Joel Embiid and his Philadelphia 76ers are ready to face the Washington Wizards after the latter clinched the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. The capital team beat the Indiana Pacers in the last game of the Eastern play-in tournament to secure their participation in the big party.
The regular season finished well for the Wizards after struggling during the first part of the campaign. Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal, and co. turned things around and they’re ready to defy one of the favorites to come out of the East.
They will have the not-so-easy job to try to stop Joel Embiid and nobody knows how Scott Brooks and his players can achieve that. Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley had a little discussion over this, throwing different ideas of what the Wizards could do in order to stop JoJo (5:08).
Barkley: “If I’m the Wizards, I’mma double Embiid and I’mma make Ben Simmons shoot the ball. Ben Simmons will have to shoot the ball for the Sixers to go deep in the playoffs.”
Shaq: “I disagree. I would stick the 4 players and make Embiid shoot his hook shot over the center. Don’t let the other 4 score. Make Embiid run through picks on defense and get in foul trouble.”
Teams were already doubling Embiid since the bubble, and the Cameroonian improved his passing skills. So making the Sixers win with Simmons could be a good option for Washington. If there’s a time for him to prove that he can sink 3s, this is the one.
Added to that, Simmons and Embiid have a supporting cast that can help him win games and if Brooks can shut them down, the Wizards could have a better chance to beat the 1st seed in the East.
Although the difference between records is vast, the Wizards can give the Sixers a hard time in the first round. Nobody would like to see Beal and Westbrook in the best-of-seven series, and that’s a big factor for Washington.
