Wizards vs. Magic preview: Washington hosts Orlando looking for second straight win

The Wizards head back home to Verizon Center looking to get back-to-back wins for just the second time this season. The Magic, winners of two straight games and three out of their last four will be out for revenge as the Wizards beat Orlando, 94-91 when these teams met the day after Thanksgiving.

John Wall and Bradley Beal will look to carry their hot scoring over as the duo combined for 40 points the last time these teams played and are gelling in a way that Wizards fans haven’t seen before.

The Magic enter this game averaging just 93.2 points per game and shooting just 32.2 percent from three-point range. It’ll be important that the Wizards lock down defensively before any of the Magic players can get anything going offensively.

It’s early December, but this will already be the third time these divisional foes go head-to-head this season.

Game Info

When: Wednesday, December 5th at 7 p.m. ET
Where: The Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
TV: CSN Mid-Atlantic
Radio: 1500 AM and Wizards Radio App

Injury Report

Wizards: Ian Mahinmi (Questionable, Knee)
Magic: None

What to watch

Defense

Can the Wizards lock down defensively for an entire game? There were stretches just one night ago where the team dug in defensively and got the stops needed to beat the Nets. Will the effort be there on the second half of a back-to-back against the Magic, a team who already struggles to score? The Magic are the second worst shooting team in the NBA, shooting just 42.1 percent from the field collectively. It’ll be key that the Wizards shut them down early and not give them extra possessions on the offensive glass.

Battle of the bigs

Marcin Gortat vs. Nikola Vucevic is always a fun matchup when these two teams play. The battle on the glass will be interesting to watch as both players are elite rebounders. Gortat comes into the game averaging 12.1 rebounds per game while Vucevic isn’t far behind with 11.4 per contest. The key will be keeping Vucevic off of the offensive glass. The Orlando Magic are the 14th best offensive rebounding team in the NBA averaging 10.2 offensive rebounds per game. Second and third chance opportunities were back-breakers for the Wizards against the Nets the other night. The Wizards aren’t good enough to be giving teams extra possessions.

Will John Wall continue to rack up the assists?

John Wall has logged double-digit assist numbers in four straight games and seven out of the last nine. After what some would deem a slow start for Wall, he looks to be in midseason form. As of late, Wall has opted to get his teammates involved early on, often resulting in four or more assists in the first quarter while picking his spot later in the game to score. Wall will spend most of the night matched up against either D.J. Augustin or Elfrid Payton. Wall shouldn’t have any resistance in putting up big numbers against either of those guys.

Most likely Wizards killer: Jeff Green

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Because, its…….. Jeff Green.