The eastern conference appears to be more wide open than it has been in a long time this season.
The Celtics are dealing with injury issues and have not looked like the team that came out of the gate hot over the last few months, the Raptors are playing the best basketball in the history of their franchise but have never proven to be a legitimate title contender, and the Cavaliers look like a middle of the pack team in the conference.
There is one other team hanging around the mid-tier of the conference that has been in the mix for the past half-decade it seems, the Washington Wizards.
The Wizards have been without their All-Star point guard John Wall for over a month but have managed to stay afloat, going 10-7 since the beginning of February.
Wall has returned to practice and was running 5-on-0 drills with the team over the past few days and could return within a week.
? Guess who's back, back again. @JohnWall's back (at practice), tell a friend. ? pic.twitter.com/GbX2T7YuDZ
— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) March 12, 2018
Washington is currently 5th in the eastern conference and set for a match-up with LeBron, the eastern conference ruler, but if they can end up playing an inexperienced Pacers team in Round 1 and a Raptors team who they have gotten the best of in recent years, they could find themselves in the eastern conference finals for the first time since the 1970s.
Wall returning in the next week should give the team enough time to find their groove before entering the NBA Playoffs gauntlet.
