Game Info
Where and when: The Washington Wizards take on the New York Knicks Friday night at 7:00 pm EST in the Verizon Center.
TV: The game available locally on CSN Mid-Atlantic. The game is available nationally on NBA TV.
Injury report: Alan Anderson, Jared Dudley, Martell Webster, DeJuan Blair and Garrett Temple are all out for the Wizards tonight. On the bright side, Kelly Oubre is good to go after missing the preseason opener on Tuesday.
Arron Afflalo, Robin Lopez and former Wizard Kevin Seraphin all missed practice on Thursday for the Knicks, so their status is in question as well.
What to watch for
Will the Wizards keep the pace up? The NBA preseason is notorious for playing a faster than the NBA regular season in part because players don't have to log regular season minutes and in part because coaches have more players at their disposal. So just playing faster in the preseason isn't always indicative of a true shift in philosophy.
That said, when John Wall tells CSN Mid-Atlantic that the players weren't ready to play as fast as they have so far, that should be indicative of a real change happening in Washington:
"I don't know," Wall said when asked how close or far away he was from being in ideal shape following Thursday's practice at Verizon Center. "Nobody on our team is even close. Even the shape I was in last season wouldn't have me in shape for the system we're running now."
On the other hand, if no one on the team can actually handle the pace they're playing at, something will have to give. Perhaps tonight we'll get a better sense of just how much faster the Wizards want to play this season.
Will Ramon Sessions continue to thrive in the Wizards' new system? One of the underrated storylines in the Wizards' performance on Tuesday was how well Ramon Sessions guided the second-unit with 11 points and 10 assists in 23 minutes of action. Yes, it was against the Sixers, but an up-tempo style seems to suit Sessions' style of play better than others.
More like Kris Humpthrees, am I right? Going into Tuesday's game, Kris Humphries had only made two 3-pointers in his NBA career. He doubled his total thanks to two threes against the Sixers. Yes, it's only one game but even if he can show more signs his shooting is even semi-legitimate, it goes a long way in giving the Wizards more versatility with lineups and scheming on offense.