Wizards v. Nets

Who will WIN this matchup?

Washington Wizards (24-41)

Brooklyn Nets (30-35)

Current odds:

Washington Wizards: (+130)

Brooklyn Nets: (-150)

• The line for this game is Nets by 3 points.

• When the Brooklyn Nets and Wizards last met in Washington on Feb. 26, Bradley Beal did not take the last shot and nobody had heard of a location called the NBA bubble. They will see each other more than five months later on Sunday afternoon, this time with the Nets as the home team in a meeting between the eighth and ninth seeds in the Eastern Conference. Like all teams in the restarted season, they will play at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.

• The Nets (30-35) won’t have to concern themselves with Beal, the All-Star guard who opted out of the league’s resumption due to a sore shoulder after averaging 30.5 points per game on the season. In the last meeting the Wizards (24-41) posted a 110-106 win when Jerome Robinson got a pass from Beal with 8.4 seconds left and hit the game-winning 3-pointer.

• Washington absorbed a 125-112 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday afternoon when its defense allowed 52.5 percent shooting. With Beal out, Washington’s starting backcourt was comprised of Troy Brown Jr. and Shabazz Napier, who combined for 27 points. Rookie Rui Hachimura led the Wizards with 21 points while Robinson added 20 when he wasn’t defending Phoenix star Devin Booker.

• The Wizards are now six games behind the Nets, who started off well, but were dominated in the third quarter before making the final minutes respectable in a 128-118 loss to seventh-place Orlando (31-35) on Friday.

• Brooklyn allowed 59.1 percent shooting through three quarters and trailed by as many as 30 as the Nets took their first loss since Jacque Vaughn took over for Kenny Atkinson on March 7. The Nets won their final game before the shutdown on Spencer Dinwiddie’s game-winner over the Lakers, 104-102, on March 10 but he is out along with DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince, who all tested positive for the virus.

• Without Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert is expected to be Brooklyn’s top scoring option. LeVert averaged 27.4 points in the final five games before the pause and scored 17 Friday. LeVert was 7 of 17 from the field Friday when the Nets were outscored 75-43 in the second and third quarters as Brooklyn did not adjust when Orlando emphasized keeping the ball away from him.

• Playing shorthanded, Brooklyn’s starting lineup is different from the last meeting with Washington. In that game, LeVert scored 34 points while Dinwiddie added 18, but on Sunday, Brooklyn likely will use Lance Thomas and Chris Chiozza as starters alongside Joe Harris, Allen and LeVert.

• Before the shutdown, Washington also won the first meeting between the clubs 113-107 on Feb. 1.