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The Wizards will play their second game of the preseason against the Chinese Basketball Association’s Guangzhou Loong-Lions on Wednesday night at 7:00 P.M. This will be the third preseason the Wizards have hosted the Loong-Lions. Guangzhou’s roster includes former Wizards forward Andrew Nicholson as well as former NCAA standouts Keifer Sykes (Wisconsin-Green Bay), C.J. Harris (Wake Forest), and Marcus Georges-Hunt (George Tech). The Loong-Lions played on Tuesday night in Philadephia, falling 144-86.
Game Info
Capital One Arena | 7:00 P.M. | NBCSW | 1500 AM
Probable Starters
Wizards: G – Ish Smith, G – Bradley Beal, F – Justin Anderson, F – Rui Hachimura, C – Thomas Bryant
Loong-Lions: G – Keifer Sykes, G – Ying-Chun Chen, F – C.J. Harris, F – Andrew Nicholson, C – Yongpeng Zhang
Injury Report
Wizards: Isaac Bonga (left knee soreness – questionable), John Wall (left Achilles rehab – out), Troy Brown Jr. (left calf strain – out), Ian Mahinmi (right Achilles strain – out), Isaiah Thomas (left thumb rehab – out), C.J. Miles (left foot rehab – out)
Loong-LIons: N/A
Storylines
Building off Monday’s game
Head coach Scott Brooks was pleased with the team’s effort on Monday against the Knicks, stating that the Wizards made some mistakes but played the way he had hoped overall. Now, the Wizards will look to build off Monday’s game and continue to build chemistry and the team’s new offensive and defensive systems on Wednesday.
“Overall, I was pleased with the effort and that's what we that's how we have to play,” Brooks said after Monday’s game. “Our identity was -- all training camp and re-emphasize today in shootaround -- We have to be scrappy, we have to battle, we have to do it every position every play.”
Opportunity continues
In Monday’s game, Bradley Beal only played 16 minutes. The team will continue to watch his minutes in the preseason, with Brooks saying during training camp that Beal wouldn’t play in all five games. Thomas Bryant, who put up 14 points and 14 rebounds in 27 minutes on Monday, will likely see less than those 27 minutes against Guangzhou. Rui Hachimura only played 21 minutes on Monday, and he could be another candidate to not play as much on Wednesday.
With that in mind, look for many of the fringe roster candidates to get even more opportunities against the Loong-Lions. Justin Anderson earned the start in the first game, and will have another great opportunity to earn a roster spot. Justin Robinson, Chris Chiozza, and Phil Booth will likely all get minutes at point guard. Moe Wagner, who led the Wizards in scoring on Monday with 16 points, will also likely see a ton of playing time at center.