Hornets at Wizards
The Charlotte Hornets are falling out of the race for the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference due to a lackluster stretch that includes losses in 11 of the last 15 games. The Hornets will try to avoid letting their latest slide reach three straight losses when they visit the Washington Wizards on Friday.
Charlotte, which visits Miami on Sunday, sits two games behind the eighth-place Heat entering play on Thursday and had the misfortune of beginning the four-game trip with stops at NBA-best Milwaukee and red-hot Houston. All-Star guard Kemba Walker did all he could to drag his team to a win on Monday with 40 points on 14-of-20 shooting and 10 rebounds, but the Hornets still fell to the Rockets 118-106. Washington sits 1 1/2 games behind Charlotte and knocked off a pair of playoff hopefuls in Sacramento and Orlando in the last two contests. Those wins marked the first two of a five-game homestand for the Wizards, who will play five of the net six at home before finishing the regular season with five of eight on the road.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Charlotte), NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE HORNETS (30-37): Charlotte's lone win in the last five outings was a 112-111 home win over Washington on Friday in which power forward Marvin Williams broke out with a season-high 30 points while going 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. Williams slumped to five points on 2-of-9 shooting the next night at Milwaukee and sat out with an illness as the Hornets suffered a 118-106 setback at Houston on Monday. Small forwards Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (knee) and Nicolas Batum (eye) were also out as Charlotte fell into a 38-19 hole after the first quarter and never recovered against the Rockets.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (29-39): All-Star guard Bradley Beal is leading the charge for Washington and collected 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds in Wednesday's 100-90 victory over the Orlando Magic but put the focus squarely on the defense when asked what the team was doing right. "Being able to get stops," Beal told reporters. "I think in the third quarter it was a little scary, (Orlando) went on a nice little run and made some shots. Even in the fourth they did a good job of executing offense and getting some offensive rebounds. I think the difference was just limiting those things: guarding guys, keeping guys out the paint, contesting shots and limiting the shots they were getting out." The Wizards got a big boost from the bench on Wednesday as the four starters not named Beal combined to go 6-of-30 from the floor.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hornets C Cody Zeller (knee) sat out Monday and is day-to-day.
2. Wizards PF Jabari Parker is averaging 17.3 points on 65 percent shooting in seven games this month.
3. The home team took each of the first three meetings this season, with Washington earning a 130-126 win in its own arena on Dec. 29.