San Antonio @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 26, 2019 ) Washington 122, San Antonio 124

If the Washington Wizards could put together a consistent effort on the defensive end, they might have one of the best records in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards will try to get the defense to catch up to the offense when they host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

Washington is second in the East in scoring at an average of 118 points but is last in the NBA in scoring defense while surrendering an average of 120.1 points and wasted another solid offensive night in a 125-121 loss at Orlando on Sunday. "We just have to keep chipping at it," Wizards star guard Bradley Beal told reporters. "We compete hard enough to win every game. We are top five in offense. We know that is not the problem. We just have to get stops." The Spurs are going through a similar struggle while allowing an average of 121 points during a six-game losing streak. San Antonio's 5-9 start is its worst through 14 games since the 1996-97 campaign before Tim Duncan came around and its six-game slide is the team's longest since 2011.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (San Antonio), NBCS Washington

ABOUT THE SPURS (5-9): San Antonio allowed Dallas to shoot 50 percent from the floor on Monday and watched Mavericks phenom Luka Doncic join LeBron James as the only players in NBA history with 40-point triple-doubles before the age of 21, but the news wasn't all bad. Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan enjoyed his best game of the season with 36 points on 14-of-20 shooting and added a season-high eight rebounds while bouncing back from a 4-of-15 effort in Saturday's loss to Portland. DeRozan (21 points) leads the team in scoring and often takes on the point guard role with starter Dejounte Murray still working his way back from knee surgery.

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (3-8): Sunday marked the fourth time Washington scored at least 120 points and still suffered a loss, but coach Scott Brooks was looking for positives after the performance. "I like the way we compete," Brooks told reporters. "It's fun to coach, it's fun to watch. We've got some things to work on and we will continue to work on. We've got to make sure we're squared away on a lot of things that we talked about going into the game." Beal is doing his best to get the Wizards over the hump and is averaging 40.7 points over the last three games while totaling 24 assists in that span.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Wizards SG C.J. Miles scored 21 points and went 6-of-7 from 3-point range on Sunday after totaling eight points in the previous three games.

2. Spurs PG Patty Mills is 5-for-23 from 3-point range over the last five games.

3. Beal scored 25 points in a 124-122 loss at San Antonio on Oct. 26.

PREDICTION: Wizard 120, Spurs 118