The post-trade season is finally here, after a lot of speculations on who will be traded and who won’t - the Washington Wizards are returning to action after a couple days off and now at least Bradley Beal says they are making a playoff push. This game will be a good test for those intentions.

Game Info

When: Friday, Feb.. 7 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Capital One Arena, in Washington, D.C.

How to watch: NBC Sports Washington

Injury Report

Wizards: Thomas Bryant (Out)

Mavericks: Seth Curry, and J.J. Barea are listed as Day-to-Day.

Pregame notes

The Wizards are gonna push for the playoffs, at least so Beal says

This pretty much means that the Wizards have to be a little better than .500 team from now until the end of the season and then hope for a break from being in the Eastern conference. Which then again means winning most home games.

Dallas though will be tough. Especially with scoring punch Jordan McRae missing and not having a viable option at center with Thomas Bryant still out.

Defense matters

I think Beal realizes that a playoff push means actually improving his defensive rating and not just putting up great scoring numbers. Let’s see if he can lead his team to hold Dallas below their average. Oh, and, Dallas is one of the best away teams - with a very impressive record of 17-7 away (and only 14-12 at home!). Washington is currently 11-12 at home, so a win in this one will make them .500 at least at home.

Flashback: Beal’s all-time poster dunk

I just love this dunk, and we gotta give Beal some love now with his All-Star snub, so I am going to show this dunk plus PANDA STAREDOWN one more time: