The Wizards’ next 10 games will give us a much clearer picture of their postseason standing

The Washington Wizards are 30-34, 10th place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. Given that their goal is to make the postseason (and yes, the play-in IS the postseason), Washington is in position to do just that.

They have been stuck playing slightly-below-.500ish ball since February however. In February, the Wizards were 5-6. And so far in March, the Wizards are 1-2.

The next ten games give the Wizards an opportunity to make up some ground toward .500 and possibly more:

1. Tonight: at Pistons
2. Tomorrow: vs. Hawks
3. Friday: vs. Hawks
4. Sun. Mar. 12: at 76ers
5. Mar. 14: vs. Pistons
6. Mar. 17: at Cavaliers
7. Mar. 18: vs. Kings
8. Mar. 21: at Magic
9. Mar. 22: vs. Nuggets
10. Mar. 24: vs. Spurs

Of the ten games, the one thing that stands out is that six games are back-to-backs. However, four games are against the Pistons (twice), Magic and Spurs. Should the Wizards put forth a good effort, they should win those contests. Let’s assume Washington does, so this gives the Wizards four wins.

The two games against the 8th-seeded Hawks are also a good barometer of where this Wizards team is headed. Both are also home contests, and I don’t see why Washington couldn’t split at least the series. That said, if they were to win both games, it will help them in case of a tiebreaker. Let’s assume they win both.

The remaining games against the 76ers, Cavaliers, Kings and Nuggets are against teams in the Top-6 of their conferences. The Wizards will host the Kings and Nuggets, and I find these games to be a bit more “winnable.” If the Wizards can win one of these four, and sweep the remaining games, they will go 7-3 in their next 10 games AND get back to .500.

There’s a lot of “ifs” here. I don’t think the Wizards will win seven or more of their next ten games, but I also don’t see them going 2-of-10 either. It will be interesting to see how the next couple weeks shape out.