Preview: Clippers vs. Washington Wizards

The Clippers host the Washington Wizards at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Wizards (40-28) have won five games in a row, while the Clippers (44-25) have won two straight games.

When the teams played in Washington on Dec. 12, the Wizards won, 104-96. In that game, John Wall had 10 points and 11 assists for the Wizards while Chris Paul had 19 points, six assists, but also committed six turnovers, for the Clippers.

The Clippers are in fifth place in the Western Conference, half a game behind the fourth-place Portland Trail Blazers, 1 1/2 games behind the third-place Houston Rockets and 2 1/2 games behind the second-place Memphis Grizzlies.

The Wizards are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Clippers have won two of three games since Blake Griffin returned March 15 after missing 15 games because of a staph infection in his right elbow that required surgery.

In the team’s last game, a 116-105 win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Griffin had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. He said that his elbow is feeling less sore, though he acknowledged that his strength is only at 60%.

The Clippers will be playing without Jamal Crawford (right calf bruise), and Matt Barnes (sore right hamstring) is questionable. Garrett Temple (right hamstring strain) is out for the Wizards while Kris Humphries (strained left groin) is questionable.

Reserve forward Hedo Turkoglu started in place of Matt Barnes on Wednesday and had a season-high 19 points on seven-for-12 shooting, including making five three-pointers in nearly 33 minutes against the Kings. It was Turkoglu’s biggest point production in a game since the 2011-12 season.

“Any night you go out there and do something good for the team it means a lot,” Turkoglu said. “You really feel like you’re part of the team.”

Twitter: @melissarohlin