This was definitely a Thrust the Process game for the 76ers.
You knew it was going to be a great night for the Sixers when Joel Embiid began thrusting his hips in the air from his back on the baseline late in the second quarter. The MVP finalist had just made a running finger roll while being fouled by Washington forward Davis Bertans. After celebrating on the floor, Embiid made a foul shot to complete the three-point play to give the Sixers a 12-point lead. And the rout was on.
Now, they have a commanding 2-0 lead, in the best-of-seven opening-round playoff series. The Sixers exited the Wells Fargo Center with a 120-95 victory at the Wells Fargo Center. Game 3 will be played at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
The Sixers will be tough to beat on Saturday if the their top three players, Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Ben Simmons, duplicate what they did Wednesday night.
Simmons silenced his “he can’t score” critics by finishing with 22 points on 11-for-15 shooting. The All-Star point guard also added nine rebounds and eight assists. Twelve of Simmons’ points came in the first quarter on 6-for-8 shooting.
Even though he had 15 assists and 15 rebounds, he was criticized in Game 1 for scoring just six points on 3-for-9 shooting and missing all six of his foul shots.
But Embiid and Harris continued where they left off on Wednesday.
Embiid had 22 points and seven rebounds after the four-time All-Star center scored 30 points in Game 1. Meanwhile, Harris finished with 19 points and nine rebounds after scoring a playoff career-high 37 points on Sunday.
Harris did have a scary moment in the second quarter, though.
He went to the locker room after Washington’s Robin Lopez stepped on his left foot with 7 minutes left in the half. It appeared he might have rolled his ankle. However, Harris returned with 4:30 before intermission and didn’t miss a beat.
Seth Curry suffered ankle soreness in the third quarter and didn’t return.
Bradley Beal finished with a game-high 33 points, while his Wizard backcourt mate, Russell Westbrook, finished with 10 points and 11 assists. He left the game with an injury early in the fourth quarter. A fan in Section 104 was ejected from the arena for throwing an object at Westbrook as he left the court. The object appeared to hit the All-Star point guard.
The NBA playoffs are all about adjustments.
The biggest questions heading into Game 2 were what types of adjustments were the Wizards going to make against Harris and Embiid.
On Sunday, Harris scored his points on a lot of straight-line drives. He also created mismatches on switches. Meanwhile, the Wizards took bad angles while double-teaming Embiid. They were also late on the double-team, leaving the second defender in no man’s land.
And the Wizards wanted to be more physical with the Sixers. They felt they had too many ticky-tack fouls. They wanted the Sixers to feel them.
But in regards to the double-teams, Wizards coach Scott Brooks said before Wednesday’s game that his squad didn’t bring the intensity it needed on Sunday.
“We didn’t have a lot of pressure before the catch,” he said. “We didn’t have the plants, the chest-to-chest and the forehand on his head. And we allowed the pass to get out too easy.
“But he’s seen it all. We are not the first team to double from the baseline, double from the top.”
Brooks also noted that his team’s 15 foul shots on Sunday were 11 under its average. He pointed out that the Sixers’ 33 foul shots were about their average (25.5).
An attacking team, the coach said his Wizards needed to get to the free-throw line.
Well, at least they tried.
The Wizards still had no answers for Harris.
The Sixers power forward had a solid start for the second straight game. He scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in the first quarter. His baskets came on a running layups, an 7-foot turnaround jumper, an 8-foot turnaround fadeway, and an alley-oop.
Embiid made just 1 of 4 shots in the opening quarter. However, it didn’t matter as Simmons was close to upstoppable in the first quarter.
He scored his 12 first-quarter points on 6-for-8 shooting. Simmons had four dunks to go with a putback layup and a 5-foot fadeway. He also blocked a shot and had five rebounds.
The Sixers took a 35-24 lead into the second quarter. That’s when Embiid came to life, scoring 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting. Harris, despite the left ankle scare, remained hot. The 10th-year veteran made all four of his second-quarter shots to score eight points.
As a team, the Sixers shot 68.2% in the quarter en route to taking a 71-57 halftime lead.
