Courtesy: Slam Online
The Washington Wizards started the 2014-15 season off on a strong note. Now, the franchise could be in trouble as they are in the middle of a hazardous slide only winning three out of their last ten games. Washington has been around the top three seeds during the majority of the season, but their most recent slide has landed them in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 34-26.
The Eastern Conference is the weaker of the two conferences in the NBA so I doubt that Washington will ruin their chances of playing in the postseason, but this most recent slide is big trouble for the franchise home to the Nation’s Capital.
Washington recently snapped their six-game losing streak with a 99-95 victory on Saturday night versus the Detroit Pistons. That win put the Wizards three games behind the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and one game in front of the sixth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.
Now that it is officially March 1st, the NBA is less than 50 days away from the playoffs and if the Washington Wizards cannot return to form, they will continue to fall deeper into trouble.
Though the team was able to snap their six-game losing streak and get their first win since February 9th, it was only one win and against a team that will not make the postseason.
What really bought a lot of attention to Washington’s woes were two big losses against two of the worst teams in the NBA. During their six-game losing streak Washington blew a twenty-point lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half and was completely dominated during the second half resulting in a 97-77 loss. Right after that, the Wizards played awful losing to the Philadelphia 76ers 89-81.
During this skid, the Wizards have had struggles on both sides of the court. In the last five games, Washington has only shot 42.1 percent from field goal range and 28.9 percent from behind the arc. Not to mention, Washington is turning over the ball a lot more. In the last ten games, they are averaging 9.2 turnovers in steals by their opponent. During the last ten games, Paul Pierce and Bradley Beal were both struggling with injuries and missed some games, but that is no excuse for their poor performance and poor offensive efficiency.
From poor offensive performances to getting out hustled on defense, Washington is now in big trouble. The franchise needs to focus on getting out of this slump as soon as possible so the team can excel come postseason.
Right now, I believe that the Wizards are in more trouble than any team in the NBA who is facing postseason play. Since January 1st, the Wizards are 12-18 and also lost all six of their road games last month. This recent slide has officially put head coach Randy Wittman on the hot seat and without any improvement in the near future; everyone on Washington’s payroll is in danger of losing a job. This is a team that everyone in the District of Columbia is expecting to make a deep playoff run, but if nothing changes the Wizards could be facing an early exit.
