120-95. Embiid and Simmons clear the Sixers’ second win

Philadelphia (USA), May 26 (EFE) .- Cameroonian center Joel Embiid and Australian point guard Ben Simmons scored 22 points in the Sixers’ 120-95 victory over the Washington Wizards in the second best-of-game game. seven of ‘playoffs’ of the Eastern Conference, that now dominate those of Philadelphia.

Along with Embiid and Simmons, forward Joe Harris maintained the same production from the first game, which kept him in line with the new ‘Big Three’ by contributing 19 points after scoring 9 of 13 shots from the field, with nine rebounds.

Simmons had nine rebounds and eight assists, in addition to making 11 of 15 shots from the field.

The three-time All-Star was always aggressive in the attack game from the beginning of the game and broke it in favor of the Sixers with the first three baskets that were going to leave him at the end of the first 12 minutes of action with 12 points and five rebounds for the 35-24 quarter that was already a mountain inaccessible to the attack of the Wizards.

Embiid grabbed seven rebounds and none of the three had to spend 29 minutes of work on the track at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Now the series moves to Washington, where the third game will be played on Saturday.

Harris was smart in his game and decisive, converting jump shots with ease on smaller defenders and making 8 of 9 shots from the field in the first half.

Embiid patiently managed Washington’s double teams who put him in to score him, yielding the ball when faced with real pressure and waiting to see how the play would unfold when help was simply lurking. He squeezed an early jump pass to guard Seth Curry for a triple and understood it was a team game.

The undisputed highlight of Embiid’s night came in the transition, a wobbly but elegant tray and a tray followed by his Triple H-inspired celebration.

Unlike Sunday, Sixers coach Doc Rivers didn’t have to adjust to Embiid’s foul problems.

That said, it’s not easy to measure your preferred rotations. He tends to trust his instincts from game to game, but the match was not complicated and allowed the bench to have more minutes of action.

Rivers began to bring reserve players to the field before he arrived in garbage time, with everything decided, among which stood out George Hill, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle, the Turk Furkan Korkmaz and the center Dwight Howard at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second bedroom.

Again, the fact that the Sixers started cold from three-point range (1 of 6) could have contributed to the inclusion of Korkmaz.

It’s clear that Rivers likes Hill with his best players and believes his second unit can stay in the playoffs.

Beyond that, Rivers seems flexible. With the Sixers leading by a comfortable margin in the third period, it even went against their principle of avoiding lineups with Thybulle, Howard and Simmons together.

In the end, the Sixers reserves contributed 43 points and Rivers understood that he had been correct with each of the decisions he made.

While the individual spectacle of the Wizards is not enough and they trailed by 14 points at halftime, which would have been much greater had it not been for the scoring inspiration of guard Bradley Beal, who contributed 24 points with 11 baskets from 15 shots from the field.

In the end he concluded the game with 33 points after scoring 1 of 6 triples, which was again his weak point in the game as well as for the rest of his teammates who had only one basket from outside the perimeter of 16 attempts and the Wizards finished the match with 2 of 22.

Point guard Russell Westbrook dished out 11 assists and took 10 free throws, but shot just 2 of 10 shots from the field and scored 10 points, in addition to grabbing six rebounds.

He appeared to injure his right ankle early in the fourth quarter and was the subject of a fan’s popcorn toss as he walked down the tunnel to be treated in the locker room, which rightly infuriated him. It is not something that should happen, much less an injured player, so he had to be restrained by security personnel.

Brazilian point guard Raúl Neto played 19 minutes as a starter for the Wizards and contributed four points (2-5, 0-2, 0-0), three rebounds and one assists.

(c) EFE Agency

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