The Brooklyn Nets are perilously close to falling out of the playoffs and into the lottery. The Atlanta Hawks are tantalizingly close to benefiting from that misfortune, via the drafting of a lottery prospect.

Sorry, Hawks fans. Randy Wittman doesn’t share your enthusiasm.

The head coach of the Washington Wizards (6:00 PM Eastern, CSN Mid Atlantic), today’s host for our Hawks, Wittman has a hard enough time as it is keeping his team consistently competitive now. If he remains at the helm next season, how is he supposed to handle not just Orlando, not just Charlotte, not just (probably) Miami, but the Southeast Division champions getting a dip in the lottery pool, and Washington unable to join in the fun without a major trade?

A win today at the Verizon Center would make this year’s edition of the Wizards (45-34) the most successful team in the DMV since d*ck Motta’s 1979 NBA finalist Bullets. Still, at least ten Wizards are likely to be returning under contract next year, and going into the postseason they look as collectively flawed and streaky as ever before. Wittman and GM Ernie Grunfeld know they can do little more at this stage with their own team. But they could screw with Atlanta’s chances to obtain a future blue-chip competitor via next month’s draft lottery.

That could be a reason why Wittman willingly accepted star point guard John Wall’s assertion that he needed a second-straight game to rest, as the Wizards prepared for a Friday night game in Brooklyn. Wall had been averaging 14.8 APG, in his last four appearances, but also has been shooting just 41.1% on field goals while committing 5.5 turnovers per game. Wall insists this was all his idea, but we know better.

Wittman and Wall were even willing to risk losing out on a chance to secure first-round homecourt advantage, something Washington hasn’t enjoyed since Elvin Hayes and those defending-champion ‘79 Bullets squeaked by the Hawks in a first-round Game 7, along the path to another NBA Finals. Washington didn’t need homecourt to reach the second round last year, Wittman reasons, so why sweat it now?

Doing his part to keep Brooklyn above the 8-seed line, Wittman’s team wound up getting blasted by the Nets, by 37 points. Gortat had 21 points and 16 boards, but he could not stop Brook Lopez (14 first-quarter points, 26 for the game) in isolation. Once the Wizards’ defense coalesced around the rim, Brooklyn’s Bojan Bogdanovic (6-for-6 on 3FGs) and Jarrett Jack (5-for-6 FGs) came off the bench and made them pay. The supporting cast around Bradley Beal (24 points, 3-for-4 FGs) and Gortat shot a combined 25.0 FG%.

When the Wizards fall behind, they resort to the white flag quickly. Eleven of their 34 losses have come by deficits of 17 or more. They’re not just getting drubbed by decent teams like Atlanta, Toronto, Golden State (twice), and Cleveland (twice). They’ve folded up the tent against Sacramento, Minnesota, Detroit, and… surprise… Brooklyn (twice).

Washington dropped five in a row after the All-Star Break. Less than two weeks later, they started a five-game win streak before losing four straight. The blowout loss to the Nets concluded a four-game winning streak for the Wizards. It’s been a dizzying ride in D.C.

This should be a high-scoring affair between this month’s two best shooting teams, the Hawks connecting on a league-high 52.3 FG% and the Wizards trailing at 50.7%. Washington is at their best when they pound the interior with drives from Wall plus the duo of Nene and Gortat, and at their worst when they settle for inefficient long-twos (25.6 mid-range attempts per game in April, 5^th in NBA).

Washington’s 16.0 3-point attempts per game this month (just 3.4 per game from the corners) are ahead of only Minnesota. Paul Pierce’s scoring has declined every month since December (6.5 PPG in his last two games), and it’s time for the Wall and the Wizards’ ballhandlers to get Pierce and fellow senior baller Rasual Butler (each 38% three-point shooters) going. None of the Wizards backcourt bench players are shooting above 43 percent from the floor, leaving Wittman to turn to guys like Drew Gooden (0-for-8 FGs vs. the Nets on Friday).

A free-wheeling offensive game will work well to Mike Scott’s strengths. The Virginian’s last trip to the Phone Booth had the Wizards chasing him all over the court, pouring on 17 points (12 in the fourth quarter) and 8 rebounds (4 offensive) in 22 minutes off the bench. He and Mike Muscala will fill in ably for Paul Millsap (shoulder), but must keep Nene, Kevin Seraphin, Kris Humphries and Drew Gooden away from the glass.

Atlanta would do well to continue attacking the Wizards’ interior defense, especially if they’re missing Nene, who re-twisted his ankle on Friday after missing the prior three games and is questionable to play today. Apparently the Hawks are not exactly clear on the concept of “restricted area,” blowing away the field this month with 77.5 FG% on shots around the rim. On the season, the Wizards were among the stingiest in ceding points-in-the-paint (38.3 opponent PPG, 2^nd-fewest in NBA), but they’ve slid lately (45.6 opponent PPG in April, 12^th-most in NBA).

Teague laid the blueprint for Dennis Schröder back on November 25, scoring seven times on shots in the paint and drawing copious trips to the free throw line (28 points, 12-for-14 FTs). The Hawks have no need to settle for mid-range shots, where Wizard foes are shooting a league-low 26.7 FG% this month.

Hawk guards have to continue to apply pressure and get double-team support on Beal and Wall, who combined for 12 turnovers during the Wizards’ 106-102 home loss to the Hawks on November 25. Wall, whose trying to play today despite a swollen ankle (oh, NOW he wants to play) dished out 9 assists and committed just two turnovers to help the Wizards erase a 16-point deficit before faltering in Atlanta on February 4. Trade-deadline acquisition Ramon Sessions filled in for Wall on Friday and shot poorly against the Nets (1-for-7 FGs) but managed to make productive passes (10 assists, 1 TO).

While there is very little left for Atlanta to achieve in the regular season, a victory for the Hawks in Washington’s home finale would complete a four-game season-sweep of the Wizards and establish a franchise-best 13-3 in-division record (Larry Drew’s 2011-12 Hawks finished 11-3 in the Southeast). Hawk starters are likely to play today and enjoy some rest in tomorrow’s home finale against the Knicks.

If all goes well in the first-round of the NBA Playoffs, two of Atlanta’s final three regular season games are against possible second-round opponents. To that end, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer will keep his postseason gameplan strategies and adjustments close to the vest. If Wittman doesn’t have a clue, there’s no reason to hand him any today.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3