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The Wizards are in Oklahoma City on Friday night, taking on the Thunder at 8:00 P.M. ET for the second time this week. Washington has won six consecutive games dating back to April 12 while Oklahoma City has dropped 12 straight, including the teams’ matchup on Monday night.
GAME INFO
Chesapeake Energy Arena | 8:00 P.M. | NBCSW | 1500 AM
PROBABLE STARTERS
Wizards: G – Russell Westbrook, G – Raul Neto, G – Bradley Beal, F – Isaac Bonga, C – Alex Len
Thunder: G – Theo Maledon, G – Luguentz Dort, F – Aleksej Pokusevski, F – Darius Bazley, C – Moses Brown
INJURY REPORT
Wizards: Deni Avdija (right ankle fracture – out), (Thomas Bryant (left ACL injury – out), Rui Hachimura (left knee soreness – out)
Thunder: Gabriel Deck (not with team – out), Luguentz Dort (right hip strain – questionable), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (right foot plantar fasciitis – out), Josh Hall (bilateral knee soreness – out), Mike Muscala (right ankle sprain – out)
STORYLINES
Lineups shuffle as Wizards and Thunder meet again
Friday’s game between the Wizards and Thunder will mark the teams’ second meeting of the week after Washington defeated Oklahoma City by 12 points on Monday night. The Wizards jumped on top early, hitting 11 of their first 14 shots, and maintained their lead from start to finish. Bradley Beal led the way for Washington with 30 points on 12-21 (.571) shooting while Davis Bertans knocked down six threes, scoring 21 points to lead a bench unit that totaled 55 points.
Friday’s matchup could look a little different. On Thursday night, the Wizards announced that Deni Avdija, who sustained a right ankle fracture on Wednesday against the Warriors, was expected to make a full recovery in approximately 12 weeks. With Avdija out of the lineup, the Wizards will pivot to what will be their 25th different starting lineup of the season. Rui Hachimura, who missed the teams’ last meeting with left knee soreness and did not play Wednesday against Golden State, is again listed as out for Friday’s game. Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort has been in and out of the lineup in recent weeks with a hip strain, but has scored at least 26 points in the last three games he’s played, including career-high 42 points against the Jazz on April 13. Dort is listed as questionable for Friday night.
Westbrook’s recent rebounding
Russell Westbrook is coming off a 20-rebound game against the Warriors on Wednesday night, tying the career high he set in 2019 against the Lakers. Westbrook has long been known as the best rebounding guard of his generation, if not in all of NBA history, and has only fueled that reputation this season. In 51 games played, Westbrook has recorded 35 games with 10-plus rebounds and nine games with at least 15 boards, three of which have come in the last five games. Both of those markers are most among all NBA guards by a wide margin. Regardless of positional specification, Westbrook has been one of the league’s best overall rebounders in the league in the month of April. He leads the league in games with 10-plus rebounds and trails only Atlanta’s Clint Capela in total rebounds in that time.
Westbrook’s current 11.1 rebounds-per-game average is tied for the highest single-season rate of his career with his 2018-19 season in Oklahoma City and would mark the fourth time in his 13-year career he’s averaged double-digit boards per game.
Wizards surging the Eastern Conference play-in race
With their win streak now at six games, the Wizards’ climb up the Eastern Conference standings continues. Washington now sits in sole possession of East’s 10 seed, the final place in the league’s new Play-In Tournament. On April 10, just before the first of six consecutive wins, Washington was 19-33 and ranked 13th in the East. Less than two weeks later, the 25-33 Wizards have surpassed the Cavaliers, Bulls and Raptors and now sit just two games behind the Pacers with less than a month to go in the regular season.