The San Antonio Spurs head to Capital One Arena in Washington, DC tonight to take on the Wizards. These teams had a lopsided matchup earlier this year with the Spurs winning 116-99. It was San Antonio’s 22nd straight home win over Washington! However, the Spurs traded Derrick White at the trade deadline and continue to show signs of going into rebuild mode. Dejounte Murray is their only star and San Antonio has to rely on him. Lucky for them, he made his first all star team this year and is proving himself to a be a star in this league. However, the overall team got worse since that November 29th matchup. The more memorable recent matchup between these 2 teams came last season in DC. The Spurs ended up winning 146-143 in overtime. Some like me may say there were some controversial calls by the refs but it was a fun game no matter which team you were cheering for. The game was highlighted by a Bradley Beal 45 point game, DeMar DeRozan 37 point game, Russell Westbrook 22 point triple double and 15 players putting up double figure points. Fast forwarding to now, DeRozan’s a Bull, Westbrook’s a Laker and Beal is out for the season. Can there be another close game in DC even if the teams are different?
Both teams have not been great this season. The Spurs are 23-36 and the Wizards are 27-31. However, Beal is out for the season like I mentioned. San Antonio you’d think would easily win the star power advantage because of that. However, it’s not that big of a disadvantage. Kuzma is averaging 21, 10 and 4 since January 1st and Murray is averaging 23, 10 and 8. However, Kuzma is also taking the #1 role now which means his stats will increase if he continues to play at this level. I think this matchup will be fun because of these 2 stars! But with Washington’s depth, San Antonio won’t be able to hold on. Ish Smith, a player not many people talk about, put up 15 points against Brooklyn before the All Star break and has made an impact in every single game since joining the Wizards at the trade deadline. The Wizards will win because of Kuzma and depth!
Superman Sleeper: Corey Kispert is my Superman Sleeper for tonight’s game. Dejounte Murray will be playing very good defense of Raul Neto since Murray is a very high caliber defender. Because of this, Kispert will be able to get more open opportunities and he is able to make 3pt shots. He had a great 3pt shooting career at Gonzaga despite some in-efficient, freshman flaw 3pt shooting this season. He can make those deep shots. I can also see Kentavious Caldwell-Pope having a good game as well since Raul Neto will be locked up from the start. Because of Murray’s ability to not guard everybody, Kispert is my Superman Sleeper for tonight’s game!
1-1,000,000 chance
The Wizards will have 49 points at halftime and finish with 113!
Starters
Wizards Spurs
Neto Murray
Kispert Vassell
Caldwell-Pope McDermott
Kuzma Johnson
Gafford Poeltl
Injuries
Wizards: Beal (IR), Porzingis (Out), Bryant (Questionable)
Spurs: Primo (Questionable), Langford (Questionable)
Chase Coburn
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chase@chasessportsnews.com
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