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Wizards vs. Clippers preview: Washington looks to avenge last week’s loss

NBA: Washington Wizards at Los Angeles Clippers Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Game Info

When: Friday, December 15 at 7 p.m.
Where: Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
TV: NBC Sports Washington
Win probability: Washington has a 68 percent chance of winning according to Kevin Broom’s Win Predictor, and a 73 percent chance of winning according to FiveThirtyEight.

Injury Report

Wizards: Markieff Morris (Probable, Hip), Ian Mahinmi (Questionable, Knee), Sheldon Mac (Out, Achilles)

Clippers: Milos Teodosic (Out, Rest), Blake Griffin (Out, Knee), Patrick Beverley (Out, Knee), Austin Rivers (Out, Concussion), Danilo Gallinari (Out, Hip)

What to Watch for

Can the Wizards find a way to stop Lou Williams?

Williams is shouldering more of the offensive load while the Clippers deal with a spate of injuries to their top scorers. Even though he’s getting more attention from opposing defenses, he’s still putting up big numbers, including last Saturday’s game against the Wizards where he went off for 35 points on 20 shots and hit the game-winner:

The good news for Washington is the decks are stacked more in their favor for this game. Lou Williams won’t have anywhere to hide defensively with John Wall back in the lineup, and the Clippers have even less firepower than they did a week ago, now that Danilo Gallinari and Austin Rivers are both injured.

The bad news is DeAndre Jordan is still healthy, which means the Williams-Jordan pick-and-roll combo that carved them up last time around can still create problems. If they can’t slow those two down, it doesn’t really matter who else is on the floor for the Clippers.

A random moment in Wizards - Clippers history: John Wall putting Matt Barnes in the spin cycle

To celebrate Matt Barnes recently announcing his retirement, here’s one of his finest highlights.