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Wizards put home win streak on line vs. Kings

Jan 28, 2013 - 3:32 PM (Sports Network) - The Washington Wizards will be in search of a sixth consecutive home victory Monday night when they welcome the Sacramento Kings to the nation's capital.

The Wiz haven't lost at home since a Jan. 4 setback to the Brooklyn Nets. During that time, Washington has beaten the reigning Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic and, over the weekend, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls.

The Wizards are playing great at both ends during this win streak. They average 102.8 points per game, while their opponents average 89.4 ppg. They are shooting 49 percent from the field and their opponents a meager 41 percent.

Against the Bulls on Saturday, they held Chicago to just 73 points on 40 percent shooting.

"Our whole group of guys who played, I couldn't be any more proud of these guys," said coach Randy Wittman. "These guys, defensively tonight, were in tune and that's what won the game."

In their last 10 overall, the Wizards are 7-3 and 6-3 since the return of John Wall from injury. He is averaging 14.1 points, 6.7 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game.

The Kings come to Washington losers of four straight. This is the second of a six-game road trip and the sojourn didn't start off well. The Kings fell in Denver to the Nuggets, 121-93.

Against Denver, the Kings had 20 assists and 20 turnovers, which are horrendous statistics comparatively.

"We're probably over 100 turnovers in the last five or six games for sure," said Kings head coach Keith Smart. "Probably have to simplify things for our guys. We'll correct. We have some games where we can get ourselves back on track on this trip."

Aaron Brooks led the way for the Kings with 16 points off the bench. Tyreke Evans had 15, but the Nuggets absolutely shut down DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings' leading scorer and rebounder. Cousins finished with three points and two rebounds.

In Cousins' defense, he only played just under 22 minutes. No starter played more than 23 minutes and that occurred because the Kings trailed by 32 after third quarter.

The Kings won this season's earlier meeting with Washington, a 95-94 victory on Jan. 16 in Sacramento. The Kings won last season in Washington, but have lost seven of their last nine in D.C.