The Washington Wizards clinched the fourth seed in the East this past week, but they’ll reportedly head into this weekend’s NBA Playoffs without a key big man.
Following from Candace Buckner of the Washington Post:
The Washington Wizards will be without their backup center for the start of the postseason.
On Wednesday, Coach Scott Brooks announced that Ian Mahinmi will miss the team’s regular season finale in Miami, as well as upcoming games, as he deals with a strained left calf. Mahinmi underwent an MRI exam that revealed swelling. He will be evaluated again in 7 to 10 days.
Although the NBA has not yet released the playoff schedule, the evaluation timeline could keep Mahinmi sidelined for at least the opening three games of the first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks.
“Hopefully he feels better then, but you never know,” Brooks said. “But he’s definitely going to miss the first couple of games [of the playoffs].”
Mahinmi has served as an integral part of Washington’s success in recent weeks, offering solid play behind starting center Marcin Gortat. Since returning from injury, he has averaged 5.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 17.9 minutes per game.
The Wizards will play the Hawks, who are led by a talented frontcourt tandem of Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard, this weekend in the first round of the postseason.
Wizards big man Jason Smith is expected to take on a larger role in Mahinmi’s absence. Brooks also hinted that Markieff Morris could play center in various small ball lineups to counter Atlanta’s grit-and-grind gameplan.
