WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Recap Rewind: A very promising year for the Wizards was derailed worse than the train in the movie Unbreakable (trust me, I didn’t ruin anything), when All-Stars Caron Butler and then Gilbert Arenas were lost for the rest of the regular season late in the year. Destined to be in the top half of the bracket and with a legit shot to come out of the East, the Wizards magic dried up and the once-promising team withered down the stretch with a 2-8 record in their final ten games. Hanging on for dear life, the Wizards limp into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed and face the surging Cavs in a hollow rematch of last year’s most exciting Eastern Conference playoff series.
Notable News: While Arenas’ MCL tear has him shelved for the year, Butler is hoping to make a Willis Reed-like return to action from his broken right hand suffered nearly three weeks ago. Expected to be out six weeks, Butler knows the team needs him to play if they are to have even the slightest chance of advancing, even if he only brings 50 cents on the dollar.
Fast Forward: Eddie Jordan’s up-tempo style featuring the Big Three of Arenas, Butler and Antawn Jamison dictated the pace and seemingly scored at will for most of the season. Now, the burden is all on Jamison to be the scorer, leader and pretty much everything else for the depleted Wiz. But even if he was as powerful as the man behind the curtain claimed to be, Jamison would be exposed in the end anyway. The future is bleak when it comes to the first-round matchup against LeBron, ex-mate Larry Hughes and Co., however, with everyone healthy and back for another go-around in 2007-08, these Wizards can rekindle the magic.
DIVISION REPORTS
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
Western Conference
