Inside The Wizards

Wizards Stay Grounded in Power Rankings

The Washington Wizards are still at the bottom of the NBA power rankings.

Jeremy Brener

Dec 8, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama (7) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards forward Marvin Bagley III (35) defends in the fourth quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Dec 8, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama (7) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards forward Marvin Bagley III (35) defends in the fourth quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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The Washington Wizards are no longer suffering through the league's longest losing streak after finding a way to beat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets over the weekend.

The celebration was short-lived after the Wizards lost to the Grizzlies by 28 points just 24 hours later.

Even though the Wizards won, it wasn't enough to get them out of last place in John Schuhmann's power rankings on NBA.com.

"It’s always darkest before the dawn. The Wizards’ losing streak hit 16 games with their two worst defeats of the season, losses to the Cavs and Mavs by 31 and 36 points, respectively. But the streak stopped there, and they somehow beat the Nuggets on Saturday despite a 56-point performance from Nikola Jokić," Schuhmann writes. "The Wizards were shown no mercy when the two new games were announced last week. They’ll face the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, both of which they had previously been scheduled to play just three times. They’re 0-4 against the Cavs and Celtics thus far, having scored less than 97 points per 100 possessions over the four games."

The other teams in the bottom five with the Wizards are the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets.

The Wizards will need to string together a few wins if they want to climb out of last place in the Eastern Conference, but Sunday's game against the Grizzlies served as a quick reminder that winning is very hard in the NBA and that Washington won't have many victories this season in the box score.

As long as they have victories in development, that's what matters, but wins can be a metric of positive progress.

The Wizards return to the court on Friday to face the Cleveland Cavaliers, who ended up No. 1 in the power rankings.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

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