The 76ers maintained their advantage in a 120-95 victory over the Wizards on Wednesday night, pushing the series lead to 2-0 when they were ready to go on the road. Ben Simmons (Ben Simmons) was the star of the Philadelphia Night. He had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

This is what I see.

Kindness

• Debating Simmons’ worth is old and tired, and people have spent most of the past few days. This is important-Joel Embiid entered the game slowly, Simmons seized the slack and led from the front as a scorer. Had it not been for Bradley Beal’s offensive explosion in the second quarter, Simmons’ performance might have been the highlight of the first half. You might argue that even under the sensation of Beal.

This is a contest with many smaller players, Simmons can hunt down. He was even easier to kill the Wizards after he forced him to issue problems early by slamming the offensive glass. Rui Bamura got into early foul trouble and needed a substitution by Davis Bertans, which actually meant that Simmons (and Tobias Harris) did not match physically. No matter who will guard him. Usually Bradley Beal (Bradley Beal), Simmons manages to put him on the hip again and again so that he can finish the game at the basket.

(Indeed, in the past four seasons, many people have been asking Simmons. No one asked him to shoot with Kevin Durant, but when he clearly doesn’t match, go to town. In this regard, he performed very well on Wednesday and refused to let the Wizards’ smaller/weaker lineup get out of trouble.

Before the Wizards made a concerted effort to force substitutions and get Simmons out of Bill, he also had a significant impact on the defensive end, destroying Washington’s number one dog with a combination of timing and physicality. A creepy obstacle around the rim made the crowd hysterical very early, and there was still a lot of work to do there. Simmons played the ball loosely into Bill’s chest for most of the first quarter.

Most importantly, Simmons deserves praise, because the 76ers have performed well offensively for most of the game. Look, I know the Wizards are a defensive shipwreck, but Simmons helped expand that fact. His attack on the basket is purposeful, and when he goes all out and makes his opponent worry that he is an attacker, those free throws that can spray him to every corner of the floor become a more dangerous hell. Even if the Wizards can recover to the first guy, it usually only takes an extra pass to create an open space.

This game proved him were able Go out hunting for his shots without sacrificing game production responsibilities. A stronger defensive team will force him to score more points than Washington, but it is important that he knocked out the team outside the schedule on Wednesday.

• In addition to the temporary disappearance of the Wells Fargo Center due to the panic caused by the injury, Tobias Harris (Tobias Harris) performed well in the second game on Tuesday. Quieter, better efforts pushed the lead to 2-0.

If Washington’s early matchup issues are good for Simmons, it is even more so for Harris. In the early overtime, Harris had to fight everyone’s center Alex Lane. This is a duel. As long as the Wizards are stupid enough, Harris will win easily.

Regardless of his size, Harris can be integrated into the game process. This is an extraordinary performance and proves how good Harris can do on the offensive end. When the 76ers stood up and ran after stopping, he was sliding into space and finishing the game at the basket. When they needed to slow down, his midway shift work continued to complete the work. When the Wizards were so stupid that Russell Westbrook threw an indifferent defensive player at Russell Westbrook, he beat him in some good positions.

For him, this is just a relatively normal game this season, and a comfortable W is a normal result.

• Joel must be a little bit involved in this game. Maybe this is a charity expression-for most of the first half, he was in a tortuous state throughout the game, and he did go a bit defensively, which is not necessarily right in the first 24 minutes of the game. It is unique to him.

Are you willing to prepare a super efficient, small batch game for big attackers? Of course you should. Going back to certain parts of the game, Embiid made up for fewer touches with excellent outside shots. This is something he has always liked to do, but it doesn’t always prove the result.

However, if there were not at least a few Embiid highlights, it would not have been the best choice for the 76ers in 2020-21, and the best game of the night seemed to get him into the second half. Embiid ran side by side with Simmons and achieved an incredible layup through contact, followed closely by one of his signature celebrations. Hide the children:

For the 76ers, any game that doesn’t have to ask Embiid too much in the first round is basically a win-win for Philadelphia. In this regard, the second game meets the conditions.

• Maybe it’s a placebo effect, maybe it’s true, but the 76ers just feel like they’re in good shape when George Hill is on the court and controlling the offense. He may never have fifth gear anymore, but he is a smooth operator in the pick-and-roll, a comfortable pull-up shooter, completely unaffected by time and circumstances. He can only move at his own speed, and the guy who shares the floor with him will adapt quickly.

