Game Info

When: Thursday, March 18 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.

How to watch: NBC Sports Washington and NBA TV

Injury Report

Wizards: Ish Smith (Quad, Out); Thomas Bryant (Knee, Out)

Jazz: Udoka Azubuike (Ankle, Out)

Pregame notes

A back to back for the Washington Wizards as they previously just lost to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. The Wizards will play the NBA-best Utah Jazz on Thursday.

The Wizards are currently on a five game losing streak and need to find a way to get back to winning before heading on the road. Washington does have a good record against teams that are above .500 so Thursday’s match up could potentially be a good one.

Washington hasn’t been one of the best rebounding teams or guardians of the paint. They’ll be going up against Rudy Gobert, the 2018 and 2019 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Hopefully the Wizards will work on their perimeter shooting because attacking the paint could prove to be difficult.

Lately the Wizards have played good first half basketball, fell off partly in the second half and then managed to find their way at the last minute. Hence the game against the Kings. But that always doesn’t come with a good outcome for them.

The shift in the Wizards momentum hasn’t been good since the All-Star break. Whatever spark they had previously, they’ll need to find because at this point there’s no point in playing for playoff contention.