Before their first encounter with the Cleveland Cavaliers this season, Washington Wizards backcourt duo John Wall and Bradley Beal boldly claimed that they are the best team in the Eastern Conference. 

They also stated that the Cavs deliberately tanked the number one seed in the east last year to avoid playing them in the second round of the playoffs. 

With their brash comments before the game, you would've expected the Wizards to come out with a sense of purpose and look to back up their words, but they didn't.

Instead, it was LeBron James who let his basketball do the talking as he torched them for 57 points on that occasion in their own gym.

Their second encounter with the Cavaliers came on Sunday night as they once again welcome LeBron and co. to the Capital One Arena.  

Once again, however, it was the same outcome as the men from Ohio came out on top and the comments by Wall and Beal that they were "ducking" them now look foolish.

The talent level in Washington is evident and they are certainly a confident group but they very often talk the talk but rarely walk the walk.

Inconsistent

The Wizards were many people's tip to be the best challengers to Cleveland in the east this season but they have displayed a lack of consistency that sees them way off the pace. 

After 30 games, they occupy the eighth spot in the conference with a 16-14 record behind the likes of the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.

From their confident and positive outlook earlier in the campaign, the Wizards have now changed their tune and understand that they're not ready to be great yet and have a long way to go. 

“We always show these lapses, when we play great defense and we can be a good team,” Wall said, per NBA.com. “And then we play against certain teams or just don’t show up certain days.

"If we want to be a team that gets past the second round, or even be a team that competes for a championship one day, we have to be able to do it consistently -- every day in practice and in the games, and don’t get bored with it.”

They're certainly not having an awful year - they were fourth before the loss to the Cavs dropped them to eighth - but they're not living up to the expectations that they've set for themselves. 

Frustration

Of course, there are some mitigating factors involved such as Wall's health problems and the time he's missed.

But even with the All-Star on the court, the team hasn't always shined and often flatter to deceive in the big moments. 

They are being left behind by the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and the Cavs - their three main rivals in the east. 

While those teams have shown growth this year, the Wizards have remained stagnant and are still displaying the bad habits that have stopped them from breaking into the elite bracket.

“It’s something we’ve been dealing with for a while now, a couple of years,” Beal said. “It’s still a learning experience but we should definitely be past it now. It’s something we should have down to the T by now. But we’re still growing as a team. We have a lot of work to do.”

There is a growing sense of frustration among the roster and it becomes apparent each time they lose and the players are not afraid to share it publicly.

“We had a little bit of success last year and we come back this year and we think we’re already kind of hot," Kelly Oubre said. "People humble us real quick, ‘cause they give us our best game, and we act like it should just be given to us. We’ve gotta learn, man.”

They've had some bad losses in recent weeks to the Brooklyn Nets and the shorthanded Los Angeles Clippers. Their worst defeat of the campaign came against the Utah Jazz, as they were thumped 116-69.

The men from D.C. are in a struggle at the moment but there's still no need to panic as they have a good enough team to get through it. 

There are 52 games to go and there's no doubt they will make the playoffs but they'll need to show a vast improvement if they are to stand a chance of competing with their rivals in the postseason.