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Preview: Thunder travel to Washington for final matchup of season

By Jordan Buckamneer

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - NOVEMBER 30: Bradley Beal
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - NOVEMBER 30: Bradley Beal /
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CLEVELAND, OH – JANUARY 20: Russell Westbrook #0 of the OKC Thunder reacts to a play against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 20, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – JANUARY 20: Russell Westbrook #0 of the OKC Thunder reacts to a play against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 20, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Five days after the first match upof the season, Oklahoma City heads to the Nation’s capital for the series’ finale.

Sitting in sixth place in the East five games above .500, the talented Washington Wizards continue to be a dark horse to win the Eastern Conference. While Washington is fighting to get back on track after dropping three of the past five games, the Thunder are hoping to extend their current eight-game winning streak.

Washington’s recent downtrend has filled the locker room with drama, which has begun to take its toll on the team. Following bad losses to Dallas and Charlotte the past week, the team conducted a player’s-only meeting which reportedly didn’t sit well with those in attendance.

Among other issues, defense has been an issue for the Wizards. They allowed opponents to score over 100 points in 19 of the past 20 games with the exception being a 98 points loss to Dallas last week. This is something the Thunder can take advantage of, so long as they don’t allow John Wall and Bradley Beal to out score them. OKC’s own defense will be a new issue for Billy Donovan and company to figure out with Andre Roberson now out for the season.

Scoring hasn’t been an issue for Oklahoma City throughout the current winning streak, but anyone who has followed the Thunder’s up-and-down season knows they can go cold just as fast as it got hot. On the flip side, Washington is more than capable of finding ways to win, as players such as Kelly Oubre and even Mike Scott elevated their games at times.

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