Scott Brooks said he wants the Wizards to be tough.
But as Washington prepares for Wednesday’s Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers, toughness doesn’t just mean imposing a physical presence. The Wizards were hands on in Sunday’s 125-118 loss — but overly so. They fouled Philadelphia 24 times, resulting in 33 free-throw attempts.
When Brooks brings up toughness, he means responding at the right time. Getting to the right spot. Challenging tendencies. In other words — and he didn’t say this outright — be a nuisance.
“I don’t know if we had that enough,” Brooks said Monday.
Washington came away encouraged after falling behind 1-0 in the best-of-seven first-round series. But the Wizards will have to be more disciplined in order to become the first eighth seed to beat a No. 1 since 2012. After all, the 76ers have a sizable gap in talent — with a better supporting cast and two bonafide stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
One adjustment Washington will look to make is how it handles double teaming Embiid. In Game 1, Embiid handled double teams with ease — finding the open shooter on the floor or outright muscling past them. Normally teams have had some success in doubling Embiid — he averages 3.1 turnovers per game — but the Wizards weren’t aggressive enough in those situations.
Because of early foul trouble, Embiid played only 29 minutes — two fewer than his season average. Still, he terrorized Washington when on the floor with 30 points, six rebounds and three assists. He went 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.
“If you’re going to do it, you’ve just got to go for it,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “Last night, we (were) just kind of half-[baked], we were kind of floating. We’ve got to be more aggressive from the beginning. … He’s one of the best in the NBA.”
Embiid actually had five turnovers in Game 1, though none of them came out of a double team. And two of them were in the final minute when Philadelphia had the contest secured. The others were because of Embiid’s own doing: He committed two offensive fouls and traveled once.
Embiid’s struggles — the fouls and the turnovers — created room for Washington to steal Game 1. The Wizards, though, couldn’t fully take advantage. While the Wizards outscored Philadelphia by 13 points when Embiid sat, Washington’s largest lead of the afternoon was five points. It went into halftime up 62-61, but that felt like a missed opportunity.
Instead, a third star emerged for the 76ers: Tobias Harris.
Harris scored 28 of his game-high 37 points in the first half. And the Wizards did a terrible job of defending him. Brooks said Harris got to too many of his preferred spots and often took uncontested jumpers. According to NBA Stats, 10 of Harris’ 29 field goal attempts were considered open or wide-open with no defender within at least four feet.
For the rest of the series, Harris figures to be a problem. The Wizards don’t have a wing on the roster that matches up well with Harris’ skill set. Hachmiura is Washington’s best — only? — option, but he’s still growing as a defender. Other wings that could in theory try and stop Harris — Isaac Bonga, Chandler Hutchinson, Anthony Gil — didn’t appear in Brooks’ cut-down, playoff rotation.
“They’ve got so many great players on that team that it’s hard,” Wizards forward Davis Bertans said. “(If) we put all our attention on Tobias Harris, then probably Embiid is going to go off and then you’re going to ask me the same question about Embiid.”
Washington’s search for toughness also extends to the offensive end. The Wizards scored 76 points in the paint, but only got to the line a handful of times for 15 attempts.
“We’re not here to overanalyze it,” Brooks said. “We know what we have to do to get better.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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