Wizards at Magic
The Washington Wizards looked like they had turned things around in a win over the New York Knicks on Sunday, but a terrible start to the road trip in Dallas on Tuesday showed them how far they have still to go. The Wizards will try to pull even on the three-game trip and quiet some critics when they visit the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Washington allowed fewer that 107 points for the first time this season in the 108-95 home triumph over New York on Sunday but watched their gains on the defensive end evaporate while surrendering 70 first-half points in the 119-100 loss to the Mavericks. "I thought we played real cool in the first half," Wizards guard Austin Rivers told ESPN.com. "Cool gets you L's. There's nothing cool about losing. Maybe we thought, 'Oh, we won finally. It's just going to click for us now because we're talented.' Like, it's hard to get wins in the NBA. It's hard. Unless you're the (expletive) Warriors. For everybody else, it's hard. You've got to compete every night." The Magic missed a chance to earn a three-game winning streak with a 103-96 home loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday while the reserves struggled, and coach Steve Clifford is trying to raise expectations for the franchise. "You can't play five guys and win, and everybody's got to be ready to play," Clifford told reporters. "You know what one of the things that does have to change is that all of us have to have expectations of playing well. ... It's not OK (to lose)."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Washington-plus, FS Florida
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (2-8): Washington is last in the NBA in scoring defense at an average of 120.5 points allowed and coach Scott Brooks is trying to keep the team together while rumors swirl about his job security. "There’s only one way to do it and it’s doing it together," Brooks told reporters. "Staying together, doing it together and believing in each other. We've been here before. We have enough in our locker room." The Wizards' defensive issues start with their struggles to rebound the ball, and they were outgained on the glass 50-32 in Tuesday's loss despite center Dwight Howard grabbing 11 boards.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (4-7): Evan Fournier scored 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting on Wednesday and Nikola Vucevic nearly pulled off another double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, but he was not happy after the game. "There are some things that we need to change as players, maybe some habits that we as players have that need to change," Vucevic told reporters. "Obviously, if that wasn't the case, we wouldn’t have won 20 (something) games the last couple of years. Obviously, there's a lot of work for us to do." That starts with getting more out of the reserves after Jarell Martin, Mo Bamba, Jonathon Simmons and Jerian Grant combined to go 1-of-14 from the floor on Wednesday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards SF Kelly Oubre Jr. is 3-of-26 from 3-point range over the last five games.
2. Magic PF Jonathan Isaac (ankle)is expected to miss his fourth straight game.
3. Orlando snapped a four-game slide in the series with a 101-92 home win in the final meeting of 2017-18.