Charlotte (13-24) has won the last two meetings between these struggling clubs, including an 80-72 home win Dec. 23 over Washington (7-28), which owns the worst record in the East.

Though the Bobcats also won their last trip to Washington in March and have some distance between themselves and the Wizards (7-28) in the race to avoid finishing last in the conference, Charlotte needs to find some rare success on the road.

The Bobcats committed 17 turnovers in falling 93-87 at Philadelphia on Friday for their third straight loss away from home.

"Anytime you give up 24 points on turnovers you're destined for failure? especially on the road," said Bobcats coach Larry Brown, whose team succumbed to a 10-3 closing run by Philadelphia in falling to 3-12 on the road.

Emeka Okafor had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Bobcats, who are 0-2 on a four-game road trip that concludes Tuesday in Detroit. Charlotte has failed to carry over the momentum from a 114-106 overtime home win over the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

"We're still getting used to everything because there have been a lot of changes; new players to the roster and coach Brown," guard Matt Carroll said. "For the most part we're moving in the right direction."

Okafor has been one of the mainstays for the Bobcats' franchise. He's averaging 13.9 points and 11.5 rebounds on the season and posted a season-high 29 points with 18 boards in last month's victory over Washington.

The Wizards continue to struggle without All-Star Gilbert Arenas, who is recovery from offseason knee surgery. Nick Young had a career-high 28 points, but stars Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler combined for 14 points in a 98-86 loss at Chicago on Friday night.

"Once I got it going, my teammates started having confidence in me, passing me the ball, running plays for me," said Young, who is averaging just 9.7 points per contest. "It gave me more of a boost."

Washington did show some signs of life, cutting a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to seven with just under three minutes left but still lost for the fifth time in six contests.

"The refrain is getting tiresome about falling behind and making a noble comeback and falling just short," interim Washington coach Ed Tapscott said.

Butler, who finished with two points on 1-of-8 shooting, hopes to bounce back while trying for another big night against the Bobcats. He scored 31 in last month's loss at Charlotte and is averaging 28.8 points on 58.7 percent shooting in his last five contests versus the Bobcats.