Preview: Bulls at Wizards

[March 16, 2016]  The Washington Wizards pounded one team they were chasing in the standings on Monday and will try to do the same thing when they host the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. The Wizards’ 124-81 beat down of the Detroit Pistons allowed the Bulls to move into the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference by one percentage point, 2 1/2 games ahead of Washington.

Washington shot 56.7 percent from the floor against the Pistons to snap a five-game slide and keep its dwindling playoff hopes alive. The offense was at times spectacular, but the Wizards’ work on the defensive end after allowing an average of 110.8 points in the previous five games marked the real step forward for the team. The Bulls are trying to turn things around for the final month of the season as well and avoided a three-game slide by squeezing out a 109-107 victory at the Toronto Raptors on Monday. Jimmy Butler (knee) returned from a three-game absence and scored 13 points while providing the key defensive play in the final seconds when he stripped Toronto All-Star DeMar DeRozan on a drive to the basket that could have tied the game.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
 

ABOUT THE BULLS (33-32): Chicago went 4-10 in games Butler missed since originally suffering the knee injury on Feb. 5, and the star guard’s healthy return will improve the team’s postseason outlook. Fellow guard Derrick Rose (groin) missed the last two games and remains day-to-day, but E’Twaun Moore scored 17 points in Rose’s starting spot on Monday while Doug McDermott gave the team a lift with 29 points off the bench. McDermott averaged 19.6 points in five games to close February but was struggling in the first six games this month (7.8 points) before breaking out of the slump at 9-of-11 from the field on Monday.

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (31-35): Washington ripped off a stretch of seven wins in nine games coming out of the All-Star break in which it played solid defense and looked like a team primed to make a run into the playoffs. The five-game stretch that followed threatened to leave the Wizards near the bottom of the standings, but the team is hoping Monday’s performance is a big step in the right direction. Washington had seven players score in double figures in the rout, led by 20 points off the bench from Nene and 15 points and 12 assists from John Wall, to kick off a key six-game stretch that will see it play four games against teams ahead in the East.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Bulls G/F Mike Dunleavy (illness) sat out Monday and is day-to-day.

2. Wall’s double-double on Monday was his fourth in the last five games.

3. The teams split a pair of meetings this season, most recently with Chicago earning a 109-104 home win on Feb. 24.

PREDICTION: Bulls 103, Wizards 101

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