season sweep will be tough against a team that is 25-10 at home. Washington registered an 88-84 win over the red-hot Utah Jazz on Wednesday and point guard John Wall led the way with 24 points. Los Angeles delivered a 116-105 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday as point Chris Paul had 30 points and 11 assists and shooting guard J.J. Redick made seven 3-pointers while scoring 27 points.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (40-28): Wall is on a roll and has scored 20 or more points in four straight games, his best stretch of the season. He is averaging 24.3 points, 8.8 assists, 6.8 rebounds and shooting 58.1 percent from the field during the stretch and scored 19 of his 24 points against Utah in the second half despite tweaking an ankle to fuel the victory. “John was big,” Washington coach Randy Wittman told reporters. “Made some big plays, made some big shots and defended. The whole gamut there and stepped up at the end.”
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (44-25): Veteran small forward Hedo Turkoglu surely landed himself some more playing time by scoring a season-best 19 points and making five 3-pointers in the win over the Kings. The little-used Turkoglu was in the lineup due to an injury to Matt Barnes (hamstring) and he made 7-of-12 shots while playing 33 quality minutes. “Turk was amazing. It was a throwback game for him,” Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “We’ve eased him through this season but we’re playing him more now. He’s finding his rhythm.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Los Angeles has won its last six home games against Washington.
2. The Wizards have held their last 11 opponents under 100 points.
3. Redick is averaging 25 points on 19-of-33 shooting over the past two contests.