Washington Wizards: 4 games that will haunt the Wizards during their play-in push
By Ethan Smith
December 27, 2020: Washington Wizards lose to the Orlando Magic 120-113
Back at the beginning of the season, hopes were still high about what this new-look Washington Wizards team could do. Davis Bertans was back. Russell Westbrook had arrived. And, as a result, the Washington Wizards…couldn’t beat the Orlando Magic?
The Wizards were coming off a loss in their previous game — a matchup vs. the Magic — after a mini fourth-quarter collapse. The Wizards were up 101-100 with just 8:24 left in the game. Over the next two and a half minutes, the Magic went on a 13-2 run, jumped out to a 113-103 lead, and never looked back.
So the Wizards were ready for the finale in this contest, right? Wrong. It looked as though the Wizards had learned their lesson. They entered the final frame up 94-77. Then they were outscored by an embarrassing 24 points in the fourth quarter, 43-19.
Before the season was even a week old, the Wizards had already lost the season series to the Orlando Magic. At the time, it looked like it would have playoff implications. The Magic, who were the eighth seed in the 2020 playoffs, projected to be playoff competition for the Wizards. Since then, the Magic have blown things up and given up on any playoff pushes this season. But these losses still hurt.