Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma didn’t play on Sunday and the Wizards’ high-scoring duo may be shut down the remainder of the season.
Beal has a mild left knee sprain, while Kuzma is nursing a sprained right ankle. Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said he “hopes” they return this season, Ava Wallace of the Washington Post tweets. However, the Wizards are now tied with the Pacers and 3 1/2 games behind the Bulls for the final play-in spot, so it may not make sense to play them again.
We have more on the Wizards:
- Without them, as well as point guard Monte Morris, the Wizards fell to the Raptors 114-104. That ensured the team would finish with a losing record for the fifth consecutive season. Kristaps Porzingis admits that without those players, the team is in a tough spot. “Those guys (Toronto) right now are a level higher. Us without our main guys, it’s different,” Porzingis told Wallace. “Difficult task.”
- A bright spot was the play of lottery pick Johnny Davis, Wallace noted in the same story. He scored a career-best 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. “I feel like I just needed to see one go down,” Davis said. “It’s been a while since I hit a three. So once I saw that first one go, it just built up my confidence to be able to take and make open shots.”
- The best thing for the team is to have the losses pile up the rest of the way, David Aldridge of The Athletic opines. The Wizards need another impact player and their best hope of getting one would be to have some lottery luck.
More must-reads: