Washington Wizards Tip-Off Their Season In Orlando

This is the moment that many basketball fans have been waiting for. The NBA season has tipped off and all systems are go. Tonight, the Washington Wizards play against the Orlando Magic in both team’s season opener.

Last year, the Magic were 25-57 and ranked 13th in the East. The Wizards, on the other hand, were 5th in the East, with a 46-36 record. Washington made the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals and lost to the Hawks in 6 games. Randy Wittman and Scott Skiles will lead their teams tonight.

John Wall begins his sixth NBA season tonight and looks to lead his team to victory. In his way will be the young and very talented Victor Oladipo, who saw his PPG increase from 13.8 to 17.9. Many pundits believe that he will have a breakout season this year and become a star.

Jared Dubin of Sports Illustrated listed Oladipo as one of his top picks to break out in the 2015-2016 season. He doesn’t have a major weakness in his game that he needs to adjust. He says the following about Oladipo’s development:

"If there’s one player in line for a Butler/Hayward style breakout this season, this is my pick. After spending the majority of his time at the point as a rookie in 2013-14, Oladipo logged most of his minutes last season as Orlando’s primary off-guard. Even as he put a greater emphasis on creating his own offense, he managed to slash his turnovers by nearly five percent. Despite playing more minutes, Oladipo coughed it up 32 fewer times on “bad passes” last season (per Basketball Reference)."

Oct 21, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) drives to the basket against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 10-107 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Magic will send the starting lineup of Elfrid Payton at point guard, Oladipo at shooting guard, Aaron Gordon at small forward, Tobias Harris at power forward, and Nikola Vucevic at center.

The Wizards also have a slew of other players to account for and their new look at the power forward position should turn heads. The aforementioned Wall is at point guard, Bradley Beal is at shooting guard, Otto Porter is starting at small forward, Kris Humphries is now the starter at power forward (mainly for his ability to stretch the floor), and Marcin Gortat is at center.

Look for this to be an exciting matchup to tip off the NBA regular season for both of these young clubs. The game will be broadcast on CSN Mid-Atlantic at 7:00 PM EST.

Next: 2015-2016 NBA Season Preview

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