Wizards Still Have Work to Do for Fifth Seed

It's easy to get a headache trying to figure all the possible playoff permutations for the Washington Wizards. A four-way tie for the final four spots in the Eastern Conference? It still possible, even with 48 hours or so left in the regular season.

"It's funny looking at this as a fifth seed with 40 wins, and the eighth seed has 39 wins," point guard Gilbert Arenas said Monday. "You say 'Wow."'

And if you're coach Eddie Jordan, you say something like: "Don't celebrate yet, there is still work to be done."

The Wizards clinched a playoff berth Sunday with their victory over Cleveland, but they'll almost certainly need to beat Milwaukee on Tuesday  and maybe Detroit on the road in Wednesday's regular season finale  to hold on to the coveted No. 5 seed and avoid top teams Detroit, Miami and New Jersey in the postseason's first round.

"We don't want to say 'We're in' and be satisfied," Jordan said. "I think our records show we might be a little bit better against Cleveland than Miami, and I think that's where we want to end up."

That might have been the understatement of the year. The Wizards have lost 16 straight to the Heat, including a four-game sweep in last year's playoffs.

But if they're at No. 5, the Wizards would get the more favorable matchup against the fourth-seeded Cavaliers. It would be a high-profile meeting because it would be LeBron James' playoff debut, but Washington won the season series 3-1 and feel well-suited to stop LeBron and Co. If nothing else, they use 6-foot-11 Jared Jeffries as a guard, giving them some size against James on the perimeter.

"Everyone is trying to dodge certain teams," Arenas said. "No one wants to play a Detroit or a Miami in the first round because they want to get to the second round."

The Wizards found themselves answering a lot of questions about Cleveland on Monday, but occasionally Jordan would stop and remind anyone who would listen that the Milwaukee game is first and foremost right now. The Bucks have won both meetings this season. Both victories were by three points, including a 100-97 win last week when T.J. Ford stole the ball from Arenas in the final seconds.

"I went through that play a couple of times in my head, what I should've done," Arenas said. "You always do that. But it's going to be another game, and hopefully it doesn't go down to the wire."