The Wizards have issued a new update on Bradley Beal‘s status, announcing in a press release that the team’s leading scorer will miss the next two games before being reevaluated on Friday. Beal, who had already been ruled out for Monday’s game, is dealing with a left hamstring strain.
It’s bad timing for Beal and the Wizards, who are battling for play-in positioning and will be without their All-Star guard for games on Monday and Wednesday in Atlanta against the fifth-seeded Hawks. It remains to be seen whether Beal will be available on Friday (vs. Cleveland) or on Sunday (vs. Charlotte).
At 32-36, the Wizards are currently in ninth place in the East and are a long shot to fall out of the play-in picture entirely, since they have a three-game cushion on the 11th-place Bulls. Still, a strong finish could push Washington into eighth place, since the team is just a game behind the eighth-place Hornets.
The No. 8 team only needs to win one of two play-in games to earn a playoff spot, while the ninth-place team will need to win back-to-back play-in games to make it to the postseason. With Beal out and with the Hornets holding the tiebreaker, the Wizards’ path to the No. 8 seed will be challenging.
Beal, 27, is enjoying the best year of his NBA career, averaging 31.4 points per game (second in the NBA) on .489/.351/.889 shooting in 59 games (35.8 MPG).
Time for Russ to step up! Quadruple double?
Quintiple! Points, assists, rebounds, steals, and complaints to officials?
I’m disappointed to say that you can add Luka doncic to that group of All-Stars who lead the league in complaints to officials. Last Mavericks game I watched there was a couple times where he didn’t get a whistle as he drove to the hole.. and he puts his hands in the air and has a funny look on his face instead of getting back on defense. Think he’s been watching LeBron too much.
It used to be that guys would complain when the whistle did blow. “I didn’t foul them.” Dikembe Mutombo, Andre Iguodala.. never fouled anybody in their entire life. Patrick Beverley, Austin Rivers. These guys have never committed a foul. But now.., guys are complaining when the whistle DOESN’T blow. Tired of it.