East 1st Round - Game #4: 76ers @ Bullets 7 PM (TNT/NBCSW/1500 AM)

[Ruzious]

Don't get it twisted, I'm the biggest Embiid fan there is and he is truly dominant but as I always say, you can't win if your stars suck. It's not just that Embiid is dominant. It's that Russ is shoooting 2-19. If we get an efficient 26-34pts then we can win even with Embiid playing well but Russ has shot bad for like 10 straight games now after that hot stretch. That's why I keep saying that he's due for another but instead he gets worse every game... Lol

I didn't twist anything. We won with Westbrook shooting terribly and Beal playing a very sloppy game. If Embiid plays, Philly's better than we are, and we'd generally need super-human efforts to win.

Since April 1st we've been better than anyone in the East until this series. That's 2 months. That's not a short stretch and it's no coincidence that's when Russ looked like Goatbrook. I still think that our fans underrate us but Philly is going to suck if Embiid sucks, LA will suck if LeBron sucks, and so on. Idk why people keep dismissing that aspect. If Russ is efficient with at least 26pts then we will be in the game no matter what Embiid does

Lol, the point I made was how important Embiid is to Philly, and now you're trying to make that your point and say that people are dismissing it. Put it this way, if Philadelphia plays their best basketball - with Embiid - they win. And there is nobody who's not a Wizards fan who would disagree with that.

[Kanyewest]

Don't get it twisted, I'm the biggest Embiid fan there is and he is truly dominant but as I always say, you can't win if your stars suck. It's not just that Embiid is dominant. It's that Russ is shoooting 2-19. If we get an efficient 26-34pts then we can win even with Embiid playing well but Russ has shot bad for like 10 straight games now after that hot stretch. That's why I keep saying that he's due for another but instead he gets worse every game... Lol

I didn't twist anything. We won with Westbrook shooting terribly and Beal playing a very sloppy game. If Embiid plays, Philly's better than we are, and we'd generally need super-human efforts to win.

Since April 1st we've been better than anyone in the East until this series. That's 2 months. That's not a short stretch and it's no coincidence that's when Russ looked like Goatbrook. I still think that our fans underrate us but Philly is going to suck if Embiid sucks, LA will suck if LeBron sucks, and so on. Idk why people keep dismissing that aspect. If Russ is efficient with at least 26pts then we will be in the game no matter what Embiid does

I think the 76ers actually have a better record than the Wizards since April 1, it was around that time that the Wizards lost to Detroit. But perhaps whenever the Wizards started playing better (after the game against Orlando)

[pancakes3]

Embiid is good as hell, guys. He's 1b to Jokic for MVP honors in a year where CP3 basically took Phoenix from worst to first and Steph was a video game, and Lebron/KD/Lillard/Luka are still doing their usual.

Having him out was a massive shift.

[doclinkin]

The frustration I have is that Game 1 was a winnable game. If everything happened the exact same way, we're tied up at 2.

The refs were setting a tone for the series on game one, that rough play will be allowed this series. Clutching, grabbing, hand checks and no-calls on interior fouls. At that point we're always gonna be in trouble, since our strength lies in attacking the basket on drives from the outside. We don't have enough outside shooting to make them pay with a long ranged game. (We also shoot ourselves in the foot by not playing Garrison and not running a balanced attack to get good outside shots off team motion, misdirection, etc.)

Russ is predictable with the ball in the half court. If you can clog things up and slow things down then he is a liability. As athletic as he is there is no room for him to get a runway to the hoop. Our only mismatch is if we can get out and run, but it is harder to run off made baskets and with the guard heavy line-ups we are too small to stop them from pounding it inside. If Gafford can block shots and turn them into jumpshooters, then Russ may snatch rebounds over Simmons. Without Embiid we have something of a chance since our 3 center interior play can out-produce Howard at both ends. With Embiid, and without ranged shooting, we have an uphill battle in both directions.

So our primary weapon should be Lopez knocking Embiid out of the game again, by accident. Or Rivers holding him out. And even then, their bench seems like it has woken up. Brooks is one of the few coaches that Rivers can out-coach in the post season. Usually Rivers motivates well then falls short on the X's and O's if not the line-ups and match ups. Brooks, well, he's scrappy. Scrappy goes only so far.

[Ruzious]

The frustration I have is that Game 1 was a winnable game. If everything happened the exact same way, we're tied up at 2.

The refs were setting a tone for the series on game one, that rough play will be allowed this series. Clutching, grabbing, hand checks and no-calls on interior fouls. At that point we're always gonna be in trouble, since our strength lies in attacking the basket on drives from the outside. We don't have enough outside shooting to make them pay with a long ranged game. (We also shoot ourselves in the foot by not playing Garrison and not running a balanced attack to get good outside shots off team motion, misdirection, etc.)

Russ is predictable with the ball in the half court. If you can clog things up and slow things down then he is a liability. As athletic as he is there is no room for him to get a runway to the hoop. Our only mismatch is if we can get out and run, but it is harder to run off made baskets and with the guard heavy line-ups we are too small to stop them from pounding it inside. If Gafford can block shots and turn them into jumpshooters, then Russ may snatch rebounds over Simmons. Without Embiid we have something of a chance since our 3 center interior play can out-produce Howard at both ends. With Embiid, and without ranged shooting, we have an uphill battle in both directions.

So our primary weapon should be Lopez knocking Embiid out of the game again, by accident. Or Rivers holding him out. And even then, their bench seems like it has woken up. Brooks is one of the few coaches that Rivers can out-coach in the post season. Usually Rivers motivates well then falls short on the X's and O's if not the line-ups and match ups. Brooks, well, he's scrappy. Scrappy goes only so far.

The key might be what the refs let Howard get away with in the first quarter. If they stop his thuggery early, that'd be a huge advantage for the Wiz. If Howard is not allowed to bully people, he becomes ineffective. And then Philly goes with Mike Scott at center - who provides zero rim protection - really Simmons become their point center.

[Stanford]

Get this tonight and hope Joel is out next game.

And all the other ones.

Hey, you got your wish. Torn meniscus. Gratz.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Not a sweep. Surprised but it’s only because Embiid went out.

Get this tonight and hope Joel is out next game.

And all the other ones.

Hey, you got your wish. Torn meniscus. Gratz.

Not my wish. Embiid plays at such a high skill level it’s a shame he suffers so many injuries.

[miller31time]

Get this tonight and hope Joel is out next game.

And all the other ones.

Hey, you got your wish. Torn meniscus. Gratz.

Eh, it was all tongue and cheek. I don’t wish injury on anyone. It’s bad juju.