In a rout, offense hits ‘perfect storm’

Some night, and Doc Rivers wasn’t certain when, the 76ers’ offense would function exactly as designed.

Saturday was that night, a 132-103 postseason victory over the Washington Wizards was the result.

“It was,” Rivers said, “a perfect storm.”

A commitment at the defensive end allowed the Sixers to hustle to offense. Three-point shooters ran to open spots, where they were located by Ben Simmons. The shooting dazzled, pulling defenders away from Joel Embiid.

Finally, when single-covered, Embiid proved unstoppable inside and out, scoring a career playoff high 36 points.

It was the how-to manual to Sixers’ success come to life. When it did, Rivers’ team had a 3-0 lead in the first-to-four series. No NBA team has ever rallied from such a deficit.

“We didn’t go to the post for the first six or seven possessions,” Rivers said. “But we made threes.”

The Wizards properly intimidated, the game essentially lasted three quarters, with Rivers resting his starting unit for the fourth.

Not that it was shocking that the No. 1 seed would have its way with a No. 8, but the Sixers almost could not perform any better at the offensive end. All five starters played to at

least a plus-29, combining to shoot 13-for-22 from distance. The bench sputtered early but settled, contributing to 58.6 percent team shooting, including 17-for33 from the arc.

“It was a freak shooting night,” Rivers said. “This is a make-miss league, and tonight we made everything.”

All five starters scored in double figures.

“We are connected right now,” Seth Curry said. “We have a lot more to do. But it starts with defense, and

when everybody is willing to do that, things come naturally to us and that’s good to see.”

•••

On a night when Embiid went for 36, it was his selflessness that stood out.

“His floor game was amazing,” said Danny Green, who shot 5-for-8 from distance. “It wasn’t as much his scoring tonight, but the way he was making plays. He was picking and choosing when to shoot and playing the right way. When he shoots like that, we are hard to beat.”

• • •

After a compact regular season in which they barely had time to practice, the Sixers

have returned to a more normal NBA routine. That included having two full days off between Games 2 and 3 after having played 36 times in 67 days.

“I think it’s been great for us,” Dwight Howard said. “The team is healthy and we have been able to recuperate from the season we had. Recovery is an important attribute to us being successful, how you recover, how you take care of your body.”

Game 4 is Monday night at 7 in Washington.

• • •

Shake Milton has shot 2-for-12 in the series, including 0-for-6 in Game 2. He has lost his backup lead-guard responsibilities

to George Hill, but not the support of his teammates.

“In a playoff series, you might not have your best game every night,” Howard said. “I feel like I was 0-for-6 in our last game (1-for-4), but you just stay positive. You don’t let games like that affect you. Every game is hard. So for Shake, every day you have to get extra shots up. We all get extra shots up. You stay positive and you knock them down. And he’s going to have some great games in this series.”

Rivers believes playing Milton more off the ball will help, even if it means some of his minutes will be transferred

to Tyrese Maxey.

“I hate to say that,” he said. “But that’s why we got George and that’s why we play Tyrese. You look at Game 1, it was more George and Tyrese with the ball. Shake eventually has to have the ball to score, but we don’t have him bringing it up as much as he used to.

“I think just the ball pressure alone bothers him.”

• • •

Showing no hesitation, Seth Curry launched 26 three-point shots in the series, making 13.

“We obviously brought it up in our pre-playoff package to the team, what everybody can do better,” Rivers

said. “I just said I’ve covered a lot of good shooters and they should shoot open shots more. He’s doing it and it’s good because he is such a threat that it really helps our offense.”

Curry was listed as “probable” on the pre-game injury report, but scored 15 points in 27 minutes.

• • •

Russell Westbrook, who would score 26 points, was a game-time decision with a sprained ankle, not that it affected the Sixers’ planning.

“We’ll do our thing,” Rivers said. “I expect him to play, but if he doesn’t, that shouldn’t change how we play.”