Washington Wizards: Wizards lose to Magic, face Raptors in playoffs
By Matt Levin
After losing to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, the Washington Wizards finished in the eighth spot of the Eastern Conference. They will face the Toronto Raptors for the first round of the playoffs on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Washington Wizards lost to the Orlando Magic, 101-92, for the final game of the regular season.
It was the tail end of a back-to-back after the Wizards beat the Celtics the night before.
The Wizards were without John Wall (rest) as well as Otto Porter (leg strain). Both Tomas Satoransky and Kelly Oubre started in their place.
Headed into the game the 6th, 7th and 8th spot for the Eastern Conference were still up for grabs for Washington. However, it was dependent on various scenarios.
If Washington rose to the sixth spot, they would have faced the 76ers in the first round. Seventh then it’s the Celtics. Eighth and it’s the Raptors.
At the end of the night, the Bucks lost to the Sixers, while the Heat beat the Raptors.
Playoff positioning
To finish 6th — Wizards win and both the Bucks and Heat lose.
To finish 7th — Wizards win and either the Bucks or the Heat lose.
To finish 7th — Wizards and Bucks win and Heat lose.
To finish 8th — Wizards would only have to lose to the Magic.
Last game of the season
Right from the opening tip-off, the Magic set the tone of the game opening up a fast nine-point lead.
It seemed as though everything was falling for the Magic in the first half, sinking 9 3-pointers on 45 percent three-point shooting. Two of them were even banked in. Did the Magic players call bank? Probably not.
However, it still counts as three points no matter how frustrating it is to see not one, but two shots like that fall in.
The Wizards, on the other hand, were throwing up nothing but bricks, shooting 34 percent from the field at the half. The Wizards found themselves down 10 going into halftime.
In the third quarter, things got a little heated. Marcin Gortat, taking up for Satoransky, got into a bit of a tussle with Marreese Speights.
Speights earned an ejection for the elbow to Gortat. While Gortat got hit with a technical foul.
Also in the third quarter, Wizards two-way player Devin Robinson checked in for the first time this season.
Robinson played 13 minutes and scored 2 points while racking up five boards and a steal. He also had the best plus-minus on the team with a +10.
Down double-digits at the end of the third, Jodie Meeks and Mike Scott brought the Wizards back into the game. However, the Magic had an answer every time the Wizards had a chance to pull away with it.
Throughout the game, free throw shooting was a huge problem. The Wizards shot a dismal 59 percent from the line, missing a total of 11 free throws.
While Meeks was the Wizards’ leading scorer with 18 points.
A key takeaway from this game was that Bradley Beal played in all 82 games this season. Beal, who is prone to injuries, was once rumored to potentially be on minutes restriction for the rest of his career.
Not only did he play in every game, Beal finished top ten in the NBA in total minutes played. It’s great to see Beal stay healthy.
That said, the energy was just not there tonight. Time and time again this season, the Wizards have just lost to bad teams and it is frustrating to watch. If the Wizards had won, they would have finished in the 7th seed and played Boston in the first round.
Boston, who is without their best player for the rest of the season, would have been a desirable first-round opponent. However since they lost, the Wizards finished 8th setting themselves up with series with the number one seed Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors will be looking for revenge as the Wizards swept them in the 2015 playoffs. They will be a very tough team to beat. An eight seed has beaten a one seed only four times in NBA history. The last time coming in 2011 when the Grizzlies upset the Spurs.
The Wizards will be looking to become that fifth team as Game One will be in Toronto on Saturday.