USATSI
The Washington Wizards will be without Bradley Beal for at least the next two games with a sprained left wrist, the team announced Monday afternoon. The All-Star guard suffered the injury against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday when he attempted to take a charge on Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., and fell to the floor on his left arm. He immediately grabbed at his wrist, but stayed in the game.
Beal will undergo further evaluation and his status will be updated after he sits Washington’s next two games. The two games Beal will miss are on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, and the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. After that the Wizards have a five-game homestand featuring matchups against the Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets. It’s a disappointing loss for a Washington team that’s struggled recently after starting the season strong. The Wizards were once atop of the Eastern Conference standings, but now find themselves on the outside looking in at the play-in tournament with a 23-26 record, good for 11th in the East. They’re currently on a five-game losing streak, and being without Beal in what will be two incredibly tough games against two elite East teams isn’t ideal.
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Beal’s averaging 23.2 points, a career-high 6.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds a night this season, but he’s also experiencing the worst shooting season from 3-point territory of his career as he’s connecting on just 30 percent of his shots from deep. His on/off numbers have also taken a significant dip this season, as the Wizards surprisingly score 3.7 points less with Beal on the floor than when he sits, per Cleaning the Glass. Compare that to last season in which Washington scored 10.7 points more when Beal was on the court, which ranked in the 97th percentile, you can see that his efficiency has taken a dive.
However, as Washington’s leading scorer, Beal’s essential to the Wizards’ success on offense and losing him for any amount of time is a setback. More responsibility will now fall on the likes of Kyle Kuzma and Spencer Dinwiddie to help make up for Beal’s absence and hopefully put an end to their losing streak.
