The Washington Wizards take on the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night in the opening game of the season for both teams.

The Wizards finished the 2020-21 campaign with a 34-38 record that qualified them for a play-in tournament spot, which they ultimately parlayed into a first-round playoff appearance. Washington was defeated by the 76ers in five games, and in the offseason, notably parted ways with Russell Westbrook and head coach Scott Brooks. Wes Unseld, Jr. is the new man at the top for the Wizards, while Spencer Dindwiddie was brought in as Westbrook's replacement at point guard. Bradley Beal will begin his 10th season with the team after averaging a career-high 31.3 points on career-best 48.5 percent shooting and projects to once again serve as the centerpiece of the team's efforts.

The Wizards will list Beal (knee) as probable for Wednesday's game while Rui Hachimura (COVID-19 protocols) and Thomas Bryant (knee) will be out.

The Raptors had a drastically disappointing 2020-21 season that saw them finish with a 27-45 mark fueled by a particularly poor start to the season. Nick Nurse nevertheless is back for his fourth season in Toronto after enduring the difficult circumstances of having to operate out of Tampa, Florida for the entirety of the campaign due to COVID-19 restrictions in Canada. Wednesday's contest will mark Toronto's first regular-season game on its home floor since March 2020, but they'll make their grand return without franchise leader Pascal Siakam, who's still recovering from June shoulder surgery. Additionally, the Raptors will be in the unfamiliar position of going to battle without Kyle Lowry, who signed with the Heat in the offseason after 11 seasons with the franchise. Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Siakam are essentially the new Big Three in Toronto, while Lowry's replacement Goran Dragic will try to make his own mark on the team as the season unfolds.

The Raptors will be without Siakam and Yuta Watanabe (calf) for Wednesday's contest. Chris Boucher (finger) will be listed as questionable.

Wednesday's game marks the first of four 2021-22 meetings between the clubs. The Raptors won the 2020-21 series between the teams by a 2-1 margin.