Wizards’ Beal, Nets’ Dinwiddie to miss rest of season
WASHINGTON » Wizards leading scorer Bradley Beal and Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie won’t take part in the restart of the NBA season, two significant absences in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Beal is out because of a right rotator cuff injury; Dinwiddie announced that he is still testing positive for coronavirus and won’t participate.
Washington, Orlando and Brooklyn are the three teams left in the chase for the final two playoff spots in the East. If the Wizards finish within four games of whichever club finishes eighth, then two games will be played to determine the No. 8 seed.
“He’s worked religiously to get this thing back to where it feels right, and it just hasn’t felt right,” said Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard, who doesn’t believe Beal’s injury will linger long term or require surgery. “To hear him say himself that he’s just not right right now, ‘I’ve got to keep working, I’ve got more work to do,’ made that decision much easier.”
Washington will also be without forward Davis Bertans, who decided to opt out of playing as a pending free agent, and injured guard John Wall.
“Going to Orlando is very important — it’s a very big opportunity — but would it make sense if we went there and Bradley’s injured?” Sheppard said.
Beal averaged 30.5 points a game this season, almost twice as much as Bertans, the Wizards’ No. 2 scorer. The 27-year-old was preparing to play, even while the decision was up in the air.
At least six players on the Nets have tested positive for the virus. But Brooklyn general manager said last week there was no discussion of the team not traveling to Florida for the resumption of the NBA season.
Dinwiddie joined Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving aren’t coming back, DeAndre Jordan and Wilson Chandler among the Nets players not participating.
“After another positive test yesterday and considering the symptoms, (the Nets), team doctors and I have decided that it would be in the best interest for me and the team that I do not play in Orlando,” Dinwiddie wrote on Twitter.