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Where, When and What Channel: The game will start at 7 p.m. EST at the Verizon Center. You can watch it on Comcast SportsNet+ (you can find where CSN+ is on your cable provider here).
Wait, wasn't this game supposed to be on ESPN? Yeah, before the season started ESPN had this slotted as a national game before realizing it featured the Wizards and the Pistons. So now it's back on local TV for tonight. Plan accordingly!
The Wizards have knocked off the Heat, Thunder, Knicks, Bulls, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets and Rockets this year. Why can't they beat the Pistons? Well, no one can seem to figure that one out. Martell Webster blames it on "sorcery" (last time I checked, Wizards are a lot more into sorcery than engine parts) but it probably doesn't help the Wizards didn't have John Wall for the first two meetings this year. The other big factor? Offensive rebounding. In all three games, Detroit has grabbed at least 32 percent of the available offensive rebounds. It's really hard to win when you allow the opposing team to grab nearly a third of their misses.
| Wizards' most successful months since 2000 | ||
| Month | Year | Win % |
| Dec. | 2006 | 75 |
| Dec. | 2001 | 73.3 |
| Jan. | 2005 | 73.3 |
| Jan. | 2007 | 66.7 |
| Feb. | 2006 | 66.7 |
| Feb. | 2013 | 63.6* |
| Mar. | 2008 | 62.5 |
| Apr. | 2008 | 62.5 |
| Apr. | 2011 | 62.5 |
| Dec. | 2007 | 61.5 |
| * - With a win tonight, Wizards would improve win percentage in February to 66.7 percent. | ||
What's on the line tonight (besides pride and avoiding a sweep against Detroit)? Tonight, the Wizards could put a nice cap on a great month. A win tonight would give them an 8-4 record for the month of February. The last time they finished with a better record than that was back in December of 2006. That month was notable because Eddie Jordan won Eastern Conference coach of the month, Gilbert Arenas was named Eastern Conference player of the month, the Wizards won overtime thrillers on the road against the Lakers and Suns and as you may recall, Gilbert Arenas had a pretty nice game during that stretch.
Who needs to step it up to help the Wizards avoid the sweep? The Wizards could use a good game from Kevin Seraphin tonight. In the Wizards' other three games against Detroit, he's shot 9-30 from the field (30 percent) and only grabbed 12 rebounds in 61 minutes of play. Even with Andre Drummond out, the Pistons still have a formidable collection of bigs. As good as Emeka Okafor and Nene have been for the Wizards this season, this isn't a game where they can control the paint. If Seraphin can't provide a spark off the bench, it's going to be tough to avoid going 0-4 against the Pistons.
Who is averaging more points per game than Trevor Ariza this season? Kyle Singler is. Bet you probably didn't expect that.