Kings at Wizards
The Washington Wizards and the Sacramento Kings are both on the outside of the playoff picture in their respective conferences, but both still have plans to challenge for a spot. The Wizards will try to shake off a pair of tough road losses when they return home to host the Kings on Monday.
Washington began its two-game trip with a 112-111 loss at Charlotte, which is in front of it in the Eastern Conference standings, on Friday and fell 135-130 in overtime the next night at Minnesota after All-Star guard Bradley Beal forced the extra period with a 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer. "We gave ourselves a great opportunity down the stretch to win," Beal told reporters. "Even then, I think we even gave up the lead in the fourth. We have to do a much better job of closing out games. Doing better in those situations." Sacramento's two victories in its last six games came against the NBA-worst New York Knicks, and the team still has stops at Boston and Philadelphia left on the four-game trip. The Kings enter play on Sunday in ninth place in the West, 3 1/2 games behind the San Antonio Spurs.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE KINGS (33-32): Sacramento flew across the country and had to play at noon on Saturday at New York but managed to shake off some early sluggishness and earn a 102-94 victory over the Knicks behind point guard De'Aaron Fox. "Sometimes with games like that, shots aren't going to fall," Fox told reporters. "We shot the ball terribly in the first quarter. Once the defense started picking up in the second quarter, that's when shots started to fall. I think it's attributed to our energy and just being able to pick it up for the rest of the game." The 21-year-old finished with 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting and is shooting 54.9 percent from the floor in four games this month.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (27-39): Washington pointed to defensive rebounding as the big issue in Saturday's setback, and the team surrendered 19 offensive boards to the Timberwolves a night after yielding 18 to the Hornets. "Defensive rebounding for us," forward Trevor Ariza told reporters. "Late in the game, we had opportunities to get those rebounds and we didn't. Difference in the game." The losses left the Wizards in 11th place in the East, four games behind eighth-place Miami with 16 games left in the regular season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings rookie PF Marvin Bagley III (knee) sat out the last four games but reportedly resumed basketball activities and could return during the road trip
2. Wizards PG Tomas Satoransky handed out 11 assists in two of the last three games.
3. Sacramento snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with a 116-112 home win over Washington on Oct. 26.