This week...

• Wizard fall back to the 12th seed in the East behind the Pacers & Bulls

• What are the Wizards ACTUAL chances of making the playoffs? Zaz breaks it down

• What Bradley Beal and Wes Unseld Jr. had to say about Johnny Davis this week

• Wizards highlight a local charity that donates sneakers to underserved athletes in the DMV...how we can help

• This week's upcoming schedule...

Weekly Recap

Beal leads Wizards to 117-97 win over the Pistons (Tuesday)

The Wizards started the week off with a win against the tanking Detroit Pistons. Beal led the way with an efficient 38 points after shooting 13 of 15 from the field (86 FG%). At one point the Wizards were up by 25 points, the largest lead I can remember seeing all season. The bigger story for Wizards fans however was Johnny Davis who scored a career high 11 points with 5 rebounds and looking super confident(more on this below). This was was the last match-up between these two teams for the year meaning one less team we can count on for an easy win. Wizards won the season series 3-0.

Cavs dominate the Wizards in the paint winning 117-94 (Friday)

This one was tough to watch. Despite having a full roster with Kuzma back in the line-up (who only had 7 points total) the Wizards never had the lead in this game. The Cavs did not shoot well from the 3-point line but they made up for it inside scoring 78 of their points in the paint. KP and Beal did what they could and led the Wizards on a couple good runs in the 3rd quarter, cutting the lead to 7 at one point, but it was not meant to be. The Wizards need to win a few of these games against top seeded teams if they want a shot at the play-in (more on that below).

Kings out-shoot the Wizards from 3 winning 132-118 (Saturday)

I don't remember that last time I saw so many MADE threes in a game...unfortunately they were falling for the Kings and not the Wizards. Sacramento shot an impressive 12 for 18 threes in the first half (66.7 3P%) and finished with 22 shots made from beyond the arc. The Wizards actually played pretty well, given the fact that KP was out with a non-COVID related illness, shooting 45% from the field and committing only 9 turnovers. Kuzma limped his way to 30 points after a scary moment in the first few minutes where he tweaked his ankle. One of the highlights of the game actually came after the Wizards threw in the towel and WUJ subbed in Xavier Cooks (0 points), Jay Huff (5 points), and Johnny Davis (4 points) in the final minutes. Good to see what these new young guys look like in action.

Wizards Projected to Finish 11th in the East

It felt like just not long ago the Wizard’s were a sure bet to make the play-in tournament and had a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. However, after going 2-5 over the last two weeks, the Wizards are now in the 12th spot in the Eastern Conference standings and projected to finish 11th, according to Basketball-Reference.com. Here's how the Wizard's record ranks against other Eastern Conference play-in contenders

• Currently tied with the 11th seed Indiana Pacers

• 1.5 games behind 10th seed Chicago Bulls

• 3 games behind 9th seed Toronto and 8th seed Atlanta

• 4.5 games behind 7th seed Miami

With only 11 games remaining in the regular season, getting into the play-in still remains a real possibility, but it feels like we are going in the wrong direction with a record of 3-7 over the last 10 games. FiveThirtyEight gives the Wizards a 5% chance of making it into a playoff series. They give Chicago an 18% chance, the Hawks a 41% chance, and the Raptors a 55% chance.

Their best chance would be to catch Chicago, but there’s a reason these sites are favoring Chicago. ESPN predicts the Wizard’s will win only 47% of their remaining games, finishing with a record of 37-45, while it predicts the Bulls will win 54% of their remaining games, finishing with a record of 39-43.

Some easy/very winnable games remain on the schedule including two against the Magic (who actually are not that easy), one against the Spurs and one against the Rockets; but there are some tough ones also including the Nuggets, Knicks, Bucks, and Heat.

Two games that could shakeup things are rematches against Toronto on March 24th and Atlanta on April 5th. Now would be a good time to go on a run.

What Beal had to say about Johnny Davis this week

As we mentioned above, Johnny Davis balled out Tuesday night against the Pistons. He played a little over 18 minutes (most in his career) and scored a career high 11 points (45.5% shooting) and grabbed 5 rebounds. Check out his highlights below:

Following the game, both Bradley Beal and Coach Unseld had a lot to say about the Davis's performance. When asked about where Davis had developed most, here is what Brad had to say:

"It's really just a mentality thing...you know if you miss shots who gives a damn, keep playing. He always plays hard defensively, that's what he does and offensively the game will continue to slow down for you the more he plays...The sky is the limit for him."

Coach Unseld had similar comments about the rookie's performance and how his developing confidence is a huge factor for growth.

"He didn't turn shots down which is a great sign. I think just the level of comfortability that he showed tonight is a big step. Make or miss, I like his process, I like how he played, his demeanor on the floor, he was engaged and locked in defensively so I think there is a lot of growth there."

Here's a link to the full presser:

Support young local athletes in the DMV by donating Basketball shoes

On Saturday night, the Wizards partnered with Sharing Shoes, a local charity started by 2 brothers that distribute lightly worn basketball shoes to underserved athletes in the DMV.

To promote the event the Wizards collaborated with Baltimore-based designer Sierato to customize three pairs of sneakers inspired by Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma, and Monte Morris.

Zaz and I want to try and give a back a bit and we could use your help. If you have some lightly used sneakers that are lying around that you want to donate let us know by clicking YES in the section below and we will be in-touch.

Upcoming schedule for next week...

• Wizards vs Magic (Away),Tuesday, March 21st @7:00pm EST

• Wizards vs Nuggets (Home), Wednesday, March 22nd @7:00pm EST

• Wizards vs Spurs (Home), Friday, March 24th @7:00pm EST

• Wizards vs Raptors (Away), Sunday, March 26th @6:00pm EST

Have a great week!