Clippers at Wizards
The Washington Wizards look like a playoff team when the offense clicks and they play a little defense, and wins in four of the last five games showed an improvement in those areas. The Wizards will try to finish off a three-game homestand with their first three-game winning streak of the season when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
Washington played one of its best games on Friday with a 122-108 win over the Detroit Pistons, posting a season high in points against the team that came in leading the Eastern Conference in scoring defense. "I think we're getting into a nice little rhythm that we're understanding what we want to do as a basketball team on both ends," Wizards coach Scott Brooks told reporters. "We're still not where we need to be, but I see some progress. I see some belief in each other, and that's what it's about." The Clippers are starting to heat up again with four straight wins and pulled out victories at Orlando and Miami on the first two stops of a three-game trip. Los Angeles center DeAndre Jordan is leading the way on the road trip and came out on top in a battle of big men when he collected 12 points and 19 rebounds against Hassan Whiteside and the Heat on Friday.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (20-7): Los Angeles got strong results when it experimented with Austin Rivers in the starting lineup at Orlando but was not so lucky against Miami, with Rivers managing seven points and five personal fouls in 34 minutes. The stars were around to pick up the slack and power forward Blake Griffin scored a team-high 20 points against the Heat while improving to 18-of-29 from the field in the first two games of the trip. The 27-year-old All-Star was held to 12 points on 5-of-20 shooting against Golden State on Dec. 7 and sat out the next game but found a groove on offense while scoring 20 or more points in each of the last three contests.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (11-14): Washington invested a lot in its young backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal, and the two are playing at a high level. Wall posted a double-double in each of the last three wins while Beal is averaging 24 points and shooting 50 percent from the field in the last five contests. "We feel like we figured it out," Beal told the Washington Post after he and Wall combined for 54 points on 18-of-30 shooting on Friday. "It was really about our effort and defense, and once we compete at a high level every night and we defend, our offense is going to take care of itself. We're going to get what we want."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards C Marcin Gortat collected a double-double in the last two games and grabbed double-digit rebounds in four straight.
2. Clippers SG J.J. Redick is 8-of-27 from the floor in the last two games.
3. Los Angeles took the last three in the series, including a 108-91 win in its trip to Washington last season.