Wizards at Pistons
The Washington Wizards may choose to rest some of their key players when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Monday. A win by Toronto on Sunday locked the Wizards into the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, rendering a two-game road trip to end the regular season nothing more than a tune-up for the playoffs.
Washington lost pace with the third-seeded Raptors by losing four of six, including a 106-103 setback against Miami on Saturday in its home finale. "We've just got to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out what kind of team we want to be," Wizards guard Bradley Beal told reporters. "If we want to be a hot team moving into the playoffs or are we just going to be a complacent team that's going to be home early?" The Pistons officially were eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend but have won two straight for the first time in nearly a month. Six players scored in double figures and Detroit made 14-of-28 3-pointers in a 13-point win at Memphis on Sunday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (48-32): Beal and fellow guard John Wall scored 16 points apiece in the loss to Miami, and both are prime candidates for some quality rest before the postseason. Beal, who has played a career-high 76 games, hasn't missed one since Dec. 30 and Wall last sat on Nov. 12. Forward Otto Porter Jr. missed his first contest of the season Saturday due to back spasms, giving Kelly Oubre Jr. a rare start.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (37-43): Starters Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Marcus Morris were rested Sunday. Big man Boban Marjanovic posted his second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and is 16-of-24 shooting in the back-to-back solid efforts. Center Andre Drummond, who averages nearly 14 points, has been held to single digits in five of his last six contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Morris had a tip-in at the buzzer to lift Detroit to a 113-112 win in the previous meeting.
2. Wizards C Marcin Gortat averages a double-double but has recorded just one in his last 15 games.
3. Detroit has scored at least 100 points in four straight contests after falling shy of that mark six consecutive times.