The Washington Wizards survived a thrilling finish in London yesterday, as they squeaked by the tanking New York Knicks with a last second 101-100 victory. But even with the win, the Wizards are still just 19-26 for the season and one of the most disappointing teams in the 2018-19 campaign thus far.
Despite their struggles, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis says his team will "never, ever tank."
According to Candace Buckner and Scott Allen of the Washington Post, Wizards star Bradley Beal told Leonsis straight up, "We're going to make the playoffs."
"Bradley Beal told me, 'We got enough. We're going to make the playoffs. We're not going to let you down,'" Leonsis said. "So who am I to change the goals? We said, 'No excuses.' It would be easy to say we have so many players out injured, but we're not going to do that. We're not letting anybody off the hook. We got to make the playoffs."
(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Washington will be without All-Star point guard John Wall for the remainder of the season due to a heel injury and the team is 6-4 without him so far. Following the victory in London, the Wiz are just 2.5 games back of the Charlotte Hornets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Beal, who finished with 26 points and nine rebounds against New York, is averaging 29.8 points with 5.8 rebounds and 6.2 assists over his past 10 games. The Wizards have a pair of home games waiting when they return to the states, including a Monday afternoon matchup against the Detroit Pistons, followed by a date with the defending champs.