Washington Wizards Rui Hachimura. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The end to the regular season was fantastic for the Washington Wizards. But their struggles in the play-in and postseason games exposed the biggest weakness, one they grappled with all season, in a major way. By the end of game five against the Philadelphia 76ers, the last Wizards game of the 2020-21 season, issue number one was obvious.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Washington Wizards were locked in on Joel Embiid, who was heading into the playoffs after a career year that earned him an All-NBA Defensive First Team nod and a second-place finish in the MVP voting.