Golden State Warriors vs. Washington Wizards - NBA Preview
For the 1st time this season, the Golden State Warriors will be visiting the Washington Wizards on 5th March at the Verizon Center.
With 8 victories and 28 loses so far, the Wizards are certainly not having a good NBA season and they have only won 5 of the 19 games at home. However with a 101-98 victory against Cleveland Cavaliers on 3rd March has boosted their morale, and fans have taken heart from the substantive performance from Jordan Crawford, who tallied a game high 31 points and career high 13 field goals along with 5 treys.
John Wall had 24 points while Roger Mason netted 11 points in the victory that helped them snap a 6 game losing streak.
Crawford, who is averaging 22.7 points since the All-Star weekend, was delighted over the output.
"We were on a six-game losing streak and we needed to end it. Tonight happened to be the night. We did the things we needed to do, we got stops and got rebounds”.
John Wall is on song since the All-Star break as well; he is averaging 25.3 points along with 8.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds.
Wizards’ offense will be strengthened after the return of Andray Blatche too.
The big man has averaged 9.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in this season but he certainly has the potential to do better.
On the other hand, Golden State Warriors have recently suffered a serious blow as their young star Stephen Curry has been side lined for an indefinite period due to injury.
The 23 years old emerging point guard has been averaging 15.7 points and 6.0 assists per game and certainly plays a cardinal role in the team.
Moreover, Warriors most recent game ended in defeat, 83-75 against Toronto Raptors on Sunday with only 2 players in double figures.
Their shooting was hopelessly low as they connected on just 36.3% from the floor. The only thing happening for them was David Lee as he tallied 22 points and had 12 rebounds.
"It hurts really bad," rookie swingman Klay Thompson who had 5 points in the game said. "This was a very winnable game, a team that we thought we were better than."
However their standings are slightly better than the Wizards, as they have won 14 and lost 20 in this shortened NBA season. They also have a psychological advantage over Washington as they beat them in both encounters last season.
The biggest threat for Wizards in this game will be Monta Ellis, who averaged 29.0 points against them the last season and is currently averaging 22.1 points and 5.8 assists per game.
If the Wizards can keep Monta quiet, they have enough in their arsenal to give Golden State a run for their money.
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