7:10 pm
February 15
• Houston Rockets guard John Wall will visit the nation’s capital for the first time since being acquired from the Washington Wizards prior to the 2020-21 season. Wall likely won’t hold anything back on Monday when he takes the court against the team that selected him with the top overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft.
• He also didn’t hold anything back in a recent interview with The Athletic, claiming that the organization didn’t discuss the potential trade involving him and former NBA MVP and nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook in December. Wall signed a four-year, $170 million extension in 2019 before missing the ensuing 2019-20 season due to multiple injuries.
• Wall has returned with a flourish, averaging 19.5 points and 5.9 assists in 17 games this season. He scored 24 points in Houston’s 107-88 home win over Washington on Jan. 26 and had 26 points on Saturday, but the reeling Rockets sputtered to their season-high fifth straight loss with a 121-99 defeat against the New York Knicks.
• The five-game losing skid coincides with the absence of Christian Wood (sprained right ankle), who is averaging 22.0 points and 10.2 rebounds this season.
• DeMarcus Cousins has recorded three double-doubles in the five-game stretch while starting in place of Wood.
• Bradley Beal, who scored 33 points in the first meeting with Houston, returned from a night off to score 35 in the Wizards’ 104-91 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Looking refreshed, the NBA’s leading scorer made his first five shots in the first quarter and finished 10 of 18 from the floor.
• Westbrook nearly had a triple double on Sunday after collecting 13 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. He also flirted with a triple-double in the previous meeting with the Rockets, recording 19 points, 11 assists and seven boards.
• Westbrook, however, has yet to play in both games of a back-to-back set this season and reportedly will have his minutes monitored in this game tonight.