Wizards vs. Thunder: Pregame Primer

vs.

Washington Wizards (13-31, 0-21 road) vs. OKC Thunder (29-16, 16-6 home)

TV: FSOK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 109.8 (7th), Wizards – 102.5 (27th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 108.3 (18th), Wizards – 108.8 (19th)
Pace: Thunder – 93.2 (12th), Wizards – 93.6 (10th)

View from the enemy: Truth About It

A home game against a team that’s 0-21 on the road? Sounds like a fun game, right? Problem is, at some point the Wizards are going to beat someone away from home. The longer their streak goes, the better the chances get. And for no other reason than that, that’s what scares me.

Washington coming in:  Again, the Wizards are 0-21 on the road. They’re rested, as they last played Tuesday against the Nuggets at home.

THE MATCHUPS
Thabo Sefolosha is out and while that’s somewhat exciting because James Harden will see big minutes starting, it also worries me a bit because Washington’s best scorer is Nick Young, who plays shooting guard. Young loves to slash and can hit an open 3 with pretty good regularity. Harden has improved a lot on defense and this will be a challenge for him.

Rashard Lewis is the Wizards starting small forward and while he has the length to match up with Kevin Durant, KD should be able to really run him off screens and use the dribble effectively. I kind of like Jeff Green matched against Andray Blatche because Blatche is a good candidate for Green to use his speed and athleticism against. However, Blatche can play well so he’s something to watch for. I’d bet Nick Collison will play Blatche a healthy amount.

JaVale McGee vs. Serge Ibaka please! That should be a fun matchup of dunk contestants. Both are long and ridiculously athletic. McGee is seriously a freak at 7-1 with his kind of ability. If he can ever figure out an offensive game, he’ll be really good.

Oh yeah, and John Wall against Russell Westbrook. Speed on speed. Wall reminds me a bit of Russ during his rookie year. Blinding fast and a ton of ability, but often out of control. Heck, I guess he kind of reminds me of Russ now. But that should definitely be a fun one to watch.

No excuses here. The Thunder has played three straight close games (total margin – four points) so it would be nice to give us a breather tonight. The Wizards are the type of group that will play you well for three quarters but will give you an opportunity one quarter to put them away. Let’s hope OKC takes advantage.

Tip at 7:00 CT. Go Home.