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Wizards, Sixers meet Wednesday afternoon

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The Wizards and Sixers meet Wednesday at 4:00 P.M. in Orlando in Washington’s fourth seeding game. After a late comeback against the Pacers fell short on Monday, Washington is looking to notch its first win of the NBA restart. Philadelphia has played just two seeding games, going 1-1, and is coming off a win against the San Antonio.

Game Info

The Arena | 4:00 P.M. | NBCSW & NBATV | 1500 AM

Probable Starters

Wizards: G – Ish Smith, G – Troy Brown Jr., F – Isaac Bonga, F – Rui Hachimura, C – Thomas Bryant

Sixers: G – Shake Milton, G – Josh Richardson, F – Tobias Harris, F – Ben Simmons, C – Joel Embiid

Injury Report

Wizards: Garrison Mathews (personal reasons – out)

Sixers: Glenn Robinson III (left hip pointer – doubtful), Mike Scott (right knee soreness – out)

Storylines

Attacking the Sixers’ size

On July 22, the Wizards took on the Nuggets in their first exhibition game from Orlando. Denver, dealing at the time with a long list of inactives, started one of the tallest lineups in NBA history with no player measuring in shorter than 6’7”. While the Sixers don’t quite reach those historic heights, they come about as close as any healthy team in the league could – and it works. While 6’11” Joel Embiid anchors the lineup, fellow starters Shake Milton, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons all measure above 6’5” with key reserves Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz and Al Horford all clearing the threshold as well. Simmons, who moved into a power forward role in Orlando, has spent most of his time in the league at the point guard position, creating a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.

The Sixers’ size is equally impactful on the defensive end. The team ranks seventh in defensive rating (108.7) and second in defensive rebounding percentage (80.2). For a Wizards team that leans smaller and depends on scoring from a handful of mid-sized wings, the matchup against the Sixers will provide both a challenge and an opportunity, exactly what the Wizards coaches and front office staffers are looking for out of this month in Orlando.

Robinson looking to find consistency in streaky scoring

After struggling to find his shooting in the Wizards’ three exhibition games, Jerome Robinson has shown scoring flashes over the course of the team’s three seeding games so far. A steady game against the Suns and a comeback-leading performance in the fourth quarter against Indiana are evidence of the aggressiveness and confidence that Scott Brooks has been wanting to see from Robinson since the team convened earlier this summer. In the first half against Phoenix, Robinson scored 13 points in 13 minutes, shooting 5-5 (1.000) from the field and 2-2 (1.000) from 3-point range on his way to a 20-point performance. Against the Pacers, he couldn’t get anything to fall in the first three quarters, but came alive in the fourth. Helping the Wizards cut Indiana’s fourth quarter lead from 22 to seven, Robinson scored 15 points on 6-9 (.667) from the field and 2-4 (.500) from deep. All six of Robinson’s fourth quarter makes came from outside the paint, though one was a floater from just inches outside. For a Wizards team desperate for long-range shooting, Robinson finding his touch from distance could go a long way in opening up the offense over the course of their final five seeding games.

“He’s a basketball player,” Troy Brown Jr. said after the Monday’s game. “He knows how to make the right reads and everything. With that, he was just doing his thing. He’s a natural born scorer and he’s done that his whole life. To see him out there scoring the basketball like that and for us to kind of make that comeback, especially with him part of it, was definitely huge.”

But Brooks continues to stress the importance of consistency when it comes to Robinson’s scoring performances. Look for the young guard to try and carry over his fourth quarter performance from Monday into an important matchup against an imposing Sixers defense. Another strong shooting performance from Robinson could be key to keeping Washington in it against one of the most talented teams in the league.

Slowing down Joel Embiid

In the Wizards’ three seeding games so far, opposing starting centers are averaging 21.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. On Wednesday, they’ll face their toughest test yet in Joel Embiid. The two-time All-NBA, All-Defensive Team big man has led or tied for the team lead in points, rebounds and assists in each of Philadelphia’s first two seeding games. In their first outing against Indiana, Embiid amassed 41 points, 21 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, registering a plus-21 rating in 34 minutes of action. In the Sixers’ Sunday win over the Spurs, he scored 27 points, 18 of which came in the second half, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists. Thomas Bryant, Mortiz Wagner and Anzejs Pasecniks will likely all split time guarding the big man. In prior matchups this season, the Wizards haven’t neutralized Embiid, but have prevented any of the box-score-busting performances he’s known for. That will need to continue Wednesday if the shorthanded Wizards want to keep pace with this Sixers team.