Wizards at Nets preview: Washington’s preseason begins on Sunday

The Washington Wizards take on the Brooklyn Nets tomorrow night on the road.

Game Info

When and Where: Sunday, December 13 at 6 p.m. ET at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

How to Watch: NBC Sports Washington locally and NBA TV nationally

How to Listen: SiriusXM radio, Sirius XM app, Washington Wizards app (locally)

Injury Report: For Washington, there are no injuries. However, head coach Scott Brooks said that Robin Lopez and Davis Bertans may miss the game. They are not expected to play Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook.

For Brooklyn, Nicolas Claxton (Knee)

Will the Nets have fans? No.

What to watch for

We wanted to look forward to this game as a chance to see the Wizards’ star backcourt of Beal and Westbrook in action against a Nets team that features the head coaching debut of Steve Nash and his lineup of Kyrie Irving and yes, All-Wizards Wish List MVP Kevin Durant. And Brooklyn’s coaching staff is filled with many recent former NBA players by the way.

But as mentioned above, Beal and Westbrook are probably not playing, at least as of Saturday morning when I began writing this piece.

Since this is a home game for Brooklyn, and since I haven’t seen them announce anticipated absences, I don’t think the Wizards will win this game. But that’s not the bigger point.

Like all preseason games, the bigger focus for tWizards is to see how good the new additions and the training camp invites look. First, does Deni Avdija, Washington’s first round pick look comfortable on the floor? Will Raul Neto and Cassius Winston show poise when they get some minutes tonight? Yoeli Childs, Anthony Gill, Caleb Homesley, and Marlon Taylor don’t figure to play major minutes this season, so how will they also fare?

I come into this game with an open mind and hope to see positive impacts by the new additions. A win will be icing on the cake.