SB Nation NBA Reacts, Feb. 25 Part 1 of 2: Wizards fan confidence nearly doubles again, and Russell Westbrook should play more back-to-backs

Thank you for participating in this week’s SB Nation NBA Reacts survey if you haven’t already. Here are the results for this week’s questions. If you haven’t signed up for SB Nation Reacts, please do so here!

Fan confidence nearly doubles for second consecutive week

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In our Feb. 25 survey results, 35 percent of Washington Wizards fan participants said they were confident in the team, which is nearly double the 19 percent in the previous survey on Feb. 19. Doubling fan confidence isn’t hard when the baseline was just 10 percent back on Feb. 10.

The reason why confidence went up is very simple. Winning. The Wizards won five consecutive games before a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 23. That said, they finished their five-game west coast trip with a 112-110 win over the Denver Nuggets last night.

I still voted that I don’t have confidence. Sure, 12-18 is a lot better than 3-12 (or 3-8 if you want to write off the Wizards’ 0-4 start after a coronavirus outbreak.) That said, I am seeing Washington play more like the type of team I thought they would be back in early December.

Still, the bottom line is that the Wizards, even after winning six games out of their last seven, are 12-18, two games away from the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference, where they could enter a play-in tournament to make the 2021 NBA Playoffs.

They still have to play like this for at least another two weeks before I can get the “Jim Mora speech” out of my head.

Speaking about playoffs, most of you don’t think the Wizards will make it

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With the recent win streak, more of you felt confident in the team. However, most of you still don’t see the Wizards making the playoffs, which we will define as the Round of 16, considering that 20 teams, 10 from each conference will make at least the play-in tournament.

If the Wizards make the playoffs, do you think Washington would have a chance against the likes of the Philadelphia 76ers or Milwaukee Bucks in a seven-game series? After all, I don’t see Washington at a higher spot than seventh at the very most. I know Washington’s undefeated against the Brooklyn Nets in the regular season, but I don’t see that lasting through a playoff series.

Most of you believe Russell Westbrook should play more back-to-backs

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The Wizards’ starting point guard has looked better in recent games and played a second back-to-back. Nearly two-thirds of you believe he should play both games of such series, at least if one of the opponents is a top-tier playoff team. I would also add that perhaps if a playoff spot is on the line, that situation may also qualify as a situation why Westbrook should play both games of back-to-backs.

Still, about 35 percent of you believe that Westbrook shouldn’t play both games of back-to-backs. Perhaps it’s because his shooting has been erratic all year. Or perhaps the priority should be to tank the season. I voted for the “only against top-tier opponents” category.

I’ll have another post on our national questions later today. If you have a question you want asked for next week, please ask in the comments.

Again, if you haven’t signed up for SB Nation NBA Reacts, click on the link below.