Washington
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Hampered by injuries, the Wizards have fallen from the fourth seed in the playoffs to the fifth, and with a loss to the Pacers at Indiana tonight, would drop to the sixth seed overall. The plummet means they will not have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs... unless, possibly, they face the Boston Celtics. In other words, losing to the Pacers tonight might actually GIVE the Wizards home court advantage.
A loss would actually give the Wizards the exact same record as the Celtics, and with the Celtics owning the tie-breaker, it would be Boston who has home court advantage. But if the Wizards win more than the Celtics do after tonight, then they would regain the home court advantage.
Divisional leaders get preferential seeds, but home court advantage is decided solely by record. So although Boston would own the #3 seed by virtue of winning its division, in comparing itself with Washington, it would be merely a matter of comparing the number of victories.
At this point, Washington needs to get them where they can without sacrificing the health of key players for the playoffs.
NEXT GAME
The Wizards (41-33, second in the Southeast) visit the Indiana Pacers (40-34, third in the Central) TONIGHT. The game starts at 8:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on NC8 and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
The Wizards announced today that tickets for the first two home games of the first round in the 2005 NBA Playoffswill go on sale Saturday, April 9 at 6:00 PM.
On Saturday, April 9th at the Wizards vs. 76ers game, the team will be holding a silent auctionto raise money for Washington Sports and Entertainment Charities.
INJURY UPDATE
Anthony Peeler(knee),Jarvis Hayes(knee), andBrendan Haywood (thumb fracture) are all on the injured list.
Michael Lee ofThe Washington Postwrites: If the Washington Wizards have learned anything in the past week, it's how quickly fortunes can change for teams on a postseason quest.Before they tipped off against the Indiana Pacers Sunday afternoon, the Wizards were 11 games above .500, had a half-game lead for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference and were four games ahead of the Pacers, who were in sixth place. Five days later, the Wizards have lost three in a row, are eight games above .500, trail the Chicago Bulls by one game for the fourth spot and are just one game ahead of the Pacers as the teams prepare for the rematch Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
John N. Mitchell ofThe Washington Timeswrites: Health is suddenly more important than staying home for the Washington Wizards.After falling to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings with three straight losses, the Wizards believe getting to the Eastern Conference playoffs later this month with as few injuries as possible is more important than the home-court advantage that comes with finishing fourth.
Tom Knott ofThe Washington Timeswrites: In one sequence, Brown missed two free throws, was cited for a defensive three-second violation and then fumbled a pass out of bounds and the easy dunk opportunity with it. The boo-birds let Brown have it at that point. OK. Fine. Wonderful. Point made. Now let it rest. And ease your expectations of Brown. And accept the obvious: He is 23 years old and has been playing on a gimpy right foot this season.And remember this: Big guys do not develop at the pace of little guys.