Game Info

When: Wednesday, December 5 at 7:30 pm Eastern Time
Where: State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia
TV: NBC Sports Washington

Injury Report

Wizards: John Wall (Out, Personal Reasons), Dwight Howard (Out, Back)

Hawks: Alex Poythress (Out, Ankle)

What to Watch for

Can the Wizards’ new starting lineup continue to make its mark defensively?

The Wizards’ starting unit of John Wall, Bradley Beal, Tomas Satoransky, Otto Porter Jr., and Thomas Bryant has limited opponents to 80.2 points per 100 possessions. It helps that they’ve played some soft competition so far, but the numbers are still impressive, especially considering the same lineup with Satoransky swapped out for Oubre was yielding 121.4 points per 100 possessions.

The Hawks probably won’t break that trend here. They have the worst offense in the league this season and they turn the ball over more often than any other team. That should play right into Washington’s hands since they force the fourth-most turnovers of any defense in the league.

This is one of those games where Washington doesn’t necessarily have to have a great game — they just have to let Atlanta beat themselves. If they can do that, they should be able to keep this win streak going, even if they don’t have an outstanding performance.

UPDATE: Apparently we won’t find out tonight. John Wall is back in Washington for the birth of his first child. Congrats John!

A random moment in Wizards - Hawks history: Bullets close out their 1978 first round series in Atlanta