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In spite of the odds against them, the Wizards are playoff-bound.

The bizarre nature of the pandemic season has been understandably hard on the entire NBA, but one team in particular that’s had a rough go of it is the Washington Wizards. The team has been on a nasty losing streak, just recently getting bodied pretty badly by the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. One member of the Wizards, Russell Westbrook, was especially dissatisfied with his performance in that game.

“Just wasn’t feeling the best when my team needed me the most,” he said. “Everything happens for a reason. I knuckled down and took care of my body and made sure my mind was right coming into tonight and making sure my energy and effort was there and my team could follow me.”

After that game, Westbrook gave an impassioned speech to his teammates, assuring them that they would defy the odds and make it to the playoffs this year. It might’ve seemed like a dime-a-dozen speech at the time, but sure enough, at Thursday’s game against the Indiana Pacers, the Wizards took ’em to the cleaners, winning 142-115 and securing a spot in the playoffs.

“We were struggling and everybody was down on the outside and we had to figure out a way to knuckle up and make the playoffs,” Westbrook said about his speech to the team. “Simple as that. I didn’t care what happened in the previous games. … We had to figure ourselves out, look at ourselves in the mirror, starting with myself.

“I made it clear to the guys that we’ll make it.”

The Washington Wizards had a 0.6% chance of making the playoffs on April 6. Per @espn BPI pic.twitter.com/iylQVs5Ad1

— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) May 21, 2021

Wizards coach Scott Brooks mentioned that Westbrook has a habit of making promises to himself and the team.

“I don’t even remember what game [it was], he gave a very passionate, very direct talk to the group,” Brooks said. “He was like, I am not going through this season and not making the playoffs. Not that he predicted it, but he said I am not going to let this happen and not make the playoffs. We are going to step up and fight for one another.

“[It was] almost like, you guys better be ready for what is about to take place, and it turned around.”