Washington Wizards: Bulletin board material for the rematch vs. the 76ers
Who wins and why:
Ron: The 76ers are who we think they are: talented but beatable. Having blown the first game, letting the 76ers off the hook, left the Wizards are feeling like Dennis Green.
But now, the Wizards are trending in the right direction. Hachimura’s back, Westbrook is coming around, Beal is scoring and dishing like the playmaking star he is, and Thomas Bryant is displaying his potential. Although there are concerns over Davis Bertans’ long-range snipes missing the mark, the Latvian Laser seems to have rejiggered his precision, making seven threes over the past two games. I expect the Wizards to eke out a close one against the 76ers.
Malcolm: For this matchup with the Basketball Team, I expect, as I do every game, a 76ers win. Early on, the 76ers are doing all the important things that eluded them over the past three seasons. Things like stupid turnovers, poor court awareness, lack of purpose, blowing leads, and playing down to the level of our competitors seem to be distant memories of a Brett Brown led past. It becomes more of a fleeting memory every day.
For the 76ers to lose this game, the Wizards would need to shoot the lights out, shut down all our shooters, and kidnap Embiid before the game, assuming we don’t do it ourselves, of course. The Wizards will have Rui this time around, and I’m a fan of his – he killed Philly a couple of times last year. But that was not the Doc-coached sixers. Of course, Bradley Beal could always get hot. But I just don’t see it happening or being enough to win.
Next. Wizards are setting records, but not the right ones. dark
There is the elephant in the room, though: LOAD MANAGEMENT. Do I believe there’s a world where Embiid sits this first of a back-to-back? The 76ers are scheduled to play the Nets tomorrow night. Well…yeah. The 76ers brass has already done so earlier this year against the Cavaliers, which just happens to be our lone loss of the year.
As for my prediction, expecting a win here as a DC fan seems asinine to me, but I’d never truly try to quell a fellow fan’s confidence. Respectfully, the Wizards are not stopping this train.