The Washington Wizards are one of those for whom the All-Star break came at a relatively bad time. The team from the capital has won 8 of its last 11 games (including the Lakers, Portland and twice Denver) – a balance that jumped it in the Eastern Conference table and placed Danny Abdia and his teammates just two games away from eighth place.
On the night between Wednesday and Thursday, Washington will resume its season in an away game against the Memphis Grizzlies (03:00, live on 5 SPORT). By the way, this will also be the game that will kick off the second half of the season in the NBA. Anyway, just before the fight for the playoffs got even hotter, ESPN provided their angle on the stories that are worth paying attention to for each team. The next chapter in the Wizards plot is in front of you.
The recent article in the American media was part of ESPN’s weekly “Power Rating”, in which Washington was ranked 21st (out of 30 groups). And the headline towards its second half: “Are the Wizards able to preserve change for the better?”.
“After a 12: 3 season opener and a Corona outburst on the team, the Wizards went on hiatus after 8 wins in 11 games and are somehow only two games away from eighth place,” the coverage said. “Bradley Bill does not show signs of slowing down as the leading scorer in the league, and Russell Westbrook mentions oblivion with five triple-doubles in the last 10 games. Washington even wins close games. However, the other half will not be ‘funny’ for Washington, as it will hold 38 games. And will have to deal with 8 different cases of back-to-back. “
In addition, the article noted Washington’s three most “worth watching” games in the second half of the season: First, mention the next game against the Brooklyn Nets (March 21), after in the previous meeting Bill and Westbrook erased a 5-point lag about 8 seconds to go On the way to an amazing 146: 149; We also noted the return of Westbrook and Scott Brooks to Oklahoma City (April 23) and the game in Atlanta (May 12), where Abdia & Co. will close out a five-game away game – a streak that could dramatically affect the team’s playoff ambitions.
Before concluding, the writers provided for each group a “bold forecast”. And so it was written in the case of Washington: Despite all the storms and the challenging schedule towards the end of the season, Westbrook and Bill are about to return the Wizards to the playoffs for the first time since the 2017/18 season.
💥 @ russwest44 powers the @WashWizards past LAC!
27 PTS | 9 REB | 11 AST | 4 STL pic.twitter.com/9Q84I4sG5d
– NBA (@NBA) March 5, 2021