The Wizards hit the mid-point of their frustrating season today on pace to finish with the worst record in franchise history.
Tonight when Washington (8-32) plays at Sacramento (10-31), the Wizards will meet another lottery contender. This is unfamiliar territory for both teams. The Wizards have been to the playoffs the last four years. The Kings went eight straight times between 1999-2006, and have been in the hunt for a playoff berth the last two seasons before this year’s free fall.
This is the Wizards’ best opportunity for a victory on this four-game West Coast road trip, which includes games against the Los Angeles Lakers (31-8) Thursday and Portland (24-16) Saturday. The Wizards, who lost Monday afternoon at Golden State, 119-98, will catch a tired Kings squad, which plays tonight at Denver. Sacramento has the worst point differential in the league (-8.8).
Washington will try to remedy some of its typical flaws that appeared Monday, when it allowed Golden State to shoot 53 percent from the floor, 62 percent from 3-point range, and faded badly in the fourth period.
The Wizards got enough offense to win as Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, and Andray Blatche scored 22 points each and Dominic McGuire (11 rebounds, 6 assists) played well. But stops, especially in the fourth quarter, were elusive as Wizard-killer Jamal Crawford (28 points, 8 assists) led the Warriors’ perimeter-oriented offense which was sparked by the return of Steven Jackson (26 points) from an injury.
Sacramento is led by guard Kevin Martin (24.4 points per game), rapidly-developing swingman John Salmons (18.9 ppg) and center Brad Miller (12.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg). The man to stop is the wiry, 6-7 Martin. The Kings are 6-13 with Martin in the lineup, and 4-18 when he was out with injuries in November and December.
