In tonight’s cross conference match-up, we will see Washington Wizards hosting Oklahoma City Thunder in their second encounter this season.
Washington Wizards are coming into this match with 2 consecutive wins behind them and impressive 9 games won out of last 10 played. If they had not lost to Cavaliers on 7th of February, Washington would be on a 10 game winning streak and outstanding 19 consecutive wins at home, but sadly Cavaliers ruined those plans. Nevertheless, Wizards are playing extremely well in recent matches. Looking at their recent encounter against Pacers, Wizards were 6 points ahead by the end of 1st quarter, but lost that lead before 1st half ended, with Pacers outscoring them by 6 points in 2nd quarter. So both teams stepped into 2nd half tied at (59:59). 3rd quarter was once again in Wizards favour, as they outscored the visiting team by 5 points (27:22). All they had to do is hold on to their lead and they did. Last quarter ended with a tie (26:26), thus the game resulting in another win for the Wizards. Statistics wise, teams both shot similarly accurate, with Pacers having 2.3% more accurate shots compared to Wizards (46.6%:48.9%). Top scorers of the match: George (31pts), Morris Mark. (26pts) and Wall (26pts).
Today’s visiting team, Oklahoma City Thunder are not enjoying such a good form as their opponents. Looking at their past 5 games, they have won 3 against Grizzlies (114:102), Trail Blazers (105:99) and Cavaliers (118:109), whereas they lost to Pacers (93:90) and GSW (114:130). In the past 10 games, Thunder won 5 games. Looking at their away record it is not as impressive compared to Wizards home record. In the past 10 away games, Thunder won only 4 and are now on a 3rd consecutive defeat in road games. Now let’s look at their recent match against GSW. Golden State started the 1st half strong. They outscored Oklahoma by 6 points in the 1st quarter (24:30) and by 17 in the 2nd quarter (26:43). By that point it was clear GSW is a superior team. Oklahoma did put up a decent fight in 3rd quarter, outscoring GSW by 5 points (37:32) and by another 2 (27:25) in last 12 minutes, but it was not nearly enough to win or get a tie. Looking at statistic of both of the teams, Oklahoma shot with 48.2% accuracy, compared to GSW 52.9%. I might also mention Oklahoma committed more turnovers (19) than GSW (11) and had 1 steal less that their opponents (9). Top scorers of the match: Westbrook (47pts), Durant (34pts) and Curry (26pts).
Missing players:
Washington Wizards: House D.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Kanter E.
Verdict & Prediction
There is not really much to say, but Wizards do come off as a better team in this encounter. They did in fact loose the recent match against Oklahoma (126:115)(OT)in January, but this surely won’t happen today. One of the key factors that work in Wizards favour today is home court advantage as they have proven time and time again they are playing extremely well in front of their own fans. On the other hand Oklahoma does not perform well in road games.
Prediction: Washington Wizards -4.5 points
Odds: 1.90 SBOBET
