Baxter’s crunch time is now

The NBA calendar says the playoffs begin April17. For players like Lonny Baxter, though, they’ve already begun.

Baxter won’t be seeing the postseason as a member of the 23-53 Washington Wizards — there’s no such event for teams 30 games below .500 — but the second-year player from Maryland knows that if he is going to have a future in the NBA, this is the time to show his stuff with just six games remaining.

“I look at it like this is really big for me, almost like a playoff run or something,” Baxter said.

Two years ago, Baxter was a major factor in Maryland’s NCAA championship run. Today he is merely an undersized (6-foot-8) power forward who has played on three NBA teams this season alone.

And come July1, he might be looking for work. Perhaps he will have impressed the Wizards enough for them to bring him back. Perhaps not.

That’s why it’s important for him to play the way he did in the Wizards’ 91-73 loss at Minnesota on Friday. With Kwame Brown sidelined by a sprained ankle, Baxter made the most of his 24 minutes, finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. It was Baxter’s most productive outing since the Wizards acquired him off waivers on March3.

Baxter was activated off the injured list last week shortly after the Wizards returned from a West Coast trip, replacing Christian Laettner (back) on the active roster.

“This is a good time for Lonny to show what he’s capable of doing,” coach Eddie Jordan said.

Said Baxter: “My mindset is that I’m just going to go out and work hard, work on my game every day and try to go out there with intensity every time I’m called on. You just can’t look at it like the season is over, because it’s not over until the last game. You have to keep working and fighting every day until the end.”