4 Reasons the Washington Wizards need to continue their playoff push

Create Some Excitement

For one, the Wizards need to keep this playoff push alive to keep the fans interested. With Wall out this season, the Wizards have struggled to get fans to Capital One Arena. According to ESPN’s stadium attendance data, the Wizards are 27th out of 30 NBA teams in home attendance rate.

And fans aren’t skipping the arena for the convenience of watching at home. According to some data from Sports Business Journal, the Wizards have the NBA’s biggest fall off in local viewership from last year to this year. This season, NBC Washington’s local ratings are down 57%, more than any other local affiliate across the NBA.

While the Wizards might be one of the most popular teams in Japan thanks to rookie Rui Hachimura, they aren’t enjoying the same fanfare in the U.S. But everyone loves a winner. If the Wizards can put some wins together, they’ll drum up some excitement as they play meaningful games in late March and April.

It might result in a swift sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, but the Wizards are better off ending the season on a competitive high note than a defeated concession towards the lottery.

After two seasons of less than 40 wins, the Wizards can’t afford to just assume that the fans will come back when Wall does. They need to give D.C. something, anything, to cheer about before they tune this team out more than they already have.