Nets at Wizards
The Washington Wizards are winners of two straight and eight of 11 and get a chance to move to the .500 mark when they host the lowly Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The Nets dropped six of their last seven games and followed up a win on a last-second shot with a loss on a last-second shot in the last two contests.
Brooklyn is once again working without point guard Jeremy Lin, who will miss an undetermined amount of time with his second left hamstring injury, but put themselves in a position to earn a win at Chicago on Wednesday before falling on Jimmy Butler's last-second shot. Veteran Randy Foye, whose last-second shot lifted the Nets over Charlotte on Monday, absorbed Lin's open minutes again on Wednesday and delivered 11 points in 28 minutes off the bench. Foye and starter Sean Kilpatrick will need to find a way to stop Washington star point guard John Wall on Friday. Wall finished an assist shy of a triple-double with 36 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in a 111-105 win over Indiana on Wednesday and guided Washington to seven straight home wins.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE NETS (8-23): Brooklyn is an NBA-worst 1-15 on the road but nearly pulled off the win on Wednesday thanks in large part to center Brook Lopez's continued evolution as an outside shooter. The veteran 7-footer knocked down a career-high five 3-pointers on six attempts and went 12-of-20 from the floor overall en route to 33 points. Lopez was a career 3-of-31 from beyond the arc in the first eight seasons of his career but is adjusting to first-year coach Kenny Atkinson's system and is shooting 37.8 percent from 3-point range in 2016-17.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (15-16): Wall became the first Washington guard with at least 35 points and 10 rebounds since Michael Jordan in 2003, according to ESPN Stats and Information, in Wednesday's win and carried the team when shooting guard Bradley Beal went down in the first half with an ankle injury that leaves him day-to-day. Wall's double-double was his 10th in 14 games this month - first of the points-rebounds variety - and featured a 2-of-3 effort from beyond the arc after he slumped to 1-of-16 in the previous five contests. Wall hit 1-of-5 from 3-point range at Brooklyn on Dec. 5 but finished with 25 points and 13 assists in a 118-113 victory.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards SF Otto Porter Jr. is 29-of-42 from the field in the last four games.
2. Brooklyn PF Trevor Booker collected a total of 26 rebounds in the last two games.
3. Washington took the last four in the series.