It’s not that Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal haven’t been scoring in the playoffs. They just haven’t been their normally efficient selves. Credit a Philadelphia 76ers defense committed to making them work for every single shot.
The two dynamic stars for the Washington Wizards have shot a combined 55-for-122 (45%) from the field in the first three games. Not terrible, although the majority of the damage has been done by Beal who is averaging 30.3 points per game in the series. He has gone 37-for-77 (48%) versus Westbrook’s 18-for-45 (40%).
It’s pretty much the way Doc Rivers expected things to go. Of course, the Sixers head coach has been more concerned about the energy his players have had to exert on the defensive end in keeping up.
“They’re just so tough, I mean the energy that both of those guys expend per game, it’s amazing to watch,” Rivers told reporters. “On the flip side of that, that means we have to expend the same amount of energy and I feel we’ve done that. Bradley has shaken loose a couple of times, but overall I’ve been happy that we haven’t made mistakes from the three with him.
“We’ve made some mistakes where he’s been able to go down the lane ad take the in-between contested shots. You don’t want him taking any open shots, he’s just too good. But I think the mistakes that we have made have been the right mistakes.”
Ben Simmons’ defense in the 2021 NBA Playoffs (3 games)
Bradley Beal
73 possessions
15 points
7/17 from the field
1/7 from 3
Russell Westbrook
13 possessions
11 points
4/4 from the field
2 TOs
Ben is a +63 with a 130 offensive rating and 106 defensive rating through 3 games
The Sixers have enjoyed suffocating, swarming defense — mainly from Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle — to limit Beal to a dismal 3-for-20 (15%) from three-point range. Meanwhile, Westbrook has just one triple-double (Game 3) which is an impressive feat considering he has 184 career triple-doubles after leading the NBA with 38 this season. He’s averaging 17.3 points per game in the series while dealing with an ankle injury.
“Russell, you just got to stand in the fire. We’ve done that well overall,” Rivers said. “There’s times we’ve won that. There’s times Russ has won that. But you have to know that coming into the series. He’s coming at ya.”
Matisse Thybulle’s 2021 Playoff Stats
🔒Holding the Wizards to 1/12 from the field & 0/3 from 3
🔒86 defensive rating, 14.4 BLK% & 8.5 STL%
💩Bradley Beal
13 possessions
2 points
1/3 from the field
3 TOs
💩Russell Westbrook
5 possessions
0 points
0/2 from the field
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Sixers Have Done ‘Nothing’ So Far
Joel Embiid talked about wanting to get the sweep of the Wizards in the first round after Game 3. It’s one tiny, first step in their quest for a world championship. Rivers has been preaching that same message all week and no one on the Sixers is going to be satisfied until confetti is raining down on them.
“We’ve done nothing. We’ve won two games. You don’t get anything until you get to four,” Rivers said after Game 2. “So we’ve accomplished nothing as far as we’re concerned. We didn’t go to the playoffs to win two games and celebrate. I can tell you that. Just human nature, no fear means no urgency. You have to have the proper amount of fear every night you play or humility, you can use either word you want.”
Celtics Fan Arrested for Throwing Bottle
Philadelphia was getting vilified earlier this week when a Sixers fan threw some popcorn near Westbrook at the Wells Fargo Center. It was an innocent mistake, one that got his season tickets revoked plus an indefinite ban from the arena. OK, whatever. Meanwhile, those crazy Celtics fans in Boston decided to take it to a whole another level by chucking a water bottle at Kyrie Irving.
The H20 missile narrowly missed hitting the Brookly Nets star in the head as Irving was leaving the court after a 141-126 win at TD Garden. Irving finished with 39 points to extend Brooklyn’s lead to 3-1 in their first-round series with the Celtics. The fan was escorted out of the arena in handcuffs and will be charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. Yikes.
“You can see that people just feel very entitled out here,” Irving said, via ESPN. “They paid for their tickets — great, I’m grateful that they’re coming in to watch a great performance. But we’re not at the theater. We’re not throwing tomatoes and other random stuff at the people that are performing.”
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‘Right Mistakes’: Sixers Talk Guarding Wizards Star Duo