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GAME INFO
Capital One Arena | 7 p.m. | TV: NBCSW | Radio: 980 AM & Wizards App
The Wizards’ Home Opener is set for Friday night at 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena against the Pacers. Washington is coming off a 98-83 win over the Raptors on Wednesday night while Indiana looks to bounce back from a one-point loss to the Hornets. Bradley Beal (right hip contusion) is listed as questionable.
INJURY REPORT
Wizards: Bradley Beal (right hip contusion), Thomas Bryant (left knee injury recovery – out), Anthony Gill (right calf strain), Rui Hachimura (not with team – out), Cassius Winston (left hamstring strain – out)
Pacers: Torrey Craig (sore left shoulder – questionable), Justin Holiday (left ankle sprain – questionable), Jeremy Lamb (sore right wrist – questionable), Caris LeVert (sore lower back – out), Kelan Martin (left hamstring strain – out), T.J. Warren (fractured left navicular)
STORYLINES
Balanced attack key to Wizards’ success
In Washington’s season-opening win in Toronto on Wednesday, Bradley Beal once again led the team in scoring, just as he did in 49 of the 60 regular season games in which he played last season. But this time was different. Beal scored just 23 points and was supplemented by other performances like those of Montrezl Harrell (22 points, nine rebounds), Kyle Kuzma (11 points, 15 rebounds) and Spencer Dinwiddie (13 points, six assists). Beal finished the night plus-24 in 34 minutes and said postgame that he felt fresh throughout the entire game. That freshness allowed him to make an impact in more ways than just scoring. Beal added four steals, a feat he accomplished just twice last season.
“I felt super energetic at all times – especially in the fourth quarter,” Beal said after Wednesday’s win. “…I just felt good. It definitely feels great to have guys that can put the ball on the floor, shoot the ball. I don’t have to make every single play. I love the fact that I have guys who can really create…I can focus on the defensive end, focus on rebounding, focus on creating shots for other guys rather than just myself. It’s great.”
Beal’s balanced workload falls right in line with the role Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said he hoped he would have for the All-NBA guard.
“Sometimes the burden for him offensively was so high in past seasons that it took a little bit out of him,” Unseld Jr. said during the preseason. “To have the depth and flexibility that we have, I think it gives him an opportunity to take possessions off on the offensive end. Maybe that gives him the legs and energy to do it on the defensive end as well. You hope also that depth will maybe reduce some of his minutes and his workload so that he can be fresher in the end of games and fresher going into March and April as we’re making a playoff push.”
Scouting the Pacers
The Wizards’ matchups with the Pacers made for the some of the most exciting games of the team’s 2020-21 season, including a 133-132 overtime thriller in which Beal scored 50 points. Indiana made a coaching change this offseason, hiring longtime Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, but retained the majority of their roster. That group is again headlined by Domantas Sabonis, who averaged 20.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game last season and is coming off a 33-point, 15-rebound performance in the Pacers’ season opener against the Hornets. Also manning the paint is Myles Turner, one of the most prolific shot-blockers in the NBA. Turner averaged a league-high 3.4 rejections per game last season and added four on Wednesday night in Charlotte.
“We’ve got to be disciplined. Their bigs are dynamic. They can play inside-out, they can shoot the three and they’re both extremely physical. We’ve got to be smart with our hands and our body position…Ideally we want to play as straight-up as we can. We don’t want to over-help.”
A special home opener in D.C.
Friday’s home opener will mark the first time in over a year and a half that the Wizards will host a game without capacity restrictions. Those in attendance will be required to wear a mask and will see reduced contact points at locations like concessions stands, ticket stations and security checkpoints. The organization has planned a series of activities and giveaways for all fans in attendance, including the Capital One Fan Van, the Meet at the Metro event, 10,000 rally towels and schedule mousepads, in-game entertainment, retails offers and more.
TICKETS
Tickets for all Wizards home games can be purchased HERE.