Southeast Division

Washington Wizards Power Rankings - 2012-13

Power Ranking
WEEKRECORDRANKCOMMENT
Week 2429-5118After two rough seasons and a knee injury that took forever to heal, John Wall returned in January to dish a real hope-generating second half. We repeat: With Wall, Bradley Beal, Nene, Emeka Okafor and Martell Webster, the Wizards looked like the bubble playoff team they were predicted to be.
Week 2329-4818John Wallâ¬"s resurgence? Bradley Bealâ¬"s injury? That big W over Indiana? All that Wiz news will have to be dissected another day when weâ¬"re still reveling in the weekend ceremony to honor Washingtonâ¬"s 1978 title team. From the very first Finals we remember being old enough to watch!
Week 2227-4618Not trying to put a damper on things so soon after John Wall's 47-point eruption -- or with the reunion of the '78 title team later this week -- but the reality is that the Wiz are about to inherit the NBA's longest active drought without a 50-win season once the Clips win one more: 34 seasons.
Week 2125-4417Must be so sweet for John Wall, after all the heat he took from agent David Falk and all the time he missed while his knee healed, to have the Wizards at 20-15 in his comeback ... with victories over the likes of the Thunder, Clips, Nuggets and, of course, Friday night's stunner over the Lakers.
Week 2023-4219Saturday night's rout of lowly Phoenix was as notable as a March laugher can be, because it enabled the Wiz -- with John Wall in a serious groove lately -- to make it five straight wins at home. And with Martell Webster, in his 458th regular-season game, uncorking his very first 30-point game.
Week 1920-4120Bradley Beal's sprained ankle is a bummer because the 19-year-old still has things to achieve before his rookie season runs out, like (A) clinching the team lead in scoring and (B) hiking his PER up from 13.81 (which obviously includes his shaky first two months) to the league average of 15.
Week 1819-3919If heads drop in DC in the wake of Bradley Beal's twisted ankle, you can understand why. It happened the same week Beal registered his ninth and 10th 20-point games of 2013, second this calendar year among rookies to Damian Lillard's 13. (Cleveland's Dion Waiters is third with seven.)
Week 1717-3721New York, Milwaukee, Memphis, Toronto, Chicago, Indiana and mighty Miami are among the teams that still must visit the nation's capital before season's end. Which is a relevant schedule detail because the Wiz are 10-2 in their past 12 home games after coming from 17 down to stun Houston.
Week 1615-3621The final 31 games will be filled with what-ifs, evaluations and dwindling lottery odds if the recent revival persists. But barring a trade, the Wizards' core is forming: John Wall, Bradley Beal, Nene, Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor and, ideally, Martell Webster. (Kyle Weidie, Truth About It)
Week 1514-3521I'm sure this only serves to torture @ESPN_RobKing, @HouseFromDC and every other Wiz fan, but you know what? With John Wall and Nene back, Emeka Okafor on the rebound and Martell Webster making shots, they look like the borderline playoff team they were always supposed to be.
Week 1411-3523They've got more wins since John Wall returned (six) than they managed in the 33 games without him (five). The Wiz have also painfully lost seven games when leading or tied in the final 90 seconds of regulation or OT, tied with Toronto for tops in East torture, just one behind Dallas' eight.
Week 1311-3122This spell we're seeing from the Wiz? Five straight home Ws and a 6-3 overall record since John Wall returned from knee surgery? The hints of NBA decency Washington has delivered since Wall and rookie Bradley Beal hooked up with Nene? Randy Wittman's best-ever spell as an NBA coach.
Week 128-3025Promising signs? The wholly unexpected W at Denver was the Wizards' fifth, somehow, against .500-or-better teams: Miami, OKC, Portland, Atlanta ... and the snoozing Nuggets. John Wall has made them watchable again; Bradley Beal is up to 18.6 ppg in January after 11.2 ppg in November.
Week 116-2828Bradley Beal's game-winner in the final second to take down mighty OKC in D.C. native Kevin Durant's annual homecoming game? Bookended by a victorious return for John Wall? The Wiz, challenged here last Monday, honestly couldn't have done any more to lift the local post-Skins gloom.
Week 104-2830The playoff demise of poor RG III and his Redskins has consequences for the local basketball team, too. The Wiz are 1-15 on the road, stuck on a 10-win pace as they continue to wait for John Wall's return ... and just lost the shield that kept the focus of the D.C. sports fan off them.
Week 94-2429Combining Washington's much-needed home win over Orlando on Friday night after eight straight L's with Charlotte's utter collapse at home Saturday night against a Hornets team that was 2-13 in December coming in has finally given us license to banish the Bobcats to the rankings basement.
Week 83-2229Any lingering feel-good factor from their Dec. 4 win over Miami has been well and truly extinguished by back-to-back losses to Detroit. The same Pistons who showed up for that home-and-home set with a six-game losing skid of their own. Worse yet: The Wiz are down to 88.8 ppg.
Week 73-1828Modest improvement in Month 2 as a pro for Bradley Beal, as well as the whispers about how highly Oklahoma City rates Washington's rook, is about as good as it gets in the nation's capital. The frustrating John Wall Watch rolls on ... amid rising fears that it'll be 2013 before we see him again.
Week 62-1528Perhaps it's time to consider that the Heat are incredibly fortunate that they won't have to see the Wizards in the playoffs. Or maybe, just maybe, Washington is 3-0 against Miami and 3-15 against all other teams in its last 21 games dating to last season to make it easy on us to fill this space.
Week 51-1330Now that they've avoided matching the worst start (0-18) in league history, there's a new target for the Wiz. Only two teams out there are still winless on the road: Washington (0-7) and Sacramento (0-6). And before the Kings start a four-game trip, Washington visits Atlanta on Friday.
Week 40-1130The tease of a near-victory in Atlanta morphed into full-on torture against Charlotte. The Wiz look more credible with Nene on the floor, but you can't help but wonder how long it'll take 'em to recover from those emotionally crushing OT losses. If they don't beat Portland this week, look out.
Week 30-830With John Wall and Nene sidelined, Jordan Crawford is the leading Wiz scorer ... at 12.4 ppg. Without Wall and the big Brazilian, Washington also just became only the second team of all-time to start 0-7 or worse in back-to-back seasons, just like the Grizzlies in 2001-02 (0-8) and '02-03 (0-13).
Week 20-529Three straight encouraging outings for Bradley Beal are pretty much all that the Wiz can point to right now as they await the returns of John Wall and Nene. They've endured an 0-5 start for the second successive season without those two ... and four such starts in the past five seasons.
Week 10-228It has to come as some measure of solace to Wiz lovers, as rough as Washington's opening week was thanks to narrow losses to the Cavs and Celts, to know that off-limits rookie Bradley Beal was at or near the top of OKC's wish list when it decided it was trading Harden. Doesn't it?
Preseason0-027The early wave of support for the Wiz as a playoff dark horse took a hit with the news that John Wall (knee) is out until the end of November. Nene (foot) and Kevin Seraphin (calf) will be back sooner, but it's obviously Wall next to rook Bradley Beal that we want to see.
Training Camp20-4622Lottery teams aren't supposed to be very intriguing, but the Wiz do make you wonder: Are we sleeping on these guys? Depends on what they get from Wall and his new rookie sidekick Beal and what sort of impact Nene and Okafor can still make. Buy in at your own risk.

Washington Wizards