Washington @ Sacramento preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 24, 2019 ) Sacramento 113, Washington 106

Bradley Beal aims to continue his stretch of stellar games when the Washington Wizards visit the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. The star shooting guard poured in 34 points in Sunday's 124-110 road victory over the Golden State Warriors and scored 25 or more points in a franchise-record 18 consecutive contests.

Beal topped 40 points six times during the blistering run - including efforts of 55 and 53 - but says he would prefer racking up more victories as opposed to individual honors. "Honestly, I could care less about how I'm playing as long as we're winning," Beal told reporters after Sunday's win. "Because my career highs and those good games, what is the record? We're 1-9 when I score 40 or something. That's terrible. I'm not happy about that. I'm not going to sit here and be like, 'Oh yeah, but I scored 40.' No, we got to win, and that's what I'm about." The Kings have been winning and placed themselves in the Western Conference playoff race by posting victories in five of their last six contests. "Right now as a team, we're moving in the right direction," backup shooting guard Buddy Hield said after Sunday's 106-100 home win over the Detroit Pistons. "We're playing together, having fun and competing every night."

TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Washington, NBCS California, NBA TV Canada

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (22-37): Beal's scoring sprees picked up after he was bypassed for the All-Star Game and coach Scott Brooks doesn't think that is an accident. "Unfortunately, he didn't get it, but the players voted him second, that says a lot," Brooks told reporters. "The coaches, we think we know it all, we think we see it all, but the players know it. They know: He's impossible to guard. He's one of the elite (scorers)." Washington is 9-9 during Beal's 18-game run and is hoping to catch either the Brooklyn Nets or Orlando Magic for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

ABOUT THE KINGS (26-34): Sacramento trailed 18-1 out of the gate and by 21 later in the first quarter before turning things around and rallying to beat the Pistons. "That's not how we want to start a ballgame," Kings coach Luke Walton said afterward. "On both ends of the court we didn't have the energy it required. Give a lot of credit to our second unit for coming in and engaging us in that fight finally." Point guard De'Aaron Fox played through an abdominal injury that caused him to miss a game last week and scored 23 points to record his fifth straight 20-point performance.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Kings notched a 113-106 road win over the Wizards on Nov. 24 after losing five of the previous six matchups.

2. Washington SF Davis Bertans matched his career best of eight 3-pointers while scoring 29 points against Golden State.

3. Sacramento PF Richaun Holmes (shoulder), who has been sidelined since Jan. 6, is expected to resume practicing with the team later this week.

PREDICTION: Kings 112, Wizards 108