Rockets at Wizards
The Washington Wizards hope to get a boost along their beleaguered front line when they return home to take on Houston on Wednesday. Starting center Marcin Gortat is expected to return from a three-game absence to be with his ailing mother in Poland, which should allow the Wizards to move away from a version of small-ball that had become necessary without some their bigs.
Then again, that smaller lineup was rather effective in a 114-103 win at Miami on Monday, with John Wall bouncing back from a knee injury to score 26 points. "If you play at that intensity level every night, it (doesn't) matter who you have available," said Wizards coach Randy Wittman, who used 6-7 Jared Dudley at center during portions of the game. The Rockets are coming off a 110-105 win to Brooklyn in which the bulk of their production came off the bench. Reserve Marcus Thornton hit five 3-pointers en route to a season-high 32 points in 26 minutes while superstar guard James Harden was held to 10 points, his lowest total in more than a year.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ROOT (Houston), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (10-12): Houston had shown signs of life with three straight wins and five in its last six games before the loss in Brooklyn, which had some ugly elements. The Rockets turned the ball over a season-high 24 times and allowed the Nets - who entered the night ranked 28th in the league in scoring (95.6) - to shoot a season-high 55.6 percent. There also was an injury to staring forward Trevor Ariza, who left just minutes into the contest with a back issue and will be questionable for Wednesday's contest.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (9-10): Wall received some negative attention during an inconsistent start but he has put Washington on his back of late, and showed some guttiness in the visit to Miami. "I'm probably one of the toughest people you'll see," he told reporters after scoring 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting, one game after he was forced to depart with a knee issue. "I'm a competitor. I can't say if it wasn't broke I wouldn't play because I did that before, but it was just a time that we really want to play well." While power forward Kris Humphries came back for the Heat game and Gortat should see action Wednesday, the squad is expected to play a seventh straight game without center Nene (knee).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Harden has exactly nine assists in each of his last three games.
2. Rockets SG Corey Brewer picked up some of Ariza's minutes and finished with a season-high 22 points on Tuesday.
3. Wizards SG Bradley Beal scored a season-high 33 points in a 104-103 win at Houston last Dec. 29.