Trail Blazers at Wizards
The Washington Wizards pulled above .500 with wins in four of the last five games and have not lost at home since Dec. 6. The Wizards will try to push their home winning streak to 12 in a row when they host the Portland Trail Blazers in the second of a three-game homestand on Monday.
Washington's home winning streak looked like it was in danger when the Wizards trailed by 13 points early against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, but they caught fire through the second and third quarters and ended up cruising to a 109-93 win. Washington allowed the Boston Celtics to shoot 50.6 percent from the field in a 117-108 road loss on Wednesday and got off to a slow start on the defensive end Saturday before limiting the 76ers to 37 points in the second half. The Trail Blazers are going the other way on the defensive end and suffered a 115-109 loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday after holding their previous two opponents under 90 points. Portland, which is 7-15 on the road and 5-8 against Eastern Conference opponents, is embarking on a four-game east coast trip.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (18-24): Portland shooting guard C.J. McCollum continues to thrive on the offensive end and scored at least 25 points in each of the last eight games. The 25-year-old Lehigh product is shooting 53 percent from the field in those eight games and picked up his rate from beyond the arc in the last two contests by knocking down 9-of-16 3-point attempts. Backcourt mate Damian Lillard is having a more difficult time finding his shot and is shooting 27.5 percent from 3-point range in five games since returning from an ankle injury, including a 2-of-11 effort in Friday's loss.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (20-19): Washington has a backcourt that can match Lillard and McCollum in John Wall and Bradley Beal, who combined for 45 points on 17-of-32 shooting in Saturday's triumph despite sitting out the fourth quarter. "I wanted to play a little bit, I'm not going to lie to you," Beal told the Washington Post. "But it was good to see us close out a game the right way. If everybody gets a chance to play and everybody gets minutes, then that’s always a great feeling." Wall, who went 4-of-21 from the floor in the loss at Boston on Wednesday, shot 50 percent or better in each of the last five homes games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards PF Markieff Morris is 5-of-5 from 3-point range in the last two home games.
2. Trail Blazers SF Maurice Harkless (calf) sat out Friday and is day-to-day.
3. Portland took both meetings last season and four of the last five in the series.