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Bradley Beal injury vs. Hawks not serious (video)

By John Buhler

Nov 7, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) dives for a loose ball in the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 114-99. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) dives for a loose ball in the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 114-99. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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Bradley Beal won’t miss much time, if any, after his collision with Atlanta Hawks’ point guard Jeff Teague on Saturday.

The Washington Wizards won’t have to worry about shooting guard Bradley Beal missing extended time after injuring his shoulder during Saturday Night’s loss to division rival Atlanta, 114-99.

Late in the contest, Beal collided with Atlanta Hawks’ point guard Jeff Teague after another Wizards’ turnover. Beal’s shoulder struck Teague’s knee and the young Washington shooting guard was in obvious discomfort the rest of the way.

Washington Wizards head coach Randy Wittman said the following about Beal after the Wizards’ practice on Monday. “Everything is good. He’s sore. He didn’t do anything today. We’ll see. He made good with his strides from yesterday to today. He’ll be questionable for tomorrow.”

The Wizards’ next game is against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. It may serve the Wizards to not play Bradley Beal as a precautionary measure, just to ensure that he can return to full strength on Saturday versus the Orlando Magic.

Though not having Beal may present a problem for the Wizards organization, as they will try to lure Oklahoma City Thunder impending free agent Kevin Durant to come home to the DC area. Durant has spent his entire NBA career with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder organization.

Bringing in Durant would give the Wizards a dynamic punch at the one, two and three. However, that would mean that Washington would have to likely part ways with former third overall pick Otto Porter, Jr., who is having a strong start to 2015-16 starting at small forward. Durant is too slight to play the stretch four for Wittman, so he would have to probably play the three.

Regardless of if Durant leaves Oklahoma City, the Wizards will need a healthy Bradley Beal to play off point guard John Wall if the team wants to make some noise in the Eastern Conference Playoffs this year. Fortunately for Washington, the injury isn’t as bad as it looked. Look for Bradley Beal to get back to good by this time Saturday should he not play against the Thunder on Tuesday night.

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