Washington ? The Washington Wizards won’t lift Kwame Brown’s suspension for the rest of the playoffs, leaving the frontcourt perilously thin following an injury to Etan Thomas.

Coach Eddie Jordan said Wednesday there was no chance for a reinstatement for Brown, who was suspended a week ago for what the team described as “philosophical differences.”

“Everything remains the same,” Jordan said. “We’re moving forward with the people that we have.”

Jordan said he didn’t expect Thomas to play in today’s Game 3 against the Miami Heat. Thomas left the second quarter of Tuesday night’s 108-102 Game 2 loss because of an abdominal strain, the same injury that cost him 32 games at the start of the season.

“It’s pretty sore. It hurts a lot. It’s definitely on the same level” as the earlier injury,” Thomas said. “But it’s the playoffs.”

With Thomas hurt and Brown suspended, the Wizards are left with just two big men — Brendan Haywood and Michael Ruffin — to battle Shaquille O’Neal. Whether Brown could help is debatable. He has been an inconsistent player who has been booed regularly at home, and the MCI Center crowd probably would give him a less-than-warm welcome. At the very least, he could give his team an extra six fouls to muscle O’Neal around, but Jordan said his team could win with the players it had.

“We play different defenses,” Jordan said, “so it’s not like we need anything extra outside of what we have to defend Shaq or anything like that.”