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Artest, Rockets set to face lowly Wizards

Dec 29, 2008 - 3:32 PM Washington (5-23) at Houston (20-11) 8:30 p.m. EST

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- With Tracy McGrady out, Ron Artest is picking up the slack.

Artest and the Houston Rockets will be searching for back-to-back wins when they host the lowly Washington Wizards on Monday.

McGrady has been bothered by left knee problems all season and was unable to play on Saturday when the Rockets took on the Utah Jazz.

Artest, who had been battling an ankle injury that kept him out of Friday's game, decided to suit up against the Jazz despite the pain.

It turned out to be the difference in the contest as Artest scored 10 of his 28 points in the second overtime and led Houston to a 120-115 victory in double overtime. The swingman is amongst the leaders in All-Star voting among Western Conference forwards while averaging 16 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

McGrady also sits in his customary place near the top of the All-Star voting, though he is suffering through his worse season in years, averaging below 20 points per game (15.9) for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign - his last with the Toronto Raptors. He is questionable for Monday.

The Wizards are riding a high from snapping an eight-game losing streak on Saturday.

Marking the worse matchup of teams that had played at least 25 games in NBA history, the then-4-23 Wizards beat the 3-27 Oklahoma City Thunder. Antawn Jamison led the way with 29 points and Andray Blatche chipped in 19 points and 15 rebounds for Washington.

The Wizards have yet to win back-to-back games this season.