Get ready to bust out the brooms

Yeah, this series is all but over. The venue change from Philadelphia's own Wells Fargo Center down to the Capital One Arena in D.C. did nothing to quell the Sixers' dominance, and they rolled the Wizards 132-103 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Only good things to say about this one. I'll make it quick.

--There aren't many superlatives that I haven't used when describing Joel Embiid's performance this season. Dude is seriously just playing his own game this season. So it went in this one when the big fella poured in 36 points, grabbed 8 boards, and totaled 4 combined blocks and steals...in just under 28 minutes. It was the second fewest minutes for any player in NBA history to score 35+ in the postseason behind a Paul George game last season in which the Clipper forward scored 35 in under 25 minutes. The Sixers outscored the Wizards by 29 points in Embiid's floor time, which somehow was only the third widest margin on the team. For the series, he's averaging 29.3 points, and he hasn't eclipsed 30 minutes in a single game. Like I said, he's playing his own game.

--The Sixers shot 58.6% from the field overall in this one, including 51.5% from three (17-of-33). They had 31 assists on 51 made buckets. It was just an extremely efficient offensive performance. Four starters made multiple triples (all except Ben Simmons) on 50%+ accuracy. They didn't bully their way to the line (only 20 free throw attempts), but it doesn't matter when every shot you take goes in. Then you couple that with a defense that conversely held Washington to 39.6 from the floor and 22.9 from deep...well, this was an expected result.

--Special shoutout to Tobias Harris, who had one of his more well-rounded playoff games as a Sixer--the 6'8" forward scored 20 points on just 14 shot attempts and inhaled 13 rebounds to lead all players, and he even dished 5 assists. He is no longer concerning me at all, and is finally putting his postseason demons to rest. In three games this series so far, Harris is averaging 25.3 points on 57.1/45.5/100.0 and grabbing 9.3 boards to boot. The competition isn't the steepest obviously, but there's nothing wrong with flexing your muscle over an inferior opponent to build up confidence for when the tougher matchups begin.

--Big picture focus--the Wizards stars are getting theirs. Bradley Beal had 25 here, and for the series is averaging 30.3 points on 48.1% shooting, and Russell Westbrook, while only scoring 17.3 points, is still pulling down 7.7 rebounds and dishing 11.7 assists. Bigger picture? The Wizards have been outscored by 55 in Beal's minutes and 40 in Westbrook's. They have no help at all, and the Sixers are letting them do their thing, and their own overwhelming talent advantage is taking care of the rest. That's how you beat up a lesser opponent.

--More on Westbrook, but in a different light--he had 26/12/10 in this one. I've never been a fan of his game. I can credit the man for his otherworldly athleticism, his indomitable competitive fire, and his uncompromising attitude--he doesn't care what anyone else things, and he makes that abundantly clear. But he has not and likely will not ever learn how to harness his ability into winning basketball. This year he broke the triple-double record that Oscar Robertson held for essentially a half-century. He's averaged a triple double in four of the last five seasons. Congratulations. The corollary to those four seasons? Zero playoff series wins, despite a postseason cameo in every one of them. But I've lost track of my original point, I didn't bring Westbrook up--still a future first-ballot Hall of Famer to be certain--to pile on the guy. I brought him up to praise him. After the incident he experienced in Philadelphia the other day, which I will no rehash here to avoid giving myself a headache, he just went out and did his thing. For all of his on court faults, Russell Westbrook the man is unimpeachable. He is strong-willed, determined, and fundamentally decent. And responding to such a despicable event the only way he knows how is laudable in my eyes. Tip of the cap.

What's next?

The Sixers will nail the coffin shut on Monday night in the same Capital One Arena once again a 7 p.m. You can etch that in stone.