WASHINGTON (AP) – Magicians top scorer Bradley Beal will not take part in the restart of the NBA season due to an injury to the right rotator cuff.

The team announced Beal’s status on Tuesday before traveling to Orlando. Beal’s absence makes it even more difficult for Washington to qualify for the playoffs at the Eastern Conference.

“Bradley did everything he could to be ready to play, but after carefully monitoring his individual workouts, we came to the conclusion that it was better for him to stay out of the upcoming games in Orlando and avoid the risk of further injury,” general manager Tommy said Sheppard.

Washington will also be without striker Davis Bertans, who has decided to give up playing as an outstanding free agent, and injured guard John Wall. The team excluded Wall from traveling to Orlando at the start of team training.

Beal has averaged 30.5 points per game this season, almost double that of Bertans, the Wizards’ top scorer number 2. The 27-year-old was preparing to play, even while the decision was pending.

“I was loving my game this year and the way I was playing towards the end of the year,” said Beal last week. “It will be more or less a decision that belongs to me and the medical staff, just because of our precautions and to return from zero to 100. At the end of the year I had some annoying things trying to clean up too.”

That team said it was a shoulder discomfort that Beal experienced earlier in the season, which got worse over time. The decision to keep him out of Walt Disney World was made in full consultation with the head of athletic care and performance Daniel Medina, the orthopedist Dr. Wiemi Douoguih, Beal and his representatives.

“This was a difficult decision and one that I didn’t take lightly as the leader of this team,” said Beal in a statement. “I wanted to help my teammates compete for a spot playoff in Orlando, but also to understand that this will be the best for all of us in the long run.”

The Wizards were 24-40 and in ninth place in the East, 5.5 games in eighth place in Orlando.

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