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Washington Wizards wrap up road trip in Phoenix

Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) scores on a fast break against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2015. Photo by Mark Goldman/UPI
Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) scores on a fast break against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2015. Photo by Mark Goldman/UPI | License Photo

The Washington Wizards will wrap up a four-game western road trip Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center.

The start of the trip didn't go as planned with last weekend's loss at Portland, but the Wizards rebounded with back-to-back triumphs against Denver and the LA Lakers.

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In Tuesday's 98-92 victory over the Lakers, John Wall came close to a triple- double with 21 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. Wall shook off a headache to lead his team to its ninth win in the last 13 tries.

Washington was down 31-24 after the first quarter, but held the Lakers to a combined 35 points in the second half.

"I'm not feeling great, I've got a migraine," said Wall. "I played because I didn't want to let my guys down. We didn't come out with a sense of urgency. We started competing in the second half. It starts with me ... I had to get going."

Bradley Beal and Otto Porter scored 19 and 12 points, respectively. The Wizards shot 48.7 percent and had a 51-38 advantage in rebounds.

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Wizards veteran forward Paul Pierce did not play against the Lakers because of a sore toe and is questionable Wednesday. Pierce is 30 points shy of tying Alex English (25,613) for 15th on the NBA's all-time scoring list and is averaging 15.5 ppg in his last four games.

Washington has a 13-9 road record and will host Toronto and Charlotte next at the Verizon Center.

The Suns are 4-2 on a franchise-record eight-game homestand and have lost two in a row, including Sunday's 120-100 setback to the Clippers.

Isaiah Thomas paced the Suns with 25 points, Eric Bledsoe had 17 points with seven assists and Alex Len added 15 points in the loss. Markieff Morris, who entered the game second in the NBA in technical fouls, received a technical in the third quarter. Phoenix had two such fouls called in its last game.

"Until we show these referees that we are not going to argue, they are going to continue to do this," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek noted of his team's recent bout with technical fouls.

Phoenix is third in the NBA with 107.4 ppg, but is allowing 105.3 ppg on defense. It has a 13-9 home record and will close the residency Friday versus the Chicago Bulls.

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The Suns handed the Wizards a 104-92 setback in DC on Dec. 21 and both Morris and Bledsoe scored 17 points. Rasual Butler led the Wizards with 17 points in that one. The Suns have won 12 of the last 15 against the Wizards.

[SportsNetwork.com]

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