After the Washington Wizards ended a season-high five-game losing streak Saturday with a 37-point victory 
over the Brooklyn Nets, Marcin Gortat wasn’t quite ready to declare that their earth was back on its axis.
“At the end of the day, it was Brooklyn, so we can’t get really excited,” he said.
There’s nothing like perspective. And Gortat is right: One win against a plodding, tired team is nothing to get excited about. What the Wizards should be is concerned.
Prior to the win over the Nets, the Wizards had lost five in a row and seven of nine. On Martin Luther King Day, they were 29-13 and second in the Eastern Conference. Now they are 32-20 and a half-game ahead of surging Cleveland for fourth.
“Being a good team is hard,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said during the recent slide. “You guys hear me say it all the time, it’s hard to win games in the NBA. It’s hard. And as soon as you think it’s not hard and you can go out there and do what you want, this is what happens.”
Washington’s tumble to the middle of the playoff pack could have huge ramifications. Among the East’s top five teams, the Wizards are the only one with no chance of winning a division and automatically securing a top-four seed. Atlanta and Toronto are running away with their divisions and Cleveland and Chicago are battling for the top spot in theirs.
The teams finishing 1-2 will be rewarded with first-round matchups against foes likely finishing under .500. The third seed likely will get the postseason neophyte Milwaukee Bucks, which won’t be a picnic but won’t be a trip to the dentist, either.
Washington is currently in a three-team battle with Chicago and Cleveland for the third, fourth and fifth slots. If the Wizards finish fourth or fifth, they almost certainly will end up with a first-round matchup against the Bulls or Cavaliers. And if they somehow win that series, their reward will be a showdown with the Hawks.
Going out in the first round – regardless of opponent – would be a step backward for the Wizards, who reached the conference semifinals a year ago and came flying out of the gate at 22-8 this season.
“We are not focused enough now. We are not hungry,” guard Bradley Beal said. “We are not the same team we were in training camp and to start the year off. I don’t think we still have that heart and desire to prove ourselves and show that we are still about business.”
Over the last three weeks, the Wizards have let their guard down. They gave away a home win over Oklahoma City, losing in overtime. A four-game western swing included lackluster wins over Denver and the LA Lakers. They lost twice to Charlotte last week.
And there are problems on both sides of the ball. Initially, Washington’s defense was breaking down. As the defense has gotten better, the offense has sputtered. Prior to Saturday’s win, the Wizards had not scored 100 points in their last seven regulation games.
Who’s to blame? Well, Gortat is averaging 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds since TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal said he should have been an All-Star. Things were so bad that the Polish Hammer decided to shave his mohawk. Veterans Paul Pierce, Rasual Butler and Andre Miller have been slumping, with Wittman spotting Garrett Temple for Miller in search of some energy. On the injury front, Bradley Beal (toe) is hurt again, Kevin Seraphin (ankle) is hobbled and All-Star point guard John Wall played through migraines and a sprained ankle last week.
“They feel sorry for themselves,” Wittman said. “Everyone is in the same boat. Nobody is feeling good and we are succumbing to that. I’ve got to fix that.”
Wittman can start by reinforcing the importance of ball movement; the Wizards are fifth in the NBA at 24.4 assists per game but cleared 20 just once in six games before dishing out 31 vs. the Nets. Once Beal returns, he also can clear the logjam at the wing, where either Martell Webster or Otto Porter Jr. probably should be dropped from the rotation.
And he can have his team shoot more 3-pointers. Among a handful of teams mentioned in the Ray Allen sweepstakes, the 
Wizards are third in the league in arc shooting at .380 but 26th in attempts at just 15.9 per game.
This week’s All-Star break is coming at the right time for the Wizards, who are a bit dinged up and look like they could use a mental rest. Before that, though, is tonight’s home game vs. Orlando, where a loss would be unacceptable, and Wednesday’s visit to Toronto, which has won the first two meetings between he teams this season.
“These next couple of games are definitely very crucial to us,” Beal said.
After the break, Washington still has Detroit, Indiana, Charlotte and Sacramento twice each and Philadelphia three times. But those games won’t be as easy as they sound until the Wizards change their demeanor.
“Until we all get back on the same page and come out and play hard for 48 minutes, and look at ourselves in the mirror and say ‘What can I do more?’ rather than point our finger and say ‘It’s not me,’ that’s where we are at,” Wittman said.
“We are pretty soft right now,” Beal admitted.
TRIVIA: Which team has had four different winners of the Three-Point Shootout? Answer below.
THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: In Monday’s Clippers-Nets game, the teams combined to make just 16-of-43 free throws. According to Elias, that is the worst combined free-throw percentage in any game in NBA history. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan missed his first eight – with an airball – and finished 2-of-12. Nets center Mason Plumlee was just 3-of-
10. Things got so bad that with less than three minutes to play, the coaches intentionally fouled on consecutive possessions. Lionel Hollins had his team foul Jordan, who split the pair. Doc Rivers immediately had his team foul Plumlee, who missed both.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, after getting a technical foul in the first quarter in a futile attempt to fire up his team in Thursday’s loss at Cleveland:
“I would have liked to have gotten two at that point. That would have been terrific.”
TANKS A LOT!: In a taped interview during Sunday’s loss at Cleveland, Lakers coach Byron Scott said he was totally opposed to the notion of tanking. Scott’s starting lineup had a combined 642 games played – including 354 by journeyman Wayne Ellington – while his five reserves had a combined 2,272 games played.
