Wizards at Warriors
The second half of the season has gone the wrong direction for the Washington Wizards and they’ll try to reverse course once again Monday night when they play at the West-leading Golden State Warriors. Washington has lost its last two games following a five-game winning streak, most recently by 23 points against the struggling Sacramento Kings on Sunday. The Warriors, meanwhile, are riding another five-game winning streak and own a convincing victory against the Wizards on Feb. 24.
Stephen Curry returned from a one-game absence to score 32 points in his matchup against John Wall of the Wizards, who was taken No. 1 overall in the 2010 NBA Draft, a year after Curry was selected seventh. Golden State shooting guard Klay Thompson is still a few days from returning from an ankle injury, so his absence will be a major difference from the earlier meeting against Washington. Harrison Barnes has done a solid job picking up the scoring slack in Thompson’s absence, averaging 19.7 points in the three games to tick his season average up to 10.5.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN (Washington), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (40-30): Washington was 29-13 just past the halfway point of the regular season but has gone 11-17 since. It appeared the Wizards had pulled out of their second-half slump by winning five in a row earlier this month, but now they’ve lost two straight, and the blowout loss to the Kings was especially troubling. Paul Pierce, who averages 12.8 points for Washington, has combined for 10 in the last two games on 4-for-17 shooting.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (56-13): Draymond Green continues to make major strides as an NBA player. He never averaged double figures for a full month in his first two NBA seasons, but has averaged double digits in every month this season and is currently at 14.2 for the month of March, which would represent the highest-scoring month of his career. He had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists in the 114-107 win against the Wizards last month.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Washington F Drew Gooden is a native of Oakland, the hometown of the Warriors.
2. The Warriors are three home wins from matching their franchise record of 36 set in the 1975-76 season.
3. The Wizards are 2-11 on the road since Jan. 27.