Wizards Keys to Victory Over Thunder

Defend Without Fouling

Love him or hate him, there is no denying that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the best in the world at getting to the charity stripe. Coming into the game versus Washington, SGA is averaging 9.6 free throw attempts a game, including a 26 free throw outings versus the Indiana Pacers. Nobody in the NBA is better than him at manipulating his body to draw contact, and hardly any NBA teams have fouled more than the Wizards thus far. In order for the Wizards to have any chance in this game, they will have to slow SGA’s pace. Part of doing that is not letting him live at the free throw line. 

Kyshawn George has been the Wizard to draw the matchup of other teams best players thus far, but his looming foul trouble might force someone else to take on the challenge. The Wizards are expected to change up their rotation a bit with Bilal Coulibaly returning from injury. However, it would be a tough task to give Coulibaly the SGA matchup in his first game back from injury. Any way they do it, the goal remains the same: don't commit fouls.

Physicality and Energy

As previously mentioned, the Thunder are dealing with a fair share of injuries. Between Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Isiah Joe, OKC's rotation has multiple questions. Whether they play or not, the goal should stay the same. Washington will have to compensate for what they lack in skill, with heart and hustle — testing the Thunder's willingness to battle with them. 

Washington's play style defensively has been far from physical thus far this season. The Wizards do compete on defense, putting in effort to execute a scheme, but a lack of defensive talent limits their effectiveness. The return of Couilibaly could mean a turning point for their team defense, but nothing to this point would lead fans to that conclusion. 

Execute Down the Stretch

One could very easily make the argument that the Wizards should be 3-1 right now, versus the 1-3 that they are. The reasoning for that being their poor execution down the stretch of their last two games. Neither  game was razor thin all the way down either. Both times, the Wizards had double digit leads late into the fourth, before proceeding to blow them in a hurry.

In order for Washington to win this game they will have to execute down the stretch. A large part of their late game struggles fall in the hands of the players, but head coach Brian Keefe arguably holds more blame. He has consistently put in lineups down the stretch of games that don't blend well with one another. Along with that, his play calling down the stretch has been sub-par to say the least. If Washington wishes to pull off the upset, they must have top tier execution down the stretch, especially considering the man that will stand across from them.