Prior to engaging the Cleveland Cavaliers in a high-profile showdown Friday, Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal made a bold claim that should only light up a fire underneath LeBron James and company.
Speaking to Rachel Nichols and Paul Pierce of ESPN’s The Jump, Beal didn’t hesitate to declare his team as the best in the Eastern Conference.
“I feel like we're the best team. That's just the way I feel,” Beal said Friday before the Wizards hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). “I always stand by it because I mean, why would I sit here and say another team's better than my team? I'm not going to sit here and do that. I've got confidence in myself and my teammates and what we can bring to our team and what we can accomplish.”
Beal, however, knows that it’s one thing to claim they’re the best and another to play like it. It’s out of the question that Washington is among the top contenders in the East, but the Wizards are just 4-3 entering the matchup with the Cavaliers. That puts them on the seventh place of the conference’s standings.
Fixing a defense that currently ranks 21st in the NBA in points allowed and consistency on both ends of the floor will go a long way for the Wizards in convincing people that they’re a force to reckon with.
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