How far can the upstart Washington Wizards go this season in the Eastern Conference?
With a little more than four minutes left in Saturday night’s game against the Miami Heat, the Washington Wizards were facing a 10-point deficit and on the precipice of losing a third-straight game.
However, thanks to a 15-2 run over the course of the last four minutes, which included eight huge points from offseason addition Spencer Dinwiddie, the Wizards logged an impressive come-from-behind victory over the Heat to improve to 11-5. That’s good enough for second in the Eastern Conference through the first month of the season.
After another unlikely and impressive win, you can’t help but wonder whether the Wizards are still benefiting from a hot start to the season or if this team is a true dark horse threat in the conference – perhaps similar to what we saw the Heat do in the restart bubble in 2020 and what we saw the Atlanta Hawks do just last season.
Either way, no one could’ve predicted this start from a Wizards team that was, for the most part, viewed as an afterthought in the conference.
What’s a fair ceiling for the Washington Wizards?
In the team’s win against the Heat, it was another well-rounded victory for the team. Bradley Beal led the way with 21 points, Spencer Dinwiddie and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each had 16, and Montrezl Harrell chipped in 13.
It was the team’s stifling defense that managed to get it done in the fourth quarter, which is something the Wizards have been able to pride themselves on this season. Through the first month of the season, the Wizards’ offense hasn’t been anything special (ranked 17th in the league). But, defensively, that’s another story.
Currently, the Wizards have the fifth-best defense in the league and it’s a big reason why they’ve been able to get off to this hot start in the East.
Until the offense gets in a better rhythm overall, this is a team that’s going to rely on its defense if they’re going to keep pace with the rest of the Eastern Conference elites.
As far as a ceiling is concerned, that’s where it gets tricky. There’s no question that while it’s easy to recognize that the Wizards are a good team, I don’t think anyone would get this team confused with a contender.
Washington has gotten off to a great start to the season, but they have clear flaws – most of them found on the offensive end. Beal is the only elite player on this roster and even he has struggled from an offensive efficiency standpoint to start the year.
But the Wizards, if they can stay healthy, will make the playoffs. I’m not sure if they’ll be able to remain a top 5 seed for the whole season, but I’m fairly confident in this team making the postseason this year.
After that, I’m not willing to bet that much more on this team. A fair ceiling is probably a second-round appearance, depending on their first-round matchup.
Regardless, there’s no question that the Wizards took a major step in the right direction this offseason. The key now will be continuing to build around this core, hopefully, one day making the necessary steps in which this team will be viewed as a true contender in the East.