Pistons at Wizards
The Washington Wizards are slowly pulling themselves out of a funk that lasted nearly the entire first half of the season, winning six of their last nine games as they return to this side of the Atlantic Ocean. The Wizards will try to make it seven of 10 when they host the Detroit Pistons on Monday.
Washington, which knocked off the New York Knicks 101-100 in London on Thursday, is 6-4 in 10 games since All-Star point guard John Wall went down with a season-ending heel injury and shooting guard Bradley Beal remains confident the team can continue to make strides forward. "We're a competitive team," Beal told reporters. "Win, lose, or draw, we stick together. We keep our heads high, we continue to get better. We're right here in the playoff hunt, which is where we want to be." The Pistons are trying to stay in the playoff hunt as well but let a win slip through their fingers when they allowed a controversial buzzer-beating 3-pointer in a 103-101 loss at home to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. "It's tough to accept this kind of loss," center Zaza Pachulia told reporters. "You're working so hard for 48 minutes, coming off a back to back, having a couple of guys down. Gave ourselves a chance to win the game and last possession - I think we did a good job trapping Buddy Hield - and then he picks up the ball and dribbles again. I thought that was an illegal play. You can't dribble twice."
TV: 2 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE PISTONS (20-25): Detroit had a three-game winning streak in its sights after wins over Orlando and Miami but was outscored 29-19 in the fourth quarter and surrendered 23 points off 14 turnovers to the Kings. "Proud of how hard we played," star forward Blake Griffin told reporters. "We fought. And due to circumstances out of our control, we lost that game. Obviously, we had bad plays down the stretch. We did things here and there. But that game was ... unlike any game I've been a part of." Griffin did everything he could to drag the Pistons to the victory, scoring 38 points on 12-of-23 shooting in his third consecutive 30-plus performance.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (19-26): Beal is the unquestioned leader of the team with Wall on the shelf and is content to not always get the last shot. It was center Thomas Bryant making the game-winning layup in London on Thursday - with some help from a goaltending call - and Beal was thrilled. "He did a great basketball play, just rolled to the basket," Beal told reporters of Bryant. "I trusted him to be able to make the right play, whether it be kicking it out to the corner, or laying the ball up like he did. I trust one-through-15 to make the play. ... It doesn't matter who has the ball, who makes the plays, as long as it gets done. And TB got it done."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards SF Otto Porter Jr. scored 20 or more points in three of the last four games.
2. Pistons C Andre Drummond is in the concussion protocol and missed Saturday's game.
3. Washington dropped a 106-95 decision at Detroit on Dec. 26 despite 21 points from Beal.