Wizards Battle 'Hand Full' of Joel Embiid.
It was pretty much the Joel Embiid Show Saturday night as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Washington Wizards in Game 3 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Embiid scored 25 points in the first half, leaving Wizards' head coach Scott Brooks to call Embiid “a handful.”
It didn’t matter if the home team left Embiid open (which they did), had one man guarding him, or whether he was double-teamed, the talented player balled out the entire game and had his way with Washington.
Point blank, Embiid is going to shoot his shot, and score.
Which is basically what he did, and reiterated that fact, with words (as only Embiid could), in the not-so-shady aftermath.
“It’s hard to stop me, whether you send double-team me or not”, Embiid said during his post-game interview.
Comments on the Internet after the game were more than plentiful.
Embiid scored 36 points - (the total points Philly scored in the second half, as a team).
We should also mention his thunderous dunk that also sent the crowd into a massive frenzy, inviting chants of MVP!, MVP! - from both sides? (There should be rules against shouting MVP in the opposing team's own house. Get outta here with that noise!)
To the Wizards’ credit, the team still battled. The team were an average of just 6-8 points per quarter behind a No.1 ranked NBA team.
Standout Wizards’ star Michael Westbrook scored 26 points, coming off an ankle injury in Game 2. He finished with 12 rebounds and 10 assists in front of 76ers’ Tobias Harris’ 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
Bradley Beal scored 25 points with six rebounds, three
assists, one blocked shot and one steal.
The two teams will meet in DC Monday night in a decidingly win-or-go-home game for the Washington Wizards. Tip off is 7 p.
Noteworthy
Let us just remember that the Clippers fired Doc Rivers as their head coach in 2020, (1) providing him a better opportunity where he’d (2) end up coaching a No. 1 seed team in the regular season that, (3) just happened to make the playoffs, (4) sweep a No. 8 seed team (let’s just be real), and (5) move on to continue kicking as* and taking names.
Good karma is Doc's good friend right now.
As the culture asks, in faith, “Won’t He do it?” Hashtag, wontHedoit?
More DC Sports
** The Washington Nationals (21-27) also played Saturday.
They were defeated, twice in the same day, by the Milwaukee Brewers (27-25) in a day-night doubleheader. The Brewers’ won 4-1 Saturday afternoon, 6-2 Saturday night. Watch those Nats' Highlights
Friday’s game was postponed due to inclement weather.
The Nats beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3, on Thursday behind both Josh Bell’s and Trea Turner’s sixth inning scoring.
The home team faces the Brewers Sunday at 1:05 in a Memorial Day themed matchup.
** Loudoun United FC soccer won against New Mexico, 1-0, ending NM's three-game win streak. Goalie Jermaine Fordah was implemental in the win with a huge save. Watch highlights here.
The team faces the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, home, at Segra Field. Need a ticket to the game?
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