Haywood Is Ailing With a Sore Back

HOUSTON, March 31 -- Center Brendan Haywood was inactive for the second consecutive game with a sore back Friday, but said he may try to play Saturday at San Antonio.

Haywood, who was replaced by Etan Thomas in the starting lineup for Monday's win at Golden State and played a season-low six minutes that night, said he has been experiencing painful back spasms.

"It's one of those things were the spasms start and it tightens up real bad," Haywood said. "Hopefully, it will loosen up and I can play [Saturday] at San Antonio. We'll have two days between that and the next game [Tuesday against the New York Knicks] so a couple of days of rest will probably help."

Spurs Next

On Saturday, the Wizards will face the Spurs (56-16) for the second time this season. One of the season's highlights was a 110-95 win over the defending champions at home on Nov. 12. The Wizards haven't won at San Antonio since Dec. 11, 1999, a span of five consecutive losses. The streak includes a 101-75 loss at San Antonio last season.

The Spurs are 30-4 at home and are coming off a win over the Lakers in Los Angeles Thursday night.

In addition to Saturday night's local broadcast, the game will be carried nationally on NBA-TV. Due to Saturday's Final Four games, the radio broadcast can be heard in the Washington area on WWRC (1260 AM) rather than WTEM (980 AM).