Wizards clinch Southeast Division, their first division title since 1979

Thanks to Tuesday’s win over the Lakers, the Washington Wizards have officially clinched the Southeast Division. This is first time the Wizards have won a Southeast Division since it was created when the league expanded to 30 teams in 2004. It’s also the first time they’ve won a division title at all since they won the Atlantic Division back in the 1979 season.

In addition to clinching the division title, the win ensures the Wizards will finish with a top-four seed and home court advantage in at least the first round of the playoffs, another feat the team hasn’t accomplished since 1979. This will be the first time the Verizon Center has ever hosted Game 1 of an NBA playoff series.

All that’s left for the Wizards now is to determine where exactly they’ll finish in the Eastern Conference standings. They’re two games behind Boston for first place, 1.5 games behind the Cavaliers, and 1 game ahead of the fourth-place Toronto Raptors. However, the Cavaliers and Raptors have the head-to-head tiebreakers over the Wizards if they finish with the same record, and Boston currently has a better record within in the conference, which would likely give them the tiebreaker if they finish with the same record.

Of course there will be plenty of time to fret about the standings in a couple of weeks. Right now, it’s just time to celebrate the Wizards finally breaking some very long streaks and look forward to what could be a very exciting playoff run.