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The Washington Wizards will take on the Philadelphia 76ers at home tonight at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and NBC Sports Washington so you have your choice of broadcast crews.
After being trounced in Game 2, the Wizards need a strong performance in Game 3 to have any chance in the series. Philadelphia won Game 2, 120-95, by starting strong and ending strong with impressive first and fourth quarters. They won both by 11 points each and that was essentially the difference in the game.
To make matters worse, the Wizards may have to compete without, or with a potentially hobbled, Russell Westbrook. At the time of this writing, Westbrook was listed as questionable due to the ankle injury he suffered on Wednesday. Even if he is able to play, he will likely not be at full strength. Westbrook had not been at his best in this series even before the injury.
The Wizards will need several players to step up to have any shot of hanging with Philadelphia. Rui Hachimura is averaging 11.5 points in this series and Davis Bertans is averaging 7 points. Both players will have to contribute more than that offensively and it would be a nice bonus if they were better defensively as well.
Raul Neto has been disappointing so far in the series against his former team. If Westbrook cannot play or is limited, Neto and Ish Smith are both going to be asked to pick up the slack.
Capital One Arena will be at 50% capacity tonight, the most for any Wizards home game all season. Do you think playing in front of fans will give them the boost they need to get the win?