Washington will win Game 5 if Joel Embiid is not healthy

Washington has had a really tough time defending the 76ers in the paint and if Joel Embiid is not playing, this is one less thing that the Wizards have to worry about. Without Embiid on the court, the 76ers did not look great offensively and they ultimately wound up getting outscored in the paint by the Wizards 48-40. 

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Joel Embiid is one of the best players in the entire NBA, so losing him is of course going to hurt the 76ers, but if they have to play Game 5 without him, Washington will have a really good chance of making this series somewhat interesting with a victory. 

Tobias Harris cannot do everything on offense for the Sixers and with Ben Simmons not really being a factor since the Wizards are sending him to the line, where he is shooting 5-20 from in this series, a lot of pressure is put on guys like Seth Curry, Danny Green and some bench guys to try and pick up the scoring load left behind by Embiid. 

Perhaps the biggest advantage the Wizards have though in a potential Game 5 without Joel Embiid is that they will have a size advantage down low. Rui Hachimura, Daniel Gafford and Robin Lopez all took advantage of the 76ers when Embiid left the game and I would expect much of the same moving forward if the Sixers’ MVP is going to be sidelined.