In some ways, the upcoming playoff matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Washington Wizards will be a big challenge for the top-seeded Sixers. Sure, the Wizards are the No. 8 seed, but they offer a unique set of challenges to bother the Sixers.
Washington loves to score in transition. It led the league in pace per basketball-reference. Philadelphia has had a tough time in transition defense; it allowed 14.3 fast-break points per game, which is 29th in the league per TeamRankings.
As the Sixers had a week to prepare for this series, coach Doc Rivers believes the team improved its transition defense.
“I don’t know if it’s sizable, but it’s better, it should be,” said Rivers at practice on Saturday. “I also think the opponent has your attention as well. They’re very good in transition so it will be tested in this playoff. It’s been one of our weaknesses. It’s been one of their strengths so we’re gonna have to be very good at stopping the ball.”
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The Sixers are one of the dominant half-court defenses. They can use the length of Ben Simmons, Danny Green and Tobias Harris on the perimeter and have Joel Embiid protecting the rim. The issue is working together to make sure they are ready for Washington in transition.
“That’s something you can do in practice and just communicating and working on communicating in transition,” said Green. “I think the last maybe 15 games or so, we tried to do a better job of just communicating. Somebody to stop the ball first. Take ball and guys fan out and get weak side. Obviously, hustle, passion, desire to try to stop somebody, getting back in front of people is a big part of it, but communication is what we need.”
On top of the pace the Wizards play with, there is also the stellar play of Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal in the backcourt. Those two had a lot of success in getting into the paint and bothering the Sixers. They gave Rivers a lot of headaches while preparing for both players.
“Obviously, your focus is on those two main guys. They’re terrific,” said Rivers. “They’ve had just amazing years. Bradley with the scoring and Russ being Russ. You look at their record in the second half of the year, and it matches with the best teams in NBA. We understand all that, but listen, we’ve done it well all year ourselves. So we’ll be ready.”
The playoffs will begin for Philadelphia and Washington on Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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