I feel that as time goes by, he will only grow in this group. When we are on this issue…

• My goodness, this city loves Tyrese Maxey. I find it hard to blame anyone for getting fired when entering the game, and when he first showed up, it was perhaps the loudest cheer of the night. Maxey doesn’t look like a kid who is afraid of moments, as we have discussed many times in the past month or so, he obviously has the opportunity to surpass others in the rotation, especially Shake Milton.

When Maxi finally got his chance to play in the second half of Wednesday, he didn’t waste any chance. The beginning of the fourth quarter turned into Maxy’s offense, and the rookie relentlessly attacked the basket to open the final game. In most cases, these trips were successful, Maxey had smooth traffic, fouled, and took advantage of all the slow guards the Wizards threw at him.

Seriously, I know he is not an open season, but it is difficult to say clearly about the changes in the way and progress this kid has shown since the beginning of this year.he is punishment The guys got up the wrong way, protected the ball with his body well, and he even played a bigger role on defense. Maybe he has been studying Matisse Thybulle’s defensive performance-this young man even has an advantage in weak positions from time to time.

Let the children play. So simple.

• Normally, you can take out at least 3 steals and 3 blocks and eventually fall in “The Good”, but this may be because Matisse Thybulle made defensive destruction so routine. When Thybulle flashed across the lane to make a ridiculous last-second deflection, or somehow made his hand try a three-pointer on the breakthrough point, it didn’t feel out of the ordinary anymore.

These things may be routine for Thybulle, but they are still very special.

• If you can play Paul Reed in the playoffs this year, you will have a good night or a catastrophic night. This is the former. Their “Ball Paul” dunks on the Maxey ceiling immediately after checking in. Human exclamation mark.

Bad guy

• The top 76 teams encountered a problem in the second quarter, that is, more and more people are pursuing titles. Simmons was originally the main defender for most of Beal’s possessions, but the Wizards were hesitant to ensure that this state would not last. They sent the screens in Beal’s direction over and over again, trying to get him to a more favorable duel. And, usually this means having to screen Simmons with Seth Curry’s man.

This is a question we have been talking about throughout the season-can Curry stay on the court when it matters, or will he be forced to leave the court because of a brutal matchup hunt? Early returns suggest that it may be the latter, because the 76ers can’t afford their most influential perimeter defenders to be offset by Simmons’ one-screen action that quarter.

That’s not the only problem Philadelphia has with Bill. The 76ers seem content to use Simmons to guide Beal downhill towards Embiid. Although you usually seize the big man’s chance to win a few battles, he doesn’t seem to have a chance to beat him on Wednesday. Compared to Curry’s problem, this is not to worry because Embiid’s defensive record goes without saying, but as they enter the playoffs and are on par with people like Kyrie Irving and James Harden in theory, This is something worth monitoring.

• So far, Milton is the leader of the worst 76ers in the series, and his outstanding performance is far ahead of his teammates. In any case, Rivers has been following him and it is difficult to overcome the predictability of how this looks at the end of the regular season.

The question is whether Rivers will stick to it, or finally give rookie Maxi a chance to let them come off the bench.If you want my guess, I will be very suspicious, because Milton is one of the few people A substitute player who has never played a dangerous role this season. stay tuned.

ugly

• If you are a 76ers, a 76ers fan or even someone who just wants to watch high-level basketball, this is not what you want to see:

Fortunately, for all parties involved, Harris was back in the game before the end of the season, so it seemed nothing more than a meat injury. Exhale, everyone.

(After solving his ankle problem in the second half, Curry will not enter the game again, but he used to be Found on the bench and was never excluded by the team. Please continue to follow him. )

• Westbrook ended the season in good form, and his appearance in the lineup is one of the reasons Washington is considered (relatively) difficult to make the playoffs. Someone must have forgotten to tell Westbrook, because he started the playoffs is really terrifying. In the first two games, every bad habit he had and what every shooting team wanted to lure him into adulthood.

They didn’t even have a chance to play a game with him. When they return to DC, he may recover and change this view, but it seems very serious for the Wizards, especially if the damage he suffered in the second half was very serious.

Follow Kyle on Twitter: @KyleNeubeck