LINE OF THE WEEK: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City vs. New Orleans, Feb. 6: 40 minutes, 15-28 FGs, 3-5 3-pointers, 15-15 FTs, nine rebounds, 11 assists, four steals, three turnovers, 48 points in a 116-113 loss. If you follow this space, you know that it is extremely rare for a player from a losing team to occupy it. But Westbrook’s career high came with Kevin Durant back in the lineup and was his second straight 45-5-5 game, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Kobe Bryant as the only players with those numbers in consecutive games. Sorry, Steph.
LINE OF THE WEAK: Danilo Gallinari, Denver at Boston, Feb. 4: 25 minutes, 1-9 FGs, 0-5 3-pointers, 5-6 FTs, seven 
rebounds, one assist, zero blocks, zero steals, two fouls, three turnovers, five points in a 104-100 loss. Wait, it gets worse. With the Nuggets down two with 22 seconds to play, Gallinari came toward an inbounds pass too slowly and allowed Jae Crowder to jump in front of him and steal it. On the next possession, he fumbled the inbounds pass out of bounds.
TRILLION WATCH: On Wednesday, Bulls guard E’Twaun Moore killed a 7 trillion by taking a shot at Houston and Nuggets rookie Gary Harris ruined a 6 trillion with a turnover at Boston. Weekly honors were shared by Kings rookie Nik Stauskas (Tuesday vs. Golden State), Mavs forward Richard Jefferson (Wednesday at Golden State) and Clippers rookie C.J. Wilcox (Friday at Toronto), all of whom had 3 trillions.
GAME OF THE WEEK: Cleveland at Chicago, Feb. 12. The only game of the day and the last one before the new, longer All-Star break installed by LeBron James Commissioner Adam Silver. On Jan. 13, the Cavaliers were seven games behind the first-place Bulls in the Central Division. Now they are a half-game back. The Bulls lost the first two meetings this season and need to win this game and send a message to their rivals.
GAME OF THE WEAK: Denver at LA Lakers, Feb. 10. This game is still on TNT? Charles Barkley will not be pleased. The Nuggets have lost five in a row and 12 of 13. The Lakers have lost four in a row and 13 of 14. And is there a single player on either team you want to watch play?
TWO MINUTES: Atlanta’s win over Golden State on Friday accomplished two things: It silenced a few more doubters of the Hawks and added intrigue to the rematch at Oracle Arena on March 18, the night before the NBA becomes obscured by March Madness. But leave it to Warriors coach Steve Kerr to keep things in perspective. “It’s not fun losing, but in the grand scheme of things, this is a minor blip,” he said. … Think about how bad the Minnesota Timberwolves have been in recent years, and now think about this: Detroit has lost 10 straight meetings with Minnesota. … Depending on which report you read, DeMarcus 
Cousins either has one or two representatives opposed to the Kings possibly hiring George Karl as coach. After ending Sacramento’s six-game home losing streak Sunday with a jumper at the buzzer to beat the Suns, the All-Star center sounded more than a little upset with being the center of controversy. “Man, this city done put me through so much, and I stayed loyal to it the whole time,” Cousins said. “Hey, I just wanna know how you gonna stop God’s plan? God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. The marathon continues. I’m out.” Instead of pointing the finger squarely at Cousins, shouldn’t ownership and management shoulder some of the blame? Mike Malone was unjustly fired, and the Kings are just 7-19 under Tyrone Corbin. Meanwhile, Cousins has controlled his temper and taken a leadership role, talking about the team’s attitude and effort on almost a nightly basis. Despite Karl’s abrasive relationships with past stars, his track record and stability could make him an ideal mentor for Cousins, who has had four coaches since entering the NBA in 2010. … The Sixers are only 31-103 since the beginning of last season, but without point guard Michael Carter-Williams in the lineup, they are remarkably worse. Saturday’s home win over Charlotte ended a 20-game losing streak when Carter-Williams doesn’t play and gave Philadelphia a 2-21 mark without its young floor general. … The Suns have lost four games this season on buzzer-beaters. … Is D.J. Augustin going to save another team’s season? A year ago, the Bulls signed Augustin after he was waived by Toronto and he admirably filled the gap created by the season-ending injury to Derrick Rose, averaging career bests of 14.9 points and 5.0 assists in 61 games and helping Chicago make the playoffs. Last summer, Augustin signed with the Pistons to back up Brandon Jennings and stole some fourth-quarter playing time early in the season before becoming the starter when Jennings tore his Achilles tendon Jan. 24. In the last eight games, Augustin is averaging 20.4 points and 8.9 assists while shooting 49 percent (53-of-109) overall and 16-of-35 from the arc. And those numbers include an 0-of-7 stinker vs. Philadelphia. “It is easier to get going when you know you are going to get a lot of minutes,” he said. “You can get into the rhythm of the game instead of having to play in bursts.” Added Heat forward Chris Bosh, “He’s been playing very well over the last week, two weeks.” Detroit is 4-4 with Augustin as the starter.
Trivia Answer: Miami has had four – Glen Rice (1995), Jason Kapono (2007), Daequan Cook (2009) and James Jones (2011, 2012). … Happy 59th Birthday, Phil Ford. … Why do I get the feeling that James Dolan will be suddenly bedridden with the flu during All-Star Weekend?
Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.