Wizards at Suns
Devin Booker is coming off a season-best 59-point performance as the Phoenix Suns continue to wind down a miserable season by hosting the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Despite the shooting guard's stellar effort on Monday, the Suns were hammered 125-92 by Utah.
Phoenix has lost four straight and six of seven games, but Booker still is playing all out while racking up the points. "Every time I lace up my shoes, I'm going out there to compete and win and try to lead my team to victory," he told reporters. "So whatever I have to do to do that. I had it rolling a little bit. We kept playing through me, but my teammates were setting good screens, getting the ball to me on time." Washington has lost five straight to fall 15 games below .500, and a loss to the Suns will eliminate them from the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Wizards fell 124-106 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in the opener of their four-game road trip.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCS Washington, FS Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (30-45): Even thought Washington is on the verge of elimination, coach Scott Brooks insisted the approach is still full speed ahead. "We're going to keep fighting," Brooks told reporters after the loss to the Lakers. "I don't like the way we played (Tuesday). ... We got seven more games and we're going to keep competing." Bradley Beal scored 32 points against Los Angeles and said afterward that he doesn't want to sit out any games down the stretch as he is on pace to play in all 82 for the second straight season.
ABOUT THE SUNS (17-58): Coach Igor Kokoskov inserted Booker back into Monday's contest with the club trailing by 31 points with 2:57 left as the 22-year-old needed four points to reach 60, and the Jazz intentionally fouled another player in the final 20 seconds to prevent him from reaching the mark. "I've been saying on these 30-, 40-point games I've had that I've left 50, 60 points on the table a lot," Booker said. "Just made some shots that I feel like I'm going to make moving forward. It's been a tough season for me, shooting-wise behind the arc, and I finally got some to fall." Booker had a solid performance against Washington earlier this season, when he recorded 33 points and a career-best 14 assists in a 149-146 triple-overtime loss on Dec. 22.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Wizards have prevailed in five of their previous six visits to Phoenix.
2. Suns SF Josh Jackson (ankle) likely will miss his third straight game.
3. Washington SF Trevor Ariza (groin) returned from a two-game absence but re-injured himself in the first half against the Lakers and won't play versus Phoenix.