The Washington Wizards and the Philadelphia 76ers play Game 2 of their first-round series this Wednesday, with the former looking to prevent themselves from going down 0-2. Will the Wizards score an upset and tie the series up? Or will the Sixers dominate anew? Check out our preview of this game below.
For at least two quarters in Game 1, the Wizards made people believe that they could upset Philly, as they had a one-point lead at the half. But even if they ended up losing, 125-118, the Wizards were a few breaks away from stealing Game 1. Bradley Beal fired 33 points on 13-of-23 shooting, while Russell Westbrook scored 16 points to go with 14 assists. He wasn’t able to come up with a triple-double, but Westbrook was still all over the floor. The Wizards will only win this series of Beal and Westbrook gets ample help from the role players. Davis Bertans and Daniel Gafford looked like they were those guys, scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively, but the defense has to step up as well. The Wizards have to limit Joel Embiid. That’s easier said than done, but Alex Len and Robin Lopez have no choice but to sacrifice themselves in this series in guarding the Cameroonian.
The Wizards are 7-0-1 against the spread in their last eight games after a loss.
The Sixers have Joel Embiid, which is obviously already a huge problem for the Wizards. But when Tobias Harris is balling as he did in Game 1, the Sixers become just a bigger headache for their opponents. Embiid scored 30 points in the series opener, but it was Harris who had the game-high output of 37 points on 15-of-29 shooting from the field. Ben Simmons scored just six points, but he really didn’t need to score, even taking just nine shots. He had 15 assists and played terrific defense on Westbrook, who turned the ball over six times. Simmons’ size and defensive skills put the Wizards’ guard in a lot of bad situations, and he’d be looking to have success again in that matchup in Game 2. Seth Curry got hurt in Game 2, but looked fine as he managed to get back out on the court and play. He had 15 points with three 3-pointers.
The Sixers are 4-1 against the spread in their last five playoff games as a favorite.
