The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that relies on Joel Embiid in terms of leading the way in terms of scoring and their offensive production overall. The big fella averaged 28.5 points and 10.6 rebounds while shooting 10.7 free throws per game. There are not a lot of big men who can stop him.
In Sunday’s Game 1 win over the Washington Wizards, he had 30 points and he shot 12-for-13 from the line. As a team, Philadelphia shot 33 free throws in Game 1 as they were able to use their aggressiveness and got to the rim and to the line the right way. This was above their season average of 25.5 free throws per game in the regular season.
The Wizards, on the other hand, shot only 15 free throws despite having Russell Westbrook constantly attacking the basket. The 15 free throws were way below Washington’s season average of 26.2 free throws per game, which led the league.
Wizards coach Scott Brooks was not happy with the officiating in Game 1 as the two teams prepare for Game 2 on Wednesday.
“We led the league in free throws,” Brooks said before the game. “Those are not subjective, those are stats. We shot 11 free throws under our average. They shot a bunch of free throws over their average. I think eight or nine so I’m not complaining what we did. We fouled, but I think we are an attack team, and we don’t take a lot of 3s. I’d like us to take more.”
With the Wizards led by Westbrook and Bradley Beal, they expect to be more aggressive in Game 2 as they look to get to the line more. That is what drives the Wizards on the offensive end of the floor and Philadelphia will have to be ready for that on Wednesday.
“We need to get to the free-throw with our attack, aggressive basketball players, and our style of play,” Brooks finished. “I just want everybody to do their job and everybody we’ll live what the results at the end of the game.”
The two teams tip off at 7 p.m. EDT from the Wells Fargo Center.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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