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The Washington Wizards have looked a little bit more spry since Nene's return to action, but they're still seeking their first win of the season as they face a pair of Western Conference foes.
The idea that Washington has been losing, but at least they've been losing close games, has to be getting extremely tiring for Wizards fans, and it got even worse in their last two games: an overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks Thursday night that was a tenth of a second away from being a Wizards win when Martell Webster's tip-in was ruled no good, and a double-overtime loss to the Charlotte Bobcats Saturday night. Nene played well both nights, although he didn't put in more than 20 minutes of playing time as he comes back from knee issues. His 19-point, five-rebound outing Saturday was especially encouraging, as starter Kevin Seraphin mustered just six points on ten shots.
Monday night the Wizards host the San Antonio Spurs, which, in all due respect to the Wizards' efforts thus far, is more or less guaranteed to be a loss with San Antonio still an elite team on both sides of the ball. There's more hope Wednesday as they take on the Portland Trail Blazers in a game that will pit rookie potential stars Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard against each other. LaMarcus Aldridge is the primary figure for Portland, but Lillard is just slightly behind in scoring with 19.6 per game while chipping in an impressive 6.1 assists.
Here's the Wizards' upcoming schedule, plus national games
Monday, November 26: San Antonio Spurs
Also Monday: New York Knicks vs. Brooklyn Nets, 7 p.m., TNT
Wednesday, November 28: vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 7 p.m., CSN Mid-Atlantic
Also Wednesday: Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m., NBATV
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m., NBATV
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Clippers, 10:30 p.m., NBATV
Thursday, November 29: San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m., TNT
Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors, 10:30 p.m., TNT
For more on Monday's Wizards/Spurs game, check out this preview from our content partners at Monumental Sports and Entertainment, as well as the "Fast Break" video preview with Wizards radio voices Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor.