John Wall returned, but the Washington Wizards lost their most recent preseason battle on Monday, falling 90-88 to the Knicks in New York.
The Wizards return home to D.C. on Thursday where they'll take on the Philadelphia 76ers at the Verizon Center. Washington won in double overtime in Philly just a week ago; led by Kelly Oubre who scored 24 points off the bench in 33 minutes of action.
Oubre was inconsistent in the Wizards' loss to the Knicks. He put up 10 points, seven rebounds, and three steals, but he also went 0-for-3 from outside and had six turnovers. Fans hope that he and the Wizards will continue to whip themselves into regular season shape with another match-up against Philadelphia.
Game Info
When: Thursday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.
Where: The Verizon Center, Washington D.C.
TV: CSN Mid-Atlantic
Radio: Listen to Dave Johnson on your phone, via the Washington Wizards mobile app
Injury Report
CSN Mid-Atlantic's J. Michael reports that Trey Burke practiced fully on Wednesday while Markieff Morris saw some action. Marcus Thornton missed the Knicks' game with a thumb injury, but there's been no official word if he will play or not.
UPDATE: Thornton will play tonight.
Marcus Thornton will play in his first preseason game tonight vs 76ers. So this should enable the #Wizards to complete the 2nd unit
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) October 13, 2016
Jerryd Bayless, Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, Dario Saric and Brandon Paul all missed the Sixers' Tuesday match-up with the Memphis Grizzlies, but there hasn't been word yet on if any of them will play vs. the Wizards. All of those guys were listed as "day-to-day" on ESPN.com's injury report.
Of course, Ben Simmons is out.
What To Watch For
It will be interesting to see how much Otto Porter plays power forward in this game and how he does. Porter has been penciled in as small forward for most of his career, but has played more at the four recently and J. Michael reports that Scott Brooks likes him there. This would lead to more playing time for Kelly Oubre at the three.
But if Philly has its bigs healthy - most of whom are a bit oversized for the four, but play there anyway - it will be interesting to see how Porter performs on both ends.
Through three preseason games, Porter has 22 points, 15 rebounds, two assists and three steals over 72 minutes of action. He's also made just one of five three-point attempts.
Most Likely Wizards Killer: Richuan Holmes
When these two teams faced off a week ago in Philly, Richaun Holmes came away with a double-double, scoring 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds. He also tallied two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
This is Holmes' second year in the league. He was drafted by the 76ers in the second round of the 2015 draft out of Bowling Green.
If Saric, Noel, and Okafor remain sidelined, Holmes could see big minutes and the 6-foot-10, 245-pound forward could gash the Wizards for stats again.