NBA Playoffs: 3 secret weapons the Washington Wizards will have at their disposal vs. Philadelphia 76ers

The Washington Wizards are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2018. Barely. After coming out victorious over the Indiana Pacers in the final play-in game, the Wizards secured their right to take on the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs by clinching the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

An eighth seed hasn’t taken down a top seed in the playoffs nearly a decade. The Philadelphia 76ers were the last to do it when they toppled the Chicago Bulls after Derrick Rose went down with an ACL injury in the 2012 playoffs. Scott Brooks, however, has some confidence in his team (not surprisingly) because of their backcourt. With Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, he has a right to be confident. Few teams are trotting out two players that can match those two. But the Philadelphia 76ers can with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

The Washington Wizards will have a few secret weapons at their disposal during their first-round series vs. the Philadelphia 76ers.

Stopping Embiid should be priority number one for the Wizards and the defensive matchup of Simmons on Beal and/or Westbrook will help define the series. However, if the Wizards want to make some real noise, they’ll need to get contributions from the other guys, guys who haven’t made All-Star games and aren’t on the path towards All-NBA accolades.

One of the many beauties of the NBA playoffs is watching seemingly random role players step up in big moments. The Wizards will need at least a few performances like that if they want to pull off the first-round upset. Here are three secret weapons that could make all the difference in round one.