The Sixers could be a win away from Round 2 of the playoffs by the end of Saturday night.
Russell Westbrook (right ankle sprain) and Seth Curry (left ankle soreness) were both game-time decisions but will play in Game 3. Davis Bertans will take Raul Neto's place in the Wizards' starting lineup.
Here are the essentials:
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- When: 7 p.m. ET with Sixers Pregame Live at 6 p.m.
- Where: Capital One Arena
- Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the MyTeams app
And here are three storylines to watch:
Back where it could’ve ended for Embiid
The last time Joel Embiid played in Washington, D.C., he believed he’d suffered a season-ending injury. Instead, the left knee bone bruise he sustained on March 12 sidelined him for 10 games, the Sixers went 7-3 during that stretch and the team still managed to earn the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed.
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Embiid was efficient and patient facing the Wizards’ aggressive double teams in Game 2. Counting the regular season, he’s made 60.5 percent of his field goals and 95.5 percent of his free throws this year against the Wizards.
“The game this year has completely slowed down for me,” he said Wednesday. “I’m just taking my time. I’m just letting it come to me. Like tonight, they’re sending three guys at me and I’m making the right play. In those situations, I’ve just got to make the right plays and not force anything. That’s the sign that it has slowed down for me. In the past, I’d just be trying to force.
“My skill level was still good in the past, but this year there’s a lot of stuff that I can use to counter. If they want to double me, I can just go to the nail. Or I can play out of ‘Delay’ and attack that way. There’s ways that I can fight against double or triple teams.”
‘He’s one tough guy to deal with’
Bradley Beal scored 33 points in Game 1, 33 points in Game 2.
Is there anything the Sixers can do differently on the NBA’s No. 2 scorer?
“Listen, we’re guarding the heck out of him and he’s still scoring,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said Friday. “Bradley Beal is tough, bottom line. We would prefer him not scoring and us stopping everyone else. That obviously hasn’t worked out well. Bradley has had two good offensive games. I know we’re making him work. I see it on film. And I know we’re making him take a lot of twos, which has been good, as well.
“But he’s been making them. It just tells you that you can game plan all you want sometimes against some of those great guys. They still may score. But as long as they’re scoring and it’s hard and you’re defending everyone else, you have a pretty good shot at it. He’s good, man. I tell you, he’s one tough guy to deal with.”
On paper, putting Ben Simmons on Beal, hedging and icing ball screens and asking Embiid to protect the rim when Beal gets there isn’t a bad approach.
Beal was 3 for 13 after halftime in Game 2. He likely needs to be at or near his best for the Wizards to win Saturday.
Will Washington find shooting stroke?
If the Wizards do not shoot better from three-point range than they did Wednesday night, it would be stunning.
Washington was 2 for 22 from long distance, the team’s worst performance for any game in terms of percentage since Feb. 20, 2015. Though the Sixers guarded the three-point line well, the Wizards made only 2 of 10 wide-open long-range attempts.
The Wizards had a 14-for-28 night from three in their last game at Capital One Arena, a play-in tournament blowout win over the Pacers. They’ll almost surely be better than in Game 2. It’s just a question of by how much.
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