Last Week: Beat/OT Los Angeles Lakers 127-124, Lost to LA Clippers 135-116, Beat Denver Nuggets 112-110, Beat Minnesota Timberwolves 128 -112
This Week: 2/28 at Boston Celtics, 3/2 vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 3/4 vs. LA Clippers
Suddenly, the Washington Wizards are firmly back in the hunt for a playoff spot. The Wizards have won seven out of their last eight games, and after being close to the bottom of the standings, they now find themselves just a game and a half out of the play-in and two and a half out of the four seed.
Surprisingly, defense has been among the biggest driving factors for the team’s recent success. Over the last week, the Wizards had the 19th best defensive rating. Obviously this is not great but it is a stark improvement from where the team was earlier this year. Rui Hachimura is the standout in this regard. He is adjusting and learning on the fly and becoming more of a refined prospect. He still has less than an entire season’s worth of games under his belt. The trajectory for him should be special.
He is not the only standout from the week, however. Bradley Beal continues to be unstoppable, averaging 32.0 points, 6.5 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Russell Westbrook is slowly getting better. If the other players on the team are able to be better, it covers up some of his weaknesses. Even Mo Wagner is starting to pop off. What a change of pace for Washington.