Sunday marks the fourth and final time the Washington Wizards and the Brooklyn Nets face off in the regular season, and despite their places in the standings, the implications are large.

Draft positioning will loom large as the Wizards (17-60) face the host Nets (18-59) in New York. The Indiana Pacers (18-59) are the only other team in play for the worst record in the league and an opportunity at the most chances in the draft lottery.

The rough season continued for Washington with a 152-136 setback at Miami on Saturday. It was the second consecutive game, and the third time in less than a month, that the Wizards surrendered 150 or more points.

It was the second time the Heat reached 150 points against the Wizards. Miami’s Bam Adebayo didn’t score 83 points this time, but Miami led by as many as 35 points.

Rookie Will Riley scored a career-high 31 points to lead Washington, which had eight players score in double figures. Jaden Hardy scored 19 points while making half of his 10 attempts from 3-point range.

Washington shot a respectable 47.2% form the floor, but watched the Heat shoot a season-high 58.1%.

A number of key players were unavailable Wizards, led by Anthony Davis, Trae Young, Kyshawn George, D’Angelo Russell, and Alex Sarr.

“For a coach, I think we’re so focused on the day,” Wizards coach Brian Keefe said. “I probably don’t look at the big picture of those things. … For me, I’m just focused on today and our team, so I probably can’t comment too much on that.”

The Nets also have been left to explore all parts of their roster at the back end of a disappointing season.

Nic Claxton led six players in double figures with 16 points as Brooklyn dropped a 141-107 decision at home to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

Brooklyn set the stage for a sloppy performance with five turnovers on their first 14 possessions.

“Poor executing on our end,” Jordi Fernandez said. “We just were not good enough, starting with the guys that bring the ball up the floor, They tried to get us into something organized.”

The Nets signed Malachi Smith to a multi-year contract on Saturday one day after he scored 15 points against the Hawks on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.

Smith, undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2023, had bounced around the G-League and was on the second of back-to-back 10-day contracts at the time of the deal. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound guard has averaged 7.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 18.2 minutes per outing across his first 10 career games with Brooklyn.

“I’m someone that has been praying for this opportunity and working for this opportunity for years. So, I’m not going to take any minute for granted,” Smith said.

The Wizards have five games remaining in the regular season, including three at home. The Nets also have five games remaining with the last two on the road.

–Field Level Media

With a young core and some prized offseason acquisitions jelling, the host Chicago White Sox will try to sweep the reigning American League champion Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.

Chicago followed a 5-4 series-opening win in 10 innings on Friday with a 6-3 victory Saturday. Munetaka Murakami belted a two-run homer and Colson Montgomery added a solo shot in a go-ahead, three-run sixth inning.

White Sox fans erupted after Murakami’s blast. The former slugger in Japan’s Central League belted his first homer at Rate Field and fourth in eight games to begin his major league career.

“It’s just such a wonderful feeling to hit in front of these crowds,” Murakami said through an interpreter.

Closer Seranthony Dominguez, who signed with Chicago about a month after Murakami, worked around a walk and single in the ninth to pick up his first save.

Toronto has lost four of five after sweeping the Athletics in its opening series. Fielding and baserunning mistakes were costly Saturday.

“We’ve set the tone here to what we expect,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, “and if you’re not doing it, someone else will get a chance to do it.”

The Blue Jays placed catcher Alejandro Kirk (fractured left thumb) on the 10-day injured list Saturday after he was injured in the series opener. Tyler Heineman got the start behind the plate but made a throwing error on a failed rundown that led to two unearned insurance runs for the White Sox in the eighth inning.

Brandon Valenzuela is expected to be behind the plate for Toronto on Sunday in his major league debut.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. delivered his first home run of the season for Toronto on Saturday and has hit safely in three of the past four games.

Blue Jays left-hander Eric Lauer (1-0, 3.38 ERA) will be pitching on one week of rest when he gets the call Sunday.

Lauer initially had been set to pitch Saturday but was dealing with the flu.

“We have the luxury to just give him an extra day,” Schneider said.

Lauer defeated the Athletics last Sunday. scattering two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings with one walk and nine strikeouts.

Striking out the side in the first inning set the tone for Lauer, who collected his most strikeouts since also recording nine on Sept. 29, 2022.

“He pitched with a lot of conviction and a lot of confidence,” Schneider said. “He’s really good when he’s mixing his pitches and when he’s executing. I think that’s what led to the strikeouts.”

Lauer lost to the White Sox in his lone career appearance against them last season. Pitching in Chicago on July 9, he allowed two runs and four hits in four innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.

White Sox righty Davis Martin is slated to make his first career start and second appearance against the Blue Jays. He faced six Toronto hitters in a June 2022 relief outing, recording just one out while allowing three runs and three hits with two walks.

Martin (1-0, 5.40 ERA) earned the victory at Miami on Monday, scattering three runs and five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out six while hitting a batter.

–Field Level Media