Wizards look to improve playoff position against Knicks (Mar 24, 2018)
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Wizards are close to clinching a playoff berth.
What spot they will be in is far from decided.
Following their 108-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, the Wizards -- with visions of finishing as high as third in the Eastern Conference -- find themselves closer to eighth.
Washington (40-32) is sixth -- three games behind the No. 3 Cleveland Cavaliers and two games ahead of the No. 8 Milwaukee Bucks. It is two games out of fourth place and home-court advantage in the first round, but its magic number to clinch a playoff berth is two.
The Wizards have lost two straight, but four of their next five games are against non-playoff teams, beginning Sunday afternoon when they host the New York Knicks (26-47).
Washington remains without point guard John Wall, but not for much longer. On Saturday, Wall was a full participant in practice for the first time since undergoing surgery on his left knee Jan. 31, meaning his return is near.
"They were excited to have John out there playing on both ends of the court with the contact," Wizards coach Scott Brooks told TheSportsCapitol.com. "I thought he was great with everything. He's a freak of nature. You just think he's been with us all this time the way he handles the ball, the way he passes. Just gives us that dynamic that every team would love to have."
Wall last played on Jan. 25 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has missed the Wizards' last 24 games and 35 overall.
"It's fluid," Brooks told TheSportsCapitol.com of Wall's recovery timeline. "I don't know how many (practices) he will need before we're all are comfortable, but it's leaning toward that way. He won't play (Sunday). Then we have a couple of more practices this week. See how it goes from there before we start thinking about which games he'll play in."
Against Denver, Washington fell behind early after scoring 15 points in the first quarter. It trailed by 14 points in the third quarter but rallied to within two before Will Barton's 3 expanded the Denver lead to five points with 1:22 remaining.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 24 points and four players scored between 11 and 17 points. Washington turned the ball over 17 times -- leading to 19 Denver points -- while getting only 10 turnovers from the Nuggets.
New York (26-47) plays three games in the next four days.
The Knicks also posted a second-half rally Friday night, but ultimately fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-104 on despite Tim Hardaway Jr.'s career-high 39 points.
Coach Jeff Hornacek shook up his lineup during the loss.
Guards Trey Burke and rookie Frank Ntilikina started the second half, while starters Emmanuel Mudiay and Courtney Lee sat. Lee played in the fourth quarter, but Mudiay, who has started 14 straight games, did not.
Burke scored 15 points and added nine assists. Ntilikina added 13 points in a career-high 37 minutes.
"It's just a matter of those guys were playing well and (we) gave them the most minutes," Hornacek told Newsday.
Mudiay, who played with a slightly sprained ankle Wednesday in Miami, was scoreless in just under five minutes of action Friday night against the Heat. The Knicks trailed 15-7 when he was removed from the game.
Hornacek said he hadn't decided who will be in the starting backcourt on Sunday.
"We haven't even thought about that game yet," he told the New York Post after Friday's game. "I liked what our two guys did tonight. Emmanuel might not have had it tonight, but we'll see."
