After another valuable performance by Joel Embiid, Philadelphia is one victory away from a first-round sweep.
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The Philadelphia 76ers are one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference semi-finals. They dominated the Washington Wizards on Saturday at the Capital One Arena in a 132-103 NBA play-offs victory to take a 3-0 lead.
Joel Embiid was a force on the offensive end for the 76ers as the Wizards had no answer for the big man. Philadelphia’s All-Star center finished the game with 36 points while taking only 18 shots. For some reason, Washington refused to run double teams on Embiid and that led to the Wizards demise.
Three
after three
after three. pic.twitter.com/fXDcpfvg82
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) May 30, 2021
Washington doubled Joel Embiid aggressively in the first two games of this series. It didn’t work. Embiid averaged 26 points on over 60 percent shooting across Philadelphia’s first two wins. Doubling only made life easier for the rest of the 76ers, so Scott Brooks the Wizards coach tried a different approach in Game 3 which clearly did not work.
Smart business decision to stay out of his way. pic.twitter.com/u9BNTL4jSk
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) May 30, 2021
So, Embiid was left alone in the game, only to watch him score 36 points in two and a half quarters. If the goal was to slow everyone else down, well, that didn’t work either. The 76ers shot 17 of 33 on three-pointers and all four other Philadelphia starters scored at least 14 points. The Wizards tactics clearly did not do any good for them.
The Wizards felt were pretty confident about themselves entering the postseason. They’d risen all the way from the 14th seed into the top eight. Russell Westbrook was posting triple-doubles left and right. Wizards felt they might cause troubles to the opponents entering the postseason.
Russell Westbrook recorded a triple-double while Bradley Beal poured in 25 points but it wasn’t enough to keep the game competitive towards the end.
Bradley Beal is only one year away from free agency. If the Wizards believe this roster can win with him, they might lose him for nothing.
With the win on Saturday, Philadelphia moves one step closer to an NBA play-offs sweep and some extra rest that always comes in handy during the postseason. These two teams will meet again on Monday for Game 4.
