It’s been something of a weird season for Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards. The team hasn’t made the big step forward some expected due to injuries and generally inconsistent play, but Washington is still a playoff team, sitting at 28-22 on the year. Washington’s currently in fifth place, but is jostling with the teams directly behind it (Indiana and Milwaukee) to sort out the five, six, and seven seeds in the conference.
This is potentially bad news for Washington, because if the team falls down to seventh, it would be in line to face off against the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the postseason. Toronto is one of the teams that has taken a step forward this season, so much so that Beal believes it is the best team in the east.
Beal spoke with the media about the Raptors on Thursday afternoon prior to their matchup later in the day, and the All-Star guard praised Toronto for the progress it has made to this point in the season.
“It’s a great team, probably the best in the East right now, playing-wise,” Beal said, according to NBC Sports Washington. “They have so many threats on their team that you can’t take anybody for granted. We know Kyle and DeRozan are the key focus, and we got to try to keep them contained, put some pressure on them, get the ball out of their hands as much as possible for us to be able to make plays.”
Toronto is a game and a half back of the first-place Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference, and much has been made of the progress the team has made this season, especially with its reliance on hitting threes. There’s still a lot of time before we determine the best team in the east — Boston’s sitting on top, Toronto certainly has a claim to the title, and the Cleveland Cavaliers still have LeBron James — but right now, the Raptors certainly seem like they have the horses to represent the conference once the NBA Finals roll around.
