76ers vs. Wizards Odds & Pick: Bet Philadelphia to Complete the Sweep (Monday, May 31)

76ers vs. Wizards Game 4 Odds

The Washington Wizards host the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night as the Wizards hope to avoid elimination after falling into a three-game hole. The Wizards battled the 76ers in a 118 to 125 loss in Game 1, but the 76ers blew them out by 25-plus points in next two games.

Can the Wizards manage to stave off elimination at home? Let's look into the matchup and see if there's any value on either side.

76ers Promos: $300 if they win Game 4, more!

Bet $30, Win $300 if PHI wins!

Bet $20, Win $200 Embiid scores a point!

And more …

Claim Offers Now

Philadelphia's Offense is Rolling

If the Sixers win and cover, Joel Embiid must stay out of foul trouble and continue his dominant play. Embiid has simply been unstoppable when he has been on the court this series, and if he stays healthy and out of foul trouble, the 76ers should win and cover.

Embiid got into foul trouble in game one, and the Wizards were able to outscore the 76ers while he was off the floor as they lost but covered. Embiid had a game-high +20 plus/minus in game one and followed that up with a game-high +19 in Game 2.

Embiid avoided foul trouble on Wednesday and led the 76ers to a dominant win. In game three, Embiid scored 36 points in 28 minutes while the 76ers outscored the Wizards by 29 points over that span.

Through three games, the 76ers starters have outscored the Wizards by 53 points in 54 minutes with a dominant 150.4 offensive rating. The Wizards must choose whether to play single coverage against Embiid and make him beat them (like they did in game three) or to double him and make other 76ers make open shots after the defense rotates.

Neither are winning options for Washington.

This makes sense because Embiid has been unstoppable all season, and per Cleaning The Glass, Embiid led the 76ers with a +13.0 Net Rating in the regular season – 5.4 points higher per 100 possessions than any other player on the 76ers.

Embiid’s size and skill combination (as both a scorer and passer) are unguardable by anyone in a Wizards uniform, and if he can stay on the floor on Monday, the 76ers should like their chances of winning and covering.

Ben Simmons and Harris have also flourished in this series. Simmons scored six points in Game 1, but he led the team with 15 rebounds and 15 assists. Simmons scored 22 points and recorded nine rebounds and eight assists in just 29 minutes as he likely would have had a triple-double in a more competitive game with more minutes.

He scored an efficient 14 points on 10 shots (seven of 10 from the field) in game three while adding nine assists while resting during the entire fourth quarter.

Harris scored a game-high 37 points in game one while picking up for Embiid as the main scoring option with his foul trouble. He added 19 points and nine rebounds in game two despite playing only 23 minutes. Harris was the lone 76ers starter who played in the fourth quarter on Saturday, and he finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists in 32 minutes.

Will the Wizards' Stars Show Up?

If the Wizards hope to pull the upset and extend the series, they will need Bradley Beal to improve his accuracy from beyond the arc while Russell Westbrook gets healthy. Westbrook (right ankle sprain) and Ish Smith (groin strain) are both listed as questionable for Game 4.

The Wizards started the season slowly as Westbrook played through injury while less than 100%, but once he got healthy, they made their rise from up the Eastern Conference standings and into the playoffs behind his consistent triple-double performances.

If they hope to have any chance of remaining competitive on Monday, they will need him to play and be healthy enough to put pressure on the rim as a driver and shot creator with his incredible athleticism. The 76ers have done a nice job of packing the paint against him and preventing him from getting into the lane, and the Wizards will need to counter that.

While Beal led the NBA in scoring average for most of the season and finished a close second behind Stephen Curry, there is a reason why Curry was in the MVP conversation and Beal wasn’t: efficiency.

Beal has been a volume scorer all season and will need to improve his scoring efficiency from beyond the arc — where he went a combined three of 20 from beyond the arc in the first three games of this series. While being efficient from inside the arc is great, it won’t be enough for the Wizards to pull the upset in game four, especially if Westbrook isn’t fully healthy.

The Wizards have made just 23.4% of their 3s this series, and they will need Beal and Davis Bertans to both be efficient from downtown on Monday to cover. The sharpshooting Bertans has disappointed as he has made just 29.4% of his 3s (1.7 of 5.7 3s per game) this series after leading all active Wizards with a 39.4% accuracy from beyond the arc this season.

76ers-Wizards Pick

The 76ers are the better, more talented, and healthier team, and I like the value on them as eight-point road favorites in game four (with value up to -10).

They won the first two games despite limited minutes from Embiid and Harris in one game, and they dominated game three as both of them avoided injuries and foul trouble. The Wizards remain without answers for either of them, and their success should continue in game four.

Simmons will continue to make life difficult for Beal, and this matchup will be even more challenging for Beal if Westbrook remains out. Expect Westbrook to play as he has shown this season that he will battle through injury, but he may not be healthy enough to beat the 76ers.

Even if he is at 100%, he faces an uphill battle against a longer 76ers defense that will pack the paint and make him take jump shots as much as possible.

Pick: 76ers -8 (bet up to -10)