3 observations: Bradley Beal, Wizards stay alive with win over Sixers
The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to complete their first playoff sweep since 1985, but a closeout game is always the toughest. The Washington Wizards are also led by a former MVP in Russell Westbrook and an elite scorer in Bradley Beal. They were not just going to lie down.
On top of that, the Sixers lost Joel Embiid to an injury and they also were dealing with foul trouble to Ben Simmons. All of that called for a tough 122-114 loss as the Wizards forced a Game 5 back in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Tobias Harris led the Sixers with 21 points and 13 rebounds with five assists, Tyrese Maxey had 15 off the bench, George Hill had 14, Danny Green had 11, Simmons had 13 and 11 rebounds, Seth curry had 10, and Furkan Korkmaz had seven.
Here are the observations following a tough loss:
Wizards on defense
Normally, the Wizards are not a good defensive team. They rely so much on opposing team’s missing looks or making their own mistakes and then getting out and running. In this one, with their season on the line, they played a desperate brand of basketball and the Sixers, without Embiid, could not attack the way they wanted to. Every time Harris got in the paint, Washington was active with their hands and they stripped him a couple of times while also heavily contesting his looks at the rim. This was to be expected considering the importance of the game. This then allowed Washington to get out and run and it allowed Westbrook to get into a groove with both his passing and then his scoring. Beal was able to work his way into the paint for a few looks while also knocking down the 3-pointer, and the Sixers could not match Washington’s urgency in the second half.
Embiid working out on the perimeter
This has been an area where Embiid has worked mostly all series. Of course, he has been doing a lot of work in the post, but the fact that he can catch the ball at the top of the key and be able to work from that angle as well is going to be huge the rest of the way. He has enough finesse to be able to go around any big designated to defend him and he has a quick enough first step where he can get by anybody out on the floor. When he went out with the injury, the Sixers really struggled to create consistent offense. Simmons was walled off and he was not able to drop off to a dominant big like Embiid and Dwight Howard was out-quicked by young Daniel Gafford. Give the Wizards credit as they made the right adjustments in this one to keep their season alive.
Bench providing a spark
The bench unit is always scrutinized due to their inconsistent play, but that unit was huge in this one. The lift that Thybulle, Hill, and Maxey gave on the offensive end was a big spark for them as the starters did not quite have the same energy or the same groove as they did in Game 3. Those three guys combined to knock down five triples in the first half and they really kept the Sixers afloat when Embiid was in the locker room and Simmons and Curry were in foul trouble. In the second half, Maxey was absolutely terrific. For being a rookie on the road in such a hostile environment, he did not blink at anything and he carried the Sixers when they could not create much of anything without Embiid and with Simmons in foul trouble. He deserves a ton of credit for keeping Philadelphia in the game and making sure they had a chance late.
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