Wizards at Kings
The Washington Wizards are a scorching-hot basketball squad but they have dropped their last six visits to Sacramento. The Wizards try to end that dubious skid when they visit the Kings on Friday looking for their first victory in Sacramento since Jan. 21, 2009.
Washington is 23-6 over the past two-plus months and is putting the heat on the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference race. The Wizards rolled to a 123-113 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday to make it two straight victories to start a five-game road trip. Sacramento has dropped six consecutive games and the last one was especially painful as the Kings held a 28-point, second-quarter lead over the San Antonio Spurs before collapsing to suffer a 114-104 loss. Sacramento has fallen four games behind the eighth-place Nuggets for the final Western Conference playoff spot and now lacks offensive firepower after the trade of All-Star DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (39-24): Washington is one of the hottest teams in the NBA as its stellar backcourt duo of point guard John Wall and shooting guard Bradley Beal continue to shine. Wall had 30 points and 10 assists in the win at Denver for his 16th double-double in the past 17 games while Beal had 23 points for his eight consecutive 20-point outing and 12th in the last 13 games. Small forward Otto Porter Jr. broke out of a funk as he scored 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting after scoring in single digits in four of the previous seven games.
ABOUT THE KINGS (25-39): Sacramento lost by double digits on four occasions during the six-game skid and appears on the verge of falling out of the playoff race. The game against the Wizards is the start of a three-game homestand but is followed by a treacherous stretch in which five of six games are on the road. Guard Tyreke Evans scored 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting against the Spurs and is averaging 15.3 points since being acquired in the deal for Cousins.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Kings are 20-9 at home against the Wizards during the franchise's Sacramento era.
2. Washington emerged victorious in nine of its last 11 road games.
3. Sacramento SG Arron Afflalo is averaging just five points on 4-of-14 shooting in the past two games.