Oklahoma City Thunder Looks to Win Fourth Straight against Wizards
By Chris Hughes
The Oklahoma City Thunder will look to take their winning streak to four games tonight, as they host the Washington Wizards at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Tip off is 7 pm central time.
Tonight’s matchup sees the Thunder face the Washington Wizards, who have enjoyed an indifferent start to their 2016-17 campaign.
Coached by former OKC head coach Scott Brown, the Wizards sit 11th in the Eastern Conference, with six wins and ten losses to their name so far.
The franchise from the capital has been awful away from The Verizon Center however, with only one win from six on the road. That came against the Orlando Magic, in their last away game.
The Wizards currently average 102 points per game, which is just over five less than OKC’s 107.1. Washington’s plus/minus is also a negative 2.4, whilst the Thunder boast a positive 1.8.
But the Thunder haven’t been consistent since they sat at 6-1 to start the season. Among their win streaks have been runs of four and three consecutive losses, including poor performances against the likes of the Sacramento Kings and the Detroit Pistons.
But OKC will still go into this match with confidence, having swept the Wizards last season in their two-game series. In the game in Washington it ended 125-101 to the Thunder, and at the Chesapeake it was 114-98 in favor of the hosts.
In fact you have to go back until February 1st 2014 to find the last time Washington beat Oklahoma City, with the latter currently on a four-game winning streak against the Wizards.
Should the Thunder defeat tonight’s opponents once again, it will match their longest ever win streak against the Wizards since their move from Seattle, with five.
Another guard-heavy matchup
The winner of tonight’s game is bound to be the side with the better performing pair of guards. The unanswerable question is whether that will be Bradley Beal and John Wall or Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo.
Looking at the latter pair, Russ will be aiming to enter December having averaged a triple-double for the season. The point guard is currently averaging 30.9 points, 11.3 assists and 10.3 rebounds. If he does so, he’ll be the first man since Mr. Triple-double himself, Oscar Roberston.
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Meanwhile, Vic is the Thunder’s second-highest average scorer, with a steady 16.8 points per game so far. He’ll face stiff competition for minutes though, with Anthony Morrow’s 21-point performance against the Detroit Pistons a few days ago.
For the opponents it could be Bradley Beal who steals the show, with the 23-year-old having led his side in scoring three of the last four games, including a huge 42-point return against the Phoenix Suns on the 21st of the month.
John Wall is still the side’s leading scorer across the entire season however, with the point guard boasting a 23.1 point average from his 14 appearances. The 26-year-old leads his side on both assists and steals too, with averages of both 8.9 and 2.0 respectively.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will go into the game with a clean bill of health following Cameron Payne’s recent return, however the Wizards will be without Daniel House Jr. and Ian Mahinmi will be touch-and-go right up to tip off.