Bradley Beal, Wizards Beat Joel Embiid, 76ers to Snap 7-Game Win Streak
Things appeared dire for the Washington Wizards when John Wall went down with a knee injury, but they have thrived instead of crumbled without their All-Star point guard.
Washington moved to 9-3 since Jan. 25—Wall's last game—with a 109-94 victory over Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday at Capital One Arena. Bradley Beal led the way in Wall's absence with 24 points, eight assists and five rebounds, helping his team snap Philadelphia's seven-game winning streak in the process.
Entering Sunday's NBA slate, the Wizards, 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks were all within 2.5 games of each other for the Nos. 3-7 seeds in the Eastern Conference, placing additional emphasis on these head-to-head results as the season progresses into the stretch run and underscoring how crucial Beal's performance was while countering 25 points and 10 boards from Embiid.
Washington sports the impressive record without Wall but still needed others to shoulder more of the load in the showdown against a fellow Eastern Conference contender.
Otto Porter Jr., who is typically a third option alongside Wall and Beal when the team is completely healthy, scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting and grabbed seven boards, and Kelly Oubre Jr. (19 points) served as a scoring spark off the bench and helped Washington dictate play in the first half.
The duo took over in the second quarter, drilling open looks and capping possessions with plenty of ball movement that had Philadelphia's typically strong defense running in circles. Porter's three at the buzzer gave Washington a 67-48 halftime advantage, as each wingman had 16 points with six combined three-pointers by intermission.
They weren't doing it against a pushover defense, either, considering the 76ers are No. 3 in the league in defensive rating, per NBA.com.
Oubre even impressed with some defense of his own against Ben Simmons, as ESPN Stats & Info noted:
Porter and Oubre were hitting the shots when they presented themselves, but the backcourt combination of Beal and Tomas Satoransky deserved plenty of credit for keeping the ball off the floor even in half-court sets. Washington had 22 assists on 27 made field goals in the first half and 35 assists overall in a clinic of ball movement.
While Satoransky can't replicate Wall's end-to-end speed on the break, he was in control of the half court and consistently set up his teammates for those open looks. He finished with 10 assists and seven rebounds, impacting the game beyond his ability to score (seven points).
As for Beal, he still got his points but found himself handling the ball more, working in pick-and-rolls and generating looks for himself and others off the bounce rather than looking for open catch-and-shoot opportunities as he does when Wall is the primary facilitator. The result was his seventh straight game with at least five assists.
Washington built a seemingly safe 23-point lead in the third quarter and was still ahead by 14 heading into the fourth after Embiid's buzzer-beating three, but Philadelphia remained within striking distance for much of the final quarter.
The visitors trimmed the lead to single digits multiple times, including after two straight three-pointers from Dario Saric, but there ultimately wasn't enough firepower outside of Embiid, Simmons (16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) and Saric (13 points and eight rebounds).
They were the only Sixers who scored more than 10, and Embiid notched his third straight double-double as he continues to establish himself as one of the best players in the league.
It appeared as if he and Simmons were going to keep the winning streak rolling out of the gate when the big man hit the point guard for a backdoor alley-oop on the first play, but Washington swung the momentum in the decisive second quarter (37-20).
The Wizards will need quarters like that in their next three games against the Milwaukee Bucks (Tuesday), Golden State Warriors (Wednesday) and Toronto Raptors (Friday), while Philadelphia will attempt to start a new winning streak Tuesday against the Miami Heat.
