Washington (19-21) at Chicago (18-23) 8:30 pm EST
CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards
are a far cry from the teams that met in last year's playoffs.
Chicago tries to win for the fourth time in five games when they
host the Wizards in their second encounter of the season.
Both teams ended lengthy postseason droughts last April before
Washington ousted the Bulls in six games of their first-round
matchup. The Wizards were swept in the Eastern Conference
semifinals by Miami.
Although they have reached the century mark in their last four
contests, the Bulls are just 8-13 at home and are one of five
teams with a better road mark than at home.
Chris Duhon scored 26 points and Darius Songaila added 19 for
Chicago, which defeated the Toronto Raptors for the 12th
straight time with Wednesday's 104-88 triumph.
With six wins in its last eight contests, Washington can move
within one game of the .500 mark. The Wizards, who got of to a
5-1 start, have not been at the break-even point since they were
8-8 on December 6.
Gilbert Arenas hit two free throws with 1.7 seconds left and
Antawn Jamison scored 26 points to lead Washington in
Wednesday's 89-87 victory over the Boston Celtics.
Duhon scored 24 points as the Bulls posted a 118-111 win over
the Wizards in their previous meeting on December 10. Arenas
led Washington with 42 points.





