The Washington Wizards are looking for any kind of spark to get them back to where they were a month ago. They will try to find it on the road while they attempt to stop a four-game slide at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
The Timberwolves know all about long losing streaks but will have plenty of energy with the expected return of Kevin Garnett to the lineup against the Wizards.
Garnett was acquired at the trade deadline from the Brooklyn Nets but was waiting until Minnesota returned home to make his debut and should get a warm reception from the fans when he makes his return to the team he started his career with in the 1995-96 season.
Garnett will also get a reunion with former Nets and Celtics teammate Paul Pierce, who was one of the lone bright spots for Washington in a 114-107 home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. That setback marked the ninth in the last 11 games for the Wizards, who have dropped five in a row on the road.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), FSN North (Minnesota)
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ABOUT THE WIZARDS (33-24): Pierce went 7-of-11 from the floor and Washington shot 53.2 percent from the field against the best team in the NBA but turned the ball over 26 times in Tuesday's setback. John Wall had eight of those miscues and missed all four of his 3-point attempts to drop to 3-of-23 from beyond the arc in the last six games. Wall collected 21 points, 17 assists and three turnovers in a 109-95 home win over the Timberwolves on Dec. 16 and will try to match that performance as the Wizards open a two-game trip.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (12-43): Garnett waived his no-trade clause and accepted a move back to a last-place team to serve as a mentor for Minnesota's crop of young talent and re-establish the roots he planted as a teenager. "I didn't get any sleep the night before the trade deadline and the two days before that," Garnett told reporters. "I don't like to do anything during the season. If anything, I like to do things, obviously, in the offseason. I have kids in school and family, so it wasn't really my cup of tea. ... I just thought as far as my options, as far as what I want to do after basketball, this is probably the best situation, a storybook ending." The veteran forward is expected to start alongside Nikola Pekovic in the frontcourt.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Wizards are allowing an average of 115.7 in their last three games.
2. Minnesota G Kevin Martin has gone for 21 or more points in each of the last five games.
3. Washington C Marcin Gortat is 20-of-29 from the field in the last two games with a pair of double-doubles.
PREDICTION: Timberwolves 109, Wizards 101
