7:00 PM EST, TNT – Line: 76ers -8.5, Over/Under: 229.5
Passage to the Eastern Conference Semifinals is on the line for the (One Seed) Philadelphia 76ers as they look to complete the series sweep over the (Eight Seed) Washington Wizards, who look to stave off elimination in Game Four from Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. This time last season, the 76ers (49-23, 1st in Eastern Conference) found themselves on the opposite side of this equation, falling to the Boston Celtics in a four-game sweep in the First Round of the Playoffs, a major disappointment for a franchise that finished well below lofty expectations, which in turn served as it’s turning point. The organization fired (Head Coach) Brett Brown, and replaced him none other than Doc Rivers, while also adding (2017-2018 Executive of the Year) Daryl Morey to the Front Office in an attempt to rebuild a roster that became full of talented players that simply didn’t fit together in a manner conducive to achieving postseason success. And it was with that said that the Sixers parted ways with (All-Star Forward) Al Horford and (young Guard) Josh Richardson, along with a host of Draft Picks in separate deals with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the services of (sharpshooting sniper) Seth Curry (12.5 PTS, 46.7% FG, 45.0% 3FG, 2.4 REB, 2.7 AST, 0.8 STL, 12.9 PER) and (two-time NBA Champion) Danny Green (9.5 PTS, 41.2% FG, 40.5% 3FG, 3.8 REB, 1.7 AST, 1.3 STL, 0.8 BLK, 12.1 PER), before adding the latter’s teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers last season, (veteran Center) Dwight Howard (7.0 PTS, 58.7% FG, 8.4 REB, 0.9 AST, 0.4 STL, 0.9 BLK, 17.8 PER). Curry and Green’s shooting helped open valuable spacing for the rest of the offense, which Rivers has been able to take full advantage of, particularly with the triumvirate of stars that the team was already built around. First and foremost, (All-NBA Center) Joel Embiid (28.5 PTS, 51.3% FG, 37.7% 3FG, 10.6 REB, 2.8 AST, 1.0 STL, 1.4 BLK, 30.3 PER) worked himself into the best shape of his young career en route to posting a host of personal bests including points (28.5), field goal percentage (51.3%), two-point percentage (54.1%), three-point percentage (37.7%), free-throw percentage (85.9%), and PER (30.3). If not for a brief period where he had missed twelve of fourteen games due to a hyperextended knee, the 27-year old would be the undisputed frontrunner for Most Valuable Player honors. Another member of the rotation who has improved greatly under Rivers’ tutelage has been (versatile Swingman) Tobias Harris (19.5 PTS, 51.2% FG, 39.4% 3FG, 6.8 REB, 3.5 AST, 0.9 STL, 0.8 BLK, 20.0 PER), who has fulfilled a plethora of roles within Rivers’ schemes; the 28-year old has developed into a solid 3 & D option for Philly, while also able to slot into the Four alongside Embiid or Howard when smaller lineups have been employed, all the while posting career-highs in categories such as field goal percentage (51.2%), two-point percentage (54.6%), free-throw percentage (89.2%), assists (3.5), blocks (0.8) and PER (20.0) to boot. And then there is (former No. One Overall Pick) Ben Simmons (14.3 PTS, 55.7% FG, 30.0% 3FG, 7.2 REB, 6.9 AST, 1.6 STL, 0.6 BLK, 18.3 PER), who has played a very different role in this production than expected. Long criticized for his lack of perimeter shooting, the 24-year old has seen other parts of his game flourish; despite averaging career-lows in scoring (14.3) and assists (6.9), Simmons has developed into arguably the premier perimeter defender in the National Basketball Association, with his lithe 6-11 frame and quickness allowing him to defend virtually every position on the hardwood. Given the presence of these three, it’s no surprise that the 76ers have emerged as one of the most formidable defensive units in the league this season, and the numbers certainly back up that opinion; Philadelphia ranks in the top-five in a slew of categories, including, both defensive field goal percentage (45.3%) and two point percentage (51.0%), assists allowed (23.5), steals (9.1) and blocks (6.2), along with turnovers (15.6). This defensive prowess has been on full display in the Playoffs thus far, even against a side like the Wizards, who had been one of the most prolific offensive sides in the NBA over the last two months of the campaign. Apart from relinquishing 118 points on 55.7% shooting in Game One (125-118), they’ve relegated Washington to just 99.0 points on 39.9% shooting from the field, including a scant 17.5% from beyond the arc, along with 20.0 assists while outrebounding them by a sizable margin of Plus-7.5 boards. Furthermore, the triumvirate of Embiid, Harris, and Simmons have been at the absolute top of their respective games, with Embiid and Harris combining for 54.6 points, 16.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.0 steals, while Simmons has averaged a near-Triple-Double with 14.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 10.7 assists. With a win tonight, Philly will advance to the Second Round of the Playoffs for just the fourth time in the last eighteen years, and as the East’s No. One Seed for the first time since 2001 they will be looking to reach the Conference Finals for just the second time since the turn of the century.
