Washington likely will not be able to catch the Charlotte Hornets for the 8-seed

After beating the Pacers in an overtime thriller and the Charlotte Hornets losing to the New Orleans Pelicans last night, the Wizards are now just a game back from the Hornets for the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference, but without Bradley Beal, it is hard to imagine that Washington could catch the Hornets.

Russell Westbrook is on another planet right now and he looks unstoppable out there on the court, but where are the Wizards going to get the rest of their production from now, especially with one of the best scorers in the entire league not on the court for them? 

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The Wizards’ supporting cast has not been that good all year long and outside of Russell Westbrook and Beal, the Wizards do not have many guys they can turn to and feel comfortable with the production they will give them. It is almost like “flipping a coin” and hoping that whatever you called, heads or tails, is correct! 

This roster offers no consistency outside of its two superstars and with back-to-back games against the red hot Atlanta Hawks, the Wizards could easily drop back-to-back games without Bradley Beal in the starting rotation. 

As a result, the chances of catching the Hornets and potentially moving up to the 7-seed vs. 8-seed game for the Wizards seems like a long-shot now. With the possibility of Beal being out until the play-in tournament, guys like Rui Hachimura, Raul Neto and Davis Bertans will have to play the best basketball of their careers in order to give Washington a shot to move up in the standings.