The Philadelphia 76ers lost Game 4 to the Washington Wizards, an outcome very few expected after dominating the first three games. While Joel Embiid‘s injury is the only real takeaway from that game, many have jumped on Ben Simmons for his uneven free-throw shooting down the stretch.
Naturally, people have overreacted quite a bit to a game the Sixers could have and should have won. Regardless of Embiid’s immediate status, Philadelphia will enter Game 5 at home as the favorite — with a full-capacity crowd behind it. The Sixers, barring an act of divine intervention, will not lose this series.
Here are some takeaways from the game.
Sixers observations from Game 4: Joel Embiid’s injury is all that matters
I’ve already written about this topic but it bears repeating. We can squabble about Doc Rivers’ rotation choices down the stretch, and whether or not Hack-a-Ben is a problem, whatever — none of it really matters if Embiid is on the floor, and none of it matters if Embiid is off the floor moving forward.
Sixer fans should kneel at the alter and pray for a clean MRI. That is the one true takeaway from Game 4.
Sixers observations from Game 4: Tobias Harris fell into bad habits
On the surface, Tobias Harris put forth a strong Game 4 effort with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists. In reality, it was his worst game in a long time. He was way to eager to dribble and freelance, a tendency Doc Rivers has mostly done a good job curbing this season. Harris bogged down the offense and shot a ghastly 8-for-24 from the field.
All night, Harris was predictable, which led to an alarming number of his 16 misses coming in the form of a blocked shot. Even Ish Smith, a 6-foot guard who Harris made an effort to target all night, got his hand on a couple shots.
Harris cannot let an injury to Embiid lead to some false air of self-importance on the basketball court. He cannot and will not lead this team to victories if he’s playing outside himself. Quick shots, quick passes, and quick drives are Harris’ bread and butter. As soon as he tries to Kobe a bunch of shots from mid-range, the Sixers’ offense is dead in the water.
The Wizards have struggled to handle Harris all series. There isn’t a defender on that roster who should be able to contain him. If Harris plays his game and plays it well, the Sixers are in good shape. He simply cannot do what he did last night again.
Sixers observations from Game 4: Doc Rivers, what the heck
This was not the best-coached game of Doc Rivers’ storied career. In fact, he made mind-boggling decisions all night, which only compounded the issues stemming from Joel Embiid’s sudden absence. If Rivers coaches a better game, the Sixers may very well have completed the sweep.
First and foremost, no, he should not have removed Ben Simmons from the floor down the stretch. Simmons was 4-of-8 from the charity stripe after Hack-a-Ben started, which is acceptable and mathematically sound basketball. You live with it and keep your star initiator on the floor in the final two minutes.
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Sitting Tyrese Maxey, who supercharged the Sixers’ come-back efforts early in the fourth quarter, is a mistake. Maxey gave the Sixers a downhill threat they were desperately lacking for much of the game, and came up with several big plays on both sides of the ball. It’s clear Rivers is still reluctant to trust Maxey, but you have to ride the hot hand when it’s that hot.
To make matters worse, Rivers closed with a not-especially-hot Seth Curry over Maxey and George Hill, who put together his best game yet as a Sixer. To remove to successful playmakers from the offense down the stretch, especially with Harris’ ineptitude in the halfcourt, is an unforgivable error. Both Maxey and Hill probably should have closed the game.
There is also the matter of Ben Simmons’ foul trouble. While handling foul trouble can get tricky, Ben Simmons played 25 minutes and did not foul out. Free throws aside, he was extremely helpful when on the court Monday night. That’s normally the case. Missing out on 10-15 valuable minutes of Simmons during the meat of the game because he has 3-4 fouls is probably not the best approach, even if he can’t guard Bradley Beal or Russell Westbrook.
Doc’s troublesome rotation choices, such as riding Mike Scott for 16 minutes before going to the correct small-ball construction of Ben Simmons-Tobias Harris and three guards, were a main culprit in Monday’s loss. Again, it doesn’t matter as much given the Embiid thing, but it was still a particularly irking night from the future Hall of Fame coach.
Sixers observations from Game 4: No, it was not Ben Simmons’ fault
Look, what are we doing here? Of course it would be nice if Ben Simmons was a better shooter. He’s not. He shot 4-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter last night. The Wizards resorted to intentionally fouling around the 2:30 mark, and it resulted in a good-but-not-great point per possession. That is not why the Sixers lost.
The free throws are a problem, don’t get me wrong, but they are far from the biggest problem. Those getting caught up on Ben’s free throw shooting and ignoring the big-picture issues — Doc’s rotations, the team’s defense, the gaping void left by Embiid, Tobias’ incompetence down the stretch — are focusing on Theon Greyjoy’s fingernail when bigger things are missing.
Philadelphia does not need to panic over Ben’s troublesome free throw shooting. His percentage will regress to the mean and he will, in all likelihood, jump back to the 60 percent range before the end of the postseason. Hack-a-Ben has never been smart in the past — it has failed Scott Brooks before — and it wasn’t particularly impactful in Game 4. Again, the Sixers had issues well beyond a 50-percent stretch at the charity stripe.
Simmons’ foul trouble and how he was thus deployed — whether you blame him, the refs, Doc Rivers, or some combination of the three — was undoubtedly more detrimental to the Sixers’ efforts than Hack-a-Ben. He only played 25 minutes, which can’t happen when Embiid only plays 11.
In the end, everyone just needs to take a deep breath and relax.