Friday night’s trip to Orlando was a successful one for the Washington Wizards, as they emerged with a 105-101 victory in overtime, but in the process, the up-and-coming squad saw one of their best players, Bradley Beal, clearly suffer an injury. Following the game, a bit of clarification came on the injury, courtesy of Michael Lee of the Washington Post.
Bradley Beal has a sprained right ankle. Will be listed as day-to-day #wizards
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) March 15, 2014
The 20-year-old Beal did play 42 minutes during the victory, scoring 20 points and grabbing 4 rebounds, but he clearly emerged a little bit gimpy, and “day-to-day” timetables aren’t always pleasant. Beal has had a tremendous season, averaging 17 points per game in his “sophomore” campaign, but without him, the Wizards are simply a different team, as opposing defenses have a far easier task in defending star point guard John Wall.
Because this injury is listed as a “sprain” and not anything worse, there is likely nothing to fear from the perspective of a Wizards fan, but the franchise has been snake-bitten in the past (see Arenas, Gilbert), and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Washington fans with their guard up. Hopefully, Beal will be back on the court to continue his stellar offensive play soon.