Bradley Beal injury update: Wizards star sidelined again with hamstring strain, will miss next three games

Beal tried to play Wednesday, but had to leave the game early

Bradley Beal's hamstrings are not cooperating with him. The Washington Wizards star missed six games in December because of a strain in his right hamstring, and then he had to leave a game on Dec. 27 because of a sore left hamstring. Beal missed three games after that, then returned on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks, only to leave the game with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half because of the same issue. 

An MRI has since revealed that Beal has a left hamstring strain, the Wizards announced on Thursday. He will miss at least the next three games. 

After logging 13 minutes on Wednesday, Beal said that he couldn't predict when he'd be back because he has felt fine some days and has been unable to make explosive moments other days, per the Washington Post's Ava Wallace. 

"I tried to make a few accelerations, and [it] kind of prevented me from doing that," Beal said. "It's frustrating because I didn't have that the last 48 hours. Nobody wants to play more than me. But I've just got to be smart about it."

Beal also said that being unavailable has been "tough because we're playing good ball. I want to be a part of that." Before the 123-113 loss against the Bucks, Washington had won five straight games and six of its last seven. That stretch, however, followed a 10-game losing streak. On the season, the Wizards are 17-22 and 11th in the Eastern Conference, with an offense that ranks 20th in the NBA and a defense that ranks 14th.

In Beal's 806 minutes this season, Washington has scored 116.2 points per 100 possessions, an elite mark, but it has given almost all of that up on the other end. (The team has a plus-0.4 net rating with Beal on the court.) The Wizards' recent success, however, has mostly been about defense. With Daniel Gafford in the starting lineup for the past eight games, they've allowed 109.1 points per 100 possessions, the third-lowest mark in the NBA during that span. Their hope is that, with Beal healthy and Gafford next to Kristaps Porzingis in the frontcourt, they can turn into a balanced, reliable, perhaps even playoff-caliber team. That trio has logged only 43 minutes together all season, though, spread over five games. 

Beal is averaging 22.9 points on a career-high 61.7 percent true shooting this season, plus 5.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 33.6 minutes. He is shooting 55 percent on long 2s and 77 percent at the rim, according to Cleaning The Glass, and both of those numbers are unsustainably awesome.

With Beal sidelined again, Corey Kispert will likely return to the starting lineup. Washington will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, then host the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday and the Chicago Bulls next Wednesday. According to the Wizards' timeline, the earlier Beal could play again is next Friday's home game against the New York Knicks.