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Rusty Wizards face challenge vs. Warriors

Feb 24, 2015 - 3:17 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Washington Wizards have hit a rough patch in their pursuit of the playoffs and face a daunting task Tuesday versus the Golden State Warriors at the Verizon Center.

The Wizards have lost three in a row and eight of their last 10 games, including Sunday's 106-89 setback on the road against the Detroit Pistons.

Washington suffered through a brutal third quarter, as it was outscored by a 35-19 margin, and Marcin Gortat posted 24 points and 10 rebounds. Garrett Temple and Khris Humphries scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Wizards, who shot 43.5 percent and received 10 points and 12 assists from John Wall.

"We played the last couple of quarters like it was a pickup game," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "It's a snowball effect. It is the little things that add up to big things, and they continue to get bigger and bigger as we speak."

The Wizards were again without Bradley Beal, who has missed five consecutive games with a leg injury.

Washington is 20-9 at home and will visit Minnesota and Philadelphia next on the schedule.

Golden State hopes to have leading scorer and All-Star guard Stephen Curry when it resumes a six-game road trip tonight. Curry missed Sunday's 104-98 loss at Indiana with a foot injury and is averaging 23.6 ppg.

Curry practiced Monday and will be a game-time decision.

The Warriors had only two scorers in double figures, as Klay Thompson poured in 39 points on 12-of-28 shooting and made five of his 13 3-point attempts. Andre Iguodala ended with 14 points for Golden State, which had won four in a row and seven of the previous eight games.

"We scored 38 in the first quarter and 60 the rest of the way. Their defense deserves a lot of credit," said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

Golden State, which shot just 38.2 percent, was unbeaten in its previous three road games and fell to 19-8 as the guest this season. The Warriors are slated to make stops in Cleveland, Toronto, Boston and Brooklyn on the season-long sojourn. They are in the midst of playing 11 of 12 games as the visitor.

The Warriors are first in the NBA in scoring (110.3) and field goal percentage (47.9), while opponents are shooting just 42.4 percent against them.

Thompson is averaging 23.8 ppg in his last 13 games for the Warriors, who will play the first of two matchups with Washington this season. The two teams are slated to meet again March 23 at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

The Wizards ended a six-game slide in this series with an 88-85 triumph on Jan. 28, 2014. Golden State is still 10-4 in the past 14 encounters.