Washington has a game to play first, at Indiana on Wednesday, and that matters. It puts the Wizards on the back end of a road-to-home back-to-back, while Detroit gets 2 full days off after its win. The Indiana result will show whether Washington's skid, at 4 straight as of now, is still running. It will also show how much Davis can handle on that ankle across 2 nights in a row, which is the most important unknown for Thursday.
Washington's recent form has been ugly. The Wizards got swept in a home-and-home by Atlanta, giving up 139 in the second game, and then scored 75 in a 39-point loss at Oklahoma City. Their only win in the last 5 came at Orlando. Davis adds a real 2-way presence. He's averaged 25 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks over his last 5 appearances. Still, he can't cover for a roster that has been short on bodies since the start of the season.
That injury list is the problem for Washington. Bilal Coulibaly (hand) missed the first meeting, Reece Beekman is weeks into an AC joint recovery, Justin Champagnie is out for months, Jamir Watkins is recovering from ACL surgery, and Tristan Vukcevic has been out since the start of the season. Detroit is missing Duren and Isaiah Joe (hip) and is still deep enough to have 4 scorers over 20 in one night. There's also the contract question. The Wizards have said they want 20 to 30 games of Davis before deciding on an extension, so every one of these games doubles as an audition.
Tipoff is 7:00 PM ET at Capital One Arena. Washington's case is simple: Davis gets another huge night, the home crowd shows up after a long road swing, and the Wizards hold their own in the middle quarters this time. Detroit's case is the same one that worked a few nights ago. Let Davis get his, get Cunningham going, and outlast Washington with the bench.
