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USATSI

A week after the Washington Wizards announced that star guard Bradley Beal would miss their next three games because of (another) strained hamstring, the team announced that he'll be back on the court soon. Exactly when he'll play in a game, however, is unclear.

The full statement reads: "Bradley Beal has been cleared to resume full basketball activities after undergoing a re-evaluation of his low-grade left hamstring strain. His return to play will be based on his progression."

Beal has strained both of his hamstrings this season and appeared in 24 of the Wizards' 42 games, including a three-minute stint against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 4. After playing 13 minutes against the Milwaukee Bucks last Wednesday, he said that he didn't know when he'd be back in the lineup because hamstring injuries are tricky. "It's frustrating," he said, via the Washington Post's Ava Wallace, because he couldn't accelerate normally but, in the two days leading up to the game, he felt fine. 

Washington has played three games since then: a 127-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a 132-112 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans and a 100-97 win against the Chicago Bulls. On the season, the Wizards are 18-24 and 12th in the Eastern Conference, one game out of the final play-in spot, with the No. 21 offense in the NBA and the No. 16 defense. In Beal's 806 minutes, however, Washington has scored 116.2 points per 100 possessions, which is almost identical to the Sacramento Kings' third-ranked offense.

The soonest Beal could return is Friday against the New York Knicks at Capitol One Arena. The Wizards will then host the defending-champion Golden State Warriors on Monday afternoon as part of the league's Martin Luther King Day slate.