The word came down at 8:26 p.m., just before the start of the third quarter. That's when the Philadelphia 76ers announced that All-Star center Joel Embiid would not return with right knee soreness, when the Wizards' playoff hopes came back to life.
Wizards Stay Alive With Game 4 Win Over the 76ers We just got back to playing Wizards basketball the way we know how.
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Bradley Beal had never been in this position before. In seven previous playoff series Beal had played in, none included an 0-3 start. But in their first round matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA playoffs this season, the top-seeded Sixers thoroughly outplayed the Wizards to win their first three games. Being down 0-3 meant that the Wizards had to play with an extra sense of urgency in Monday night’s Game 4 in order to keep their season alive.
The Sixers title chances took a major hit Monday night when Joel Embiid went down with a knee injury that has him listed as doubtful for Game 5 against the Wizards.
May 31, 2021
Welcome to the Morning Shootaround, where every weekday you’ll get a fresh, topical column from one of
’s NBA writers: Howard Beck on Mondays, Chris Mannix on Tuesdays, Michael Pina on Wednesdays, Chris Herring on Thursdays and Rohan Nadkarni on Fridays.
Within minutes of absorbing a 29-point thrashing that cast his team into a deep chasm of postseason despair, Bradley Beal took his place on a Zoom screen and declared, with all the earnestness he could muster, that the Wizards of Washington would persist. “I’m a huge fan of the word ‘embrace,’” Beal said Saturday, after the Wizards fell into a 3-0 hole in their first-round series against the top-seeded 76ers. “Embracing everything. Embracing the stages of life. Embracing every situation. And it s the same thing with this. Embrace where we are.”
Playoff Bell Ringer: Sixers seize 3-0 series lead with 132-103 win over Wizards
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Note: There is no traditional recap post for tonight’s game.
Sixers Bell Ringer playoff standings:
Tobias Harris - 1
Ben Simmons - 1
Different city, same story for the Sixers, who coasted to 132-103 victory over Washington Saturday night to take a 3-0 series lead. Philadelphia shot a sparkling 17-of-33 (51.5 percent) from behind the arc, rubbing salt into the wound of a Wizards team that just has zero defensive answers for this Sixers starting unit. The Sixers held at least a double-digit lead from around one minute into the second half on, and it was yet another early night for the starters. With the way the Wizards looked to roll over later in the game, Philadelphia could be