Wizards look to bounce back with Magic in town

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The Wizards head back to D.C. and look to bounce back against the Orlando Magic.

Game Info

Capital One Arena | 7:00 p.m. | NBCSW+ | 1500 AM

Probable Starters

Wizards (17-15): G - Wall, G - Beal, F - Porter Jr., F - Morris, C - Gortat 

Magic (11-22): G - Payton, G - Augustin, F - Simmons, F - Speights, C - Vucevic

Wizards: Sheldon Mac (Achilles - Out)

Magic: Terrence Ross (Knee - Out), Evan Fournier (Ankle - Questionable), Aaron Gordon (Calf - Questionable), Jonathan Isaac (Ankle - Questionable)

Storylines

The Wizards suffered an embarrassing loss last night in Brooklyn, losing by 35 to a young Nets team that is likely to finish in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference. The first half was competitive, but the Nets started to pull away early in the third quarter and then continued to extend their lead throughout the second half. It was the second time this season the Wizards have suffered a real blowout loss, with the last one coming in Utah last month. If there was anything good to come away from that one it was that the team responded by playing one of their better games of the season the next night in Portland, so hopefully they do the same tonight and bounce back with a convincing win against Orlando tonight.

John Wall played just 16 minutes last night, which was partially due to the score of the game, but also because the team is still being cautious with him as he just recently returned from his knee injury. He played just eight minutes in the first half last night and would likely have played around 25 minutes in the game if the second half was competitive. This set of games will be Wall's first back-to-back since returning from the injury and the team wants to play it safe. Wall said he felt good after Friday's game and Scott Brooks seemed to indicate that if all went well with this back-to-back that would hopefully be the end of any kind of restrictions.

The Magic were one of the teams to open the season hot as they got off to an 8-4 start and appeared as if they may be a serious threat in the East. But, they then lost nine straight and fell back down to the bottom of the conference, which is where they sit entering tonight's game. They are currently in the middle of a seven-game losing streak and are dealing with a number of injuries to their key players, including Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, and Terrence Ross.

While they are banged up, they still have a handful of players who can do damage, including their biggest offseason acquisition Jonathan Simmons. He's averaging over 15 points per game and has scored at least 20 points in three of his last five games. It doesn't need to be repeated, but the Wizards know they can't take these sub .500 teams for granted, so they'll look to respond from last night's rout and get back in the win column tonight.

Up next, the Wizards head to Boston to take on the Celtics on Christmas Day. (5:30 p.m.)