Meanwhile, tonight’s contest may not just signal the end of the campaign for the Wizards (34-38, 8th in Eastern Conference), who find themselves down 0-3 to the Sixers in this First Round matchup, but it may be the end of this particular era of basketball for a franchise that very well may be looking to turn the page, both figuratively and literally. Missing the postseason in each of the previous two years and oftentimes going to battle shorthanded thanks to a long-term injury to (former All-Star Guard) John Wall, Washington surprisingly managed to get Wall’s sizable contract off their books in a blockbuster deal with the Houston Rockets, acquiring the services of (2016-2017 MVP) Russell Westbrook (22.2 PTS, 43.9% FG, 31.5% 3FG, 11.5 REB, 1.7 AST, 1.4 STL, 19.5 PER). The organization hoped that by adding the prolific Westbrook to the mix they would in turn convince their other young star, (All-Star Shooting Guard) Bradley Beal (31.3 PTS, 48.5% FG, 34.9% 3FG, 4.7 REB, 4.4 AST, 1.2 STL, 22.7 PER) to remain in the nation’s capital. At 27-years old, Beal had developed into an offensive juggernaut in Wall’s absence, nearly snagging a scoring title this season with a career-high 31.5 points per game. However, as good as this dynamic duo looked on paper, it DID NOT translate into immediate success, for after an unfortunately dreadful start marred by injuries and COVID-19, the Wizards have been in desperation mode for months now, approaching the second half of the campaign as if there was no tomorrow. (Head Coach) Scott Brooks’ charges got off to a miserable 6-17 start in 2020-2021, with the team unable to practice/play for the better part of two weeks in Mid-January, with Westbrook missing seven games to injury and (promising young center) Thomas Bryant (14.3 PTS, 64.8% FG, 42.9% 3FG, 6.1 REB, 1.5 AST, 0.8 BLK, 18.7 PER) losing the season to a torn ACL in his left knee after just ten games. However, though things certainly started slowly, something absolutely clicked in the second half of schedule, for the nine-time All-NBA selection served as the posterchild for the team’s late success, averaging 23.0 points on 45.4% shooting, with 13.5 rebounds and 14.0 assists over the last twenty-three games, a period in which the Wizards rallied to a 17-6 mark with the veteran floor general logging half of his thirty-six Triple-Doubles, a year in which he also passed (Hall of Famer) Oscar Robertson on the all-time list (184). As a result, the team forced itself into the Play-In Tournament, and after taking it on the chin against the Celtics, they hammered the Indiana Pacers for the fourth time this year, booking passage to the Playoffs for the first time since 2018. Unfortunately, it appears that they’ve expended just about all of their energy over the past two months simply getting to the postseason, for they’ve looked absolutely GASSED in this series against the 76ers, particularly over the course of the past two games. In hindsight, this was and continues to be a TERRIBLE matchup for the Wizards for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, they’re facing one of the toughest defensive sides in the Association, and as Brooks has lamented throughout the campaign, despite being prolific they simply aren’t an efficient offensive team from the perimeter; Washington ranked third in scoring (116.6) and tenth in field goal percentage (47.5%), but by and large the bulk of their production came within the three-point arc where they led the league in two-point field goals (33.0) opposed to ranking twenty-eighth in three-point field goals (10.2). As we touched upon earlier, Philadelphia has been quite adept at keeping opponents out of the painted area, and Washington has found no more success than the rest of the NBA. The other issue has been that Wizards have been an abysmal defensive group all year, yielding a league-worst 118.5 points on 47.1% shooting (20th Overall). In this series they’ve proven completely unable of handling the aforementioned tandem Embiid and Harris, while overall yielding 125.7 points on 54.5% shooting, including 41.9% from downtown, along with 28.3 assists and getting bested on the glass by a margin of Minus-4.6. Furthermore, the Sixers haven’t bailed them out by putting them on the charity stripe; no team drew more personal fouls (22.0) and attempted more free-throws (26.2) than the Wizards this year, but in this series the disparity in free-throws has been minimal, with Philly attempting a scant 0.7 more singles. Though Beal has carried the offense with 30.3 points and 6.7 assists through three games, he’s struggled to throw the basketball into the ocean from three, knocking down a dismal 3-of-20 from beyond the arc (15.0%). It’s been a similar story for Westbrook, who has managed just 17.3 points on 40.0% shooting, along with 7.7 rebounds and 11.7 assists, clearly effected by an ankle sprain suffered towards the end of Game Two (120-95). At this point the likelihood of putting together a spirited rally is far less than the probability of major changes coming in the offseason. At 32-years old and with two more years at $91.26 million left on his deal, Westbrook’s future in the nation’s capital is murky at best, particularly when you consider the status of Brooks, who coached him for seven years in Oklahoma City, also being questionable; after five years in charge, the club may be looking to move on Brooks, who carries a .469 win percentage with the franchise. And then there is Beal, who despite stating his desire to remain with the club that drafted him No. Three Overall nearly a decade ago, figures to be one of the most desirable players in the NBA this summer, and if they wish to amass the requisite assets to accelerate a rebuild, then he is their golden ticket. Change is coming to the District, folks, it’s just a matter of how long it will take to arrive…