76ers Snap Judgments on 2021 Playoff Destiny After Game 2 vs. Wizards
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Matt Slocum/Associated Press
The Philadelphia 76ers needed to sweat their intention via a Game 1 contain over the eighth-seeded Washington Wizards, per chance more than any individual anticipated.
They weren’t obsessed on doing that again Wednesday evening.
As a change, Philly jumped out to an 11-point lead after the first quarter and took a 14-point advantage into intermission. When the final buzzer sounded, the Sixers had secured a 120-95 contain that did no longer require any of their gamers to log 30 minutes, with handiest All-Stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid clearing the 25-minute heed.
This changed into the set aside of two-intention superpower Philly had shown all season. This model of the Sixers appear able to punctuating The Course of with The Parade.
Since playoff existence can trade in a bustle, let’s fire off some snap judgments on the heels of this wholly spectacular contain.
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Matt Slocum/Associated Press
For all of the specialise in what Simmons is never always truly (particularly: a taking pictures menace of any sort), there just isn’t any longer truly arrangement ample attention given to what he’s, which is, frankly, an impossibility.
He is a 6’11” point guard. No longer some degree-ahead or point-heart but pretty a corpulent-fledged floor overall who honest happens to be built tackle he changed into intended to man the post. By two playoff games, he has accrued 23 assists towards honest four turnovers.
Defensively, he’s an even higher bid for opponents. He has a heart’s size and a guard’s mobility, which is such an unfair (and absurd) advantage it’ll manifest in Defensive Participant of the Year honors (if no longer this season, then within the arrangement future).
“He is a mammoth man, and he plays guard,” Wizards scoring chief Bradley Beal told newshounds. “It be no longer tackle he’s an impact ahead or a heart guarding me. He is terribly cellular, agile and he’s sturdy. I judge that propels him. And he wants to play defense—he’s a willing defender. You build no longer always look for that, and he makes exhaust of it to his advantage.”
Simmons has posted a plus-18 plus/minus in every of the two games this postseason. Meaning Philly has outscored Washington by 36 aspects over his 67 minutes.
It be time we originate calling Simmons what he’s: a freakin’ cheat code.
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Matt Slocum/Associated Press
We didn’t need this sequence to know Embiid is a nightmare matchup for any individual. Although we were calm on the fence, we weren’t going to design any most principal conclusions as he laid fracture to Washington’s 20th-ranked defense.
Even calm, it be OK to kick back and marvel at what the mammoth fella can discontinuance.
In Game 1, he handiest wished 30 minutes and 16 discipline-honest makes an try to tally 30 aspects. In Game 2, he had 22 aspects in 26 minutes on 8-of-12 taking pictures. For the non-math majors within the viewers, that is 52 aspects in 56 minutes, and he’s hitting those marks with amazing ease. He is 17-of-28 from the discipline (60.7 p.c), 3-of-7 outside (42.9) and 15-of-16 at the road (93.8 p.c).
He is the proverbial unstoppable pressure, and the Wizards can discontinuance exactly nothing to trade that. The ask is whether or no longer any individual else can within the later rounds.
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Matt Slocum/Associated Press
The Sixers haven’t evolved to the NBA Finals since 2001, back when they were following the leads of Allen Iverson after which-head coach Larry Brown.
To no longer effect the cart earlier than the horse right here, but that drought’s days are numbered.
All season lengthy, Philadelphia has hinted at a most principal elevation. A convention-most effective .681 worthwhile share truly useful that if the East weren’t theirs to lose, it changed into no longer decrease than one the Sixers would contain a most principal suppose in deciding.
The manner the playoff discipline fashioned up in actuality paved a yellow brick avenue via the first two rounds. The Wizards are an trusty fable—their leisurely-season turnaround changed into great—but they build no longer seem like a reputable menace to a team as talented as Philadelphia. The Fresh York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks may per chance presumably contain intention more compelling narratives, but they build no longer seem like principal roadblocks, either.
The Sixers shall be examined one day, but that mustn’t be between now and the Conference Finals.