For the first time in three years, the Washington Wizards will be playing meaningful basketball games after the regular season is. It’s been an improbable run for a team whose postseason ambitions seemed more like a pipedream after the Chicago Bulls loaded up at the trade deadline. On April 1, the Wizards were 12th in the East. Now, they are officially play-in bound.
The last time the Wizards made a postseason run, it was a short one. They didn’t make it past the first round, as Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, and the Toronto Raptors made quick work of the Wizards and sent Bradley Beal and company packing after six games. This season, the Wizards would like to see their postseason dreams last a little longer. But before they technically start their first playoff series since 2018, they’ll need to make it out of the play-in tournament. The play-in “series” are all best of one. Anything can happen, for better or worse.
No matter who the Washington Wizards face in the play-in tournament, there is a path to victory.
With only one game left on the schedule, the Wizards’ final ranking in the standings is still anyone’s guess. They could finish anywhere between eighth and tenth. However, their potential opponents are all set.
The four play-in teams for the Eastern Conference will be the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Washington Wizards. Who will be playing who in the first and second rounds of the play-in is still to be determined. No matter who the Wizards find themselves matched up against, though, there’s at least one weakness that the Wizards can exploit.