Wizards at Hornets
The Washington Wizards begin a season-ending stretch filled with road games when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. The Wizards snapped a two-game losing streak with a 112-107 win over Chicago at home on Friday, riding a career-high 20 assists from point guard John Wall, who showed no ill effects from a sprained left foot suffered in Wednesday's loss to Dallas.
The victory allowed Washington - which plays 10 of its final 14 on the road - to avoid its first three-game slide since November and kept it within 1 1/2 games of Boston for second place in the Eastern Conference. The Hornets have dropped three in a row after Wednesday's 98-77 loss at Indiana, which followed two straight games in which they scored an average of 115.5 points. "When we play well at both ends of the floor, we've been a good team," coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "Tonight, our defense was good enough ... (but) we were poor offensively." Wall is averaging 24.5 points and 8.5 assists in two wins over the Hornets this season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), FSN Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (42-26): Wall's distribution led to six players with 12 points or more, a set led by Bradley Beal, who had 24 points and made 3-of-4 3-pointers. Reserve center Ian Mahinmi made 8-of-11 shots in 20 minutes off the bench and he is 20-for-28 from the floor over a span of six contests. Forward Markieff Morris was scratched Friday due to an illness and he is day-to-day.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (29-39): Shooting guard Nicolas Batum has missed two straight games while dealing with migraine headaches and a CT scan on his brain came back negative, the team announced Wednesday, and he is expected to miss at least one more game. Jeremy Lamb has started two games in a row in Batum's place, scoring 26 points in the first contest and then finishing with eight on 3-of-9 shooting in Wednesday's loss. Leading scorer Kemba Walker tied a season low with seven points Wednesday and he is shooting 35.6 percent from the field over the last three games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Washington has won six of the last eight meetings, including three straight.
2. Wizards F Jason Smith scored 17 points while starting in place of Morris on Friday.
3. Hornets C Frank Kaminsky scored 20 points Wednesday in his second game back from a shoulder sprain.