Nobody will be happier to find the preseason end than the Washington Wizards; if it had gone on any longer, they would have run out of bodies entirely.
Together with Martell Webster on the shelf after his third back operation in four seasons, the injuries just kept coming.
Bradley Beal fractured his wrist, Glen Rice Jr. wrapped his ankle, Kris Humphries ripped open his arm on the rim (because when are these items sharp?) , requiring surgery. Even John Wall was limited with knee tendinitis.
Somehow, the Wizards’ oldest player was able to survive the exhibition slate unscathed. Paul Pierce, place to start at small forward for the Wiz, provided some veteran perspective on the parade into the coach’s table, per Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post:”It’s been tough. It has been challenging. We have not had a complete squad the majority of the preseason. The important thing is understanding it’s a very long season. The crucial thing is to get healthy.”
When the collective swelling recedes and the stitches hold, Washington can still make good on the lofty expectations it set last season. Forty-four wins got people believing in D.C., and now the Wizards confront a world where anything less than a top-four seed will constitute a disappointment.
Demands like that are as refreshing as they’re daunting, especially for a franchise with so little success in yesteryear. In 33-1, the Wiz aren’t totally out of the championship film, but they’re still a notch beneath the East’s elite.
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