At 5-8, the Washington Wizards are off to a relatively decent start considering the team's lack of talent. Last Tuesday's thrilling win over the Philadelphia 76ers showed their resiliency. And yet, they have one major achilles heel: their inability to play on the road.
The Wizards are 0-6 away from the Verizon Center this season, and in many games, they have been non-competitive. They fell by 29 points to the Orlando Magic, 21 points to the New York Knicks and 31 points to the Boston Celtics. Tonight, they will take on the Atlanta Hawks in the first game of a Thanksgiving TNT doubleheader.
The Wizards will play without small forward Al Thornton in this game. Thornton sprained his left ankle against the 76ers and will miss a couple games, according to Flip Saunders. Yi Jianlian is also out of action, and Saunders said he could be out "for a while." There's a strong possibility that Saunders will elect to start a three-guard lineup of John Wall, Gilbert Arenas and Kirk Hinrich in this game.
The Wizards will be playing Atlanta for the second time this season. The Hawks slipped by with a 99-95 win back on October 30.