John Wall: Wizards should be top-four in the East

TORONTO – Washington Wizards point guard John Wall is having an All-Star season – possibly the best of his six-year career – as the beat-up Wizards struggle for playoff spot.

Wall is averaging career-highs in points (20) and steals (2.1), and at 9.9 assists per game and 35% on three-pointers, he’s a fraction off his career-bests in those categories.

“I’m happy the way I play at times," Wall said. "Sometimes, I haven’t played well. But I’m very not happy with where my team’s record is."

The Wizards are 23-28 and in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, three games behind the Charlotte Hornets for the eighth and final seed.

“The big difference is we're not playing defense this season, and we've had a lot of injuries,” Wall said. "Being the leader and having the ball in my hands, I have to do a better job of getting us wins in certain situations no matter if I’m having a career year. There’s lot more improvement I have in my game."

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Washington leads the NBA in games players have missed because of injury at 221, ahead of Denver’s 164, according to mangameslost.com, and the Wizards are 21st in defensive efficiency, allowing 102.6 points per 100 possessions. They finished fifth in defensive efficiency last season.

This was the season the Wizards needed from Wall but not the season the Wizards wanted as a team. It was supposed to be different following Washington’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the conference semifinals, a series they might have won (probably would have won) had Wall not been limited with an injured hand.

Nene, Kris Humphries, Bradley Beal, Drew Gooden, Marcin Gortat have missed games, and Alan Anderson, who was supposed to be a key offseason acquisition, hasn’t played this season as he recovers from ankle surgery.

Even Wall is dealing with aches and pains.

“We just can’t blame it on injuries,” Wall said.

But he also said, “When we’re healthy, we know the type of team we are. It’s been frustrating because we set higher standards. … We feel like we should be a top-four team in the East. Dealing with the injuries, we still had opportunities to win a lot of games.

“We just don’t do a great job of closing out quarters, defending and winning close games. We just can’t blame it on injuries.”

With 32 games left, the Wizards can still make a run at the playoffs. Wall is honest about what that will take.

“Defense. Play defense,” he said. “We can’t guard nobody. If you can’t defend and rebound, you can’t win in this league.”