The Washington Wizards have struggled since the all-star break, losing seven of their last 10 games. Post Sports Live discusses what, if anything, can be fixed to turn the team around for the postseason. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)

The Washington Wizards have struggled since the all-star break, losing seven of their last 10 games. Post Sports Live discusses what, if anything, can be fixed to turn the team around for the postseason. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)

Bradley Beal isn’t one to pull up the NBA standings and take a peek at where his Washington Wizards are in comparison to competitors. But he did Tuesday night and was stunned.

“Man, I thought we were a lot worse than what we were,” the Wizards guard said after practice Wednesday.

The standings do not lie. The Wizards have lost 13 of 18 games but remain just two games from the fourth-place Toronto Raptors for home-court advantage and three games behind the third-place Chicago Bulls. And the Wizards (36-28) are coming off two road contests — a close loss to the Milwaukee Bucks without Beal and a 26-point win over the Charlotte Hornets — that have them confident they can return to the form that produced a 31-15 start.

The approaching seven-game stretch over the next 12 days will go a long way to validate that confidence. The run, exclusively against Western Conference foes, begins Thursday against the championship-contending Memphis Grizzlies at Verizon Center.

“This is a chance to see where we stand,” Wizards point guard John Wall said. “And try to get over the hump.”

The Post Sports Live panel discusses whether the Wizards' blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and a postgame locker room disagreement are cause for concern for the team's playoff chances. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)

The Wizards strive for physicality. They tirelessly repeat it is a tenet in their team identity. But in the Grizzlies, they will encounter the most physical team in the NBA. Anchored by the bruising front line of all-star Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, guided by one of the league’s underrated point guards in Mike Conley, and flanked by a group of wing players bolstered by the January acquisition of Jeff Green, the Grizzlies (45-19) are in second place in the brutal West.

Defense is their calling card. Prior to Wednesday loss to the Celtics, the Grizzlies led the NBA in opponents points allowed (95.5) and were eighth in defensive efficiency (100.2 points per 100 possessions), just behind the Wizards (100.1).

Like Washington, Memphis is one of the few teams remaining in the NBA wedded to a traditional starting front court, though the Grizzlies occasionally move Green and 6-foot-10 Jon Leuer outside to spread he floor, which has given the Wizards problems. Both teams don’t shoot many three-pointers — the Grizzlies ranked 29th in three-point attempts, the Wizards 27th.

But the teams differ in tempo. The Grizzlies grind out possessions. Washington pursues a faster clip. The Grizzlies ranked 26th in the league in pace (94.19 possessions per 48 minutes) prior to Wednesday while the Wizards were 17th (95.88) and are at their best with the speedy Wall orchestrating fast breaks.

“We’ve got to make this a game to our pace,” Coach Randy Wittman said. “They don’t want it to be up and down the floor. We see them walk the ball up and use 23 of the 24 seconds on the shot clock. We can’t fall into that, them walking it up. We’re going to lose that game. So we got to play our game, which is again, getting stops and creating our pace and staying to our pace.”

Thursday opens a three-game homestand for the Wizards. They host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday and the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday before venturing out west for a four-game swing. The home contests will provide challenges but all three opponents will be on the second game of back-to-backs, an inherent advantage for Washington, who will have day off between each game.

The 12-day stretch presents the Wizards an opportunity to solidify their place in the Eastern Conference and continue the momentum they’ve generated against quality competition — and to emerge from their long rut for good.

“We got ahead of ourselves a little bit. We thought we were a great team and we weren’t,” Beal said. “We were playing really well but that doesn’t mean anything because it’s 82 games, it’s not just 30 games. . . . We definitely got humbled over the last couple weeks, the last month. So now we’re back on track to getting back to playing our style of basketball.”

Note: The Wizards were nearing an agreement on a 10-day contract with guard Toure Murry to fill their vacant roster spot and provide depth in Garrett Temple’s absence, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. A deal is expected to be completed in time for Murry to be available for Thursday’s game.