Wizards at Suns
The Phoenix Suns just got done knocking off one Eastern Conference contender and will try to do it again when they host the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. The Suns took the first three of the five-game homestand to pull ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and out of the basement in the West, capped by Sunday's 109-106 triumph over the Boston Celtics.
Phoenix looked like it was moving to full-on tank mode after dealing away P.J. Tucker and benching veterans Tyson Chandler and Brandon Knight in favor of younger players, but those younger players are stepping up and proving they belong. Rookie point guard Tyler Ulis, whose recent uptick in playing time has come at the expense of Knight, scored a season-high 20 points on Sunday and buried the winning 3-pointer at the buzzer after a steal. The Wizards, who sit in third place in the East, narrowly avoided back-to-back losses on Sunday, when recent acquisition Bojan Bogdanovic exploded for 15 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter of a 115-114 triumph over the Orlando Magic. Washington kicks off a five-game road trip against Western Conference opponents with Tuesday's matchup but will not face a team with a winning record on the trip.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (37-24): Bogdanovic knocked down a career-high eight 3-pointers in Sunday's win, including one that put the team ahead in the final minute, and he is 20-of-31 from 3-point range over the last five games. The 27-year-old former Brooklyn Net reached 27 points in two of the last three games - both wins - and is settling in nicely as a scorer off the bench and someone who can share the floor with the first-unit backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal. Point guard Brandon Jennings continues to become more comfortable around his new teammates as well and handed out seven assists in 17 minutes off the bench on Sunday - his second game since joining the team.
ABOUT THE SUNS (21-42): The other big beneficiary of the minutes that opened when Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler were sent to the end of the bench was power forward Alan Williams, who posted a double-double in three straight and four of the last five contests. Williams is the first frontcourt reserve in the new alignment and often mans the middle when the team spreads the floor with a smaller lineup. The 24-year-old UC Santa Barbara product contributed 11 points, 15 rebounds and a pair of steals on Sunday in 31 minutes - the third time in the last five games that he logged at least 30 minutes.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wall is shooting 34.2 percent from the floor over the last four games.
2. Suns rookie PF Marquese Chriss recorded a season-high five blocks on Sunday.
3. Beal scored 42 points in Washington's 106-101 home win over Phoenix on Nov. 21.