What a way to clinch a playoff spot! Yes, the Washington Wizards may have stumbled against the Boston Celtics, but they dismantled the Indiana Pacers, 142-115, to officially secure the eighth seed! Washington had success against Indiana all year as they swept the season series, 4-0. The victory was the perfect way to enter the playoffs after being hit with so much adversity throughout the regular season. After the game, Bradley Beal said, “It’s probably the most beautiful thing I have seen us do all year.”
Beal’s statement is a testament to how grueling of a season it’s been. Whether it be devastating injuries or a COVID outbreak, you can pretty much name it, and the Wizards have endured it. After starting the year off 17-32, Washington only had a 0.6 percent chance of making the playoffs a little over a month ago. But they stuck together through everything and ended the year going 17-6 to capture the eighth seed. Their incredible performance against the Pacers will be a huge boost to their confidence heading into the postseason.
The eighth seed is secured and now it’s time for the Washington Wizards to face off against the top team in the East.
Even though the Wizards clinched a playoff spot, there’s little time to rejoice. The road ahead is extremely tough. The Washington Wizards are now set to face off against the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers are the East’s top seed after finishing the regular season with a 49-23 record. Coach Doc Rivers has Philly playing amazing basketball in his first season there, and it’ll be a daunting task trying to upset them in round one. However, Washington has the talent to get the job done.
With the series set to kick off on Sunday, let’s take a look at three matchups that you should look out for when the Washington Wizards square off against the Philadelphia 76ers!
#3 Washington Wizards matchup to watch: Rui Hachimura vs. Tobias Harris
This may be the most underrated matchup of the series. Rui Hachimura is only in his second season but he could really make a name for himself in this faceoff against Tobias Harris. It won’t be easy, though. Harris is coming off one of his best seasons, averaging 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and a career-high 3.5 assists. He’s a borderline All-Star caliber player, so Hachimura will have to bring his A-game every night for this challenge.
I know he’ll be more than ready! All season long, Hachimura has shown that he can be an All-NBA defender later down the line in his career. He just needs to continue to improve his consistency by playing hard on that end of the floor every single possession. He’ll definitely have his work cut out for him in this matchup. Under Doc Rivers, Harris is back in his most comfortable position at the power forward spot. He’s a great three-level scorer and this season he’s shooting a career-best from the field (51.2 percent). Harris can go off for a big game at any moment, so Hachimura has to stay stuck to him like glue and not give him any easy looks that will get him going.
In 62 regular-season games, Tobias scored 25 points or more 12 times. He’s a matchup nightmare for a lot of teams on the offensive end, however, the Wizards were able to contain him pretty well in their three regular-season meetings. Against Washington, Harris averaged 14.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 31.7 minutes of play. Holding him to five points fewer than his season average is quite the accomplishment, but of course, the playoffs are a different story. Hopefully, the Wizards can replicate their success from the regular season and keep Harris in check. That would drastically improve their chances at a first-round upset.
#2 Washington Wizards matchup to watch: Bradley Beal vs. Ben Simmons
Bradley Beal was so close to his first-ever scoring title, but unfortunately, Stephen Curry was just on fire this year. Even though Beal didn’t get the scoring crown, he still averaged a career-high 31.3 points in 36 minutes per game. The NBA’s second-leading scorer is entering this series a little banged up as he continues to play through a slight hamstring strain. But regardless, he’s still a threat to go for 30 or more on any given night if he finds his rhythm. For that reason, I envision the 76ers putting Ben Simmons on him early and often to try and slow him down.
Simmons was just named a Defensive Player of the Year finalist along with Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green. His ability to guard all five positions makes him the ultimate weapon on the defensive end. He’ll most likely draw the assignment of guarding both Beal and Westbrook at different points during the series, but Philly knows that stopping Beal is the bigger priority. We’ll probably see Danny Green matched up against Beal as well but he’s not the defender he once was.
It would be smart for the Sixers to only put Danny Green on Beal in short spurts and make Simmons the primary defender because Beal torched them in the regular season. In their three regular-season meetings, Beal averaged 36.7 points on 55.7 percent from the field and 55.0 percent from beyond the arc. The Wizards weren’t able to pull out any wins against the Sixers (0-3) but Beal was pretty much unstoppable! Ben Simmons has the chance to prove he’s truly deserving of the Defensive Player of the Year award by going toe-to-toe with the NBA’s second-leading scorer in round one. If he locks him up, then kudos to him. But we all know that’s easier said than done because Beal is a scoring machine!
#1 Washington Wizards matchup to watch: Trio of Bigs vs. Joel Embiid
This will be the biggest test of the series by far! Joel Embiid is an MVP finalist for a reason and there’s no doubt in my mind that he was the frontrunner before suffering a bone bruise in his left knee against the Washington Wizards on March 12. The injury ultimately forced him to miss 19 games.
Embiid most likely won’t win MVP this season but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been absolutely dominant all year long! Against Washington alone, Embiid has averaged 30.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.0 blocks with outstanding efficiency. In their three regular-season meetings, he shot a remarkable 60.4 percent from the field, 83.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 96.4 percent from the charity stripe.
No one man can stop Joel Embiid. You just have to hope you can contain him. Thankfully, the Wizards have a trio of centers to throw at him in Alex Len, Daniel Gafford, and Robin Lopez. Washington’s ample supply of big men to match up against Embiid is truly a blessing because someone is bound to get in foul trouble while guarding him. Embiid led the entire NBA in free-throws attempted per game (10.7). He’s a master at drawing contact and getting to the foul line where he shoots 85.9 percent. Therefore, it’s paramount that Len, Gafford, and Lopez try their best to refrain from sending Embiid to the line because he’s almost automatic.
We know head coach Scott Brooks will use all three of his centers but the real question is, will he continue his approach of giving the most minutes to whoever has it going that game? Alex Len has started the last 36 games, but Brooks has been rotating all three centers pretty evenly in terms of minutes. Len, Gafford, and Lopez each play around 16-19 minutes per game unless one of them is absolutely flourishing on the floor. Then Brooks tends to slightly extend the minutes of whoever’s hot.
This strategy worked fine in the regular season, but Scott Brooks needs to strongly consider giving Daniel Gafford the majority of the minutes at the center. Gafford has been tremendous since the Washington Wizards acquired him from the Chicago Bulls at this year’s trade deadline. His energy, athleticism, and ability to protect the paint are clearly the best out of the group, and that’s not even up for debate. In Thursday’s win over the Pacers, Gafford had 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks in only 22 minutes! After the game, Coach Scott Brooks called Gafford “special” and was highly complimentary of his play.
Scott Brooks on Daniel Gafford: "That’s a big, big, big, big, big-time pickup."
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) May 21, 2021
It’s refreshing to hear Brooks finally realize what he has in Gafford. Now let’s hope that he finally unleashes Gafford because this is when it matters the most!