The Wizards Avoided Elimination With A Game 4 Win Over The Sixers

The Philadelphia 76ers visited the nation’s capital with a chance to close out the Washington Wizards in Game 4 on Monday evening. With Philadelphia leading the series by a 3-0 margin, the widespread assumption is that the top-seeded Sixers will move on but, at the same time, there is something to be said for avoiding a sweep and the Wizards managed to do just that with a 122-114 victory.

The 76ers came flying out of the gate, performing at a level reminiscent of the first three games of the series. Philadelphia took a 16-5 lead at the outset and, with the Wizards missing six of their first seven shots, the tone was anything but encouraging for Washington.

The Wizards did find their footing, though, and much of that can be attributed to the work of veteran center Robin Lopez. Lopez helped to key a 10-3 run late in the first quarter to bring Washington back in touch and, in his first 12 minutes of individual action, Lopez scored 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go along with effective defense.

Washington kept hanging around with impressive shotmaking from Davis Bertans and others, with Russell Westbrook finally tying the game on a monster put-back dunk late in the second quarter.

The home team took its first lead of the night in the final minute of the first half and, even with Danny Green converting a three-pointer in the final second to give Philadelphia the lead, Washington’s performance was encouraging. Then, the 76ers took a hit during the halftime break when All-NBA center Joel Embiid was ruled out due to right knee soreness after appearing for only 11 minutes in the first half.

Embiid’s absence, coupled with foul trouble for Ben Simmons, left the door open for the Wizards, and they started well after halftime. Washington scored the first six points of the third quarter, racing to their largest lead at 66-61.

The Wizards weren’t shy, either, as Rui Hachimura picked up a third quarter dunk… only to be called for what appeared to be a taunting technical foul.

Washington extended their lead to 12 by the end of third quarter, and it was an impressive period for the Wizards. They outscored Philadelphia by a 32-19 margin, shooting 50 percent from the floor (and 9-of-9 from the line) while holding the Sixers to just 35 percent shooting with five turnovers.Just as they seemed to be slipping considerably, Philadelphia awakened to begin the fourth quarter. The 76ers, led by seven quick points from Furkan Korkmaz and strong play from Tyrese Maxey, put together a 14-3 run, cutting the margin to 95-94 within the first three and a half minutes.

The Wizards kept control, though, and led for the vast majority of the fourth quarter. Then, the Sixers tied the game on a Danny Green tip-in with 4:05 to go, leaving the stretch run to explicitly decide the result.

The major subplot of crunch time stemmed from Ben Simmons at the free throw line. Washington intentionally fouled Simmons on three occasions and, though it wasn’t a total disaster in that Simmons converted three of his six attempts, the Wizards won the mini-battle by scoring regularly after his misses. When the two-minute mark arrived, the Wizards could no longer foul intentionally but, after a possession in which Philadelphia missed three shots and went scoreless, Washington generated a dunk to take a four-point lead with 1:16 remaining.

Philadelphia’s next possession also resulted in Simmons at the free throw line after a hard foul but, once again, he was only able to split his attempts. That set the stage for the eventual dagger when Hachimura buried a three-pointer to give the Wizards a 118-112 lead with 45.8 seconds to go.

Washington eventually secured the eight-point win, and it was an impressive effort. It must be acknowledged that Philadelphia simply isn’t the same without Embiid, but the Wizards received big-time contributions from Hachimura (20 points, 13 rebounds) and Bradley Beal (27 points) to aid in the win. From there, Westbrook produced a bizarre line, shooting just 3-of-19 from the floor but also grabbing 21 rebounds and dishing out 14 assists. Philadelphia’s scoring was quite balanced, in part due to star limitations, and Tobias Harris struggled to an 8-of-24 shooting night.

The best-of-seven series will continue on Wednesday with the scene shifting back to Philadelphia. In between games, all eyes will be on Embiid’s status, but Washington played hard and well in front of their home fans to force a Game 5.