Simmons Discusses 'Incredible' Benefit of Sixers Potentially Sweeping Wizards

Since coming into the NBA, Philadelphia 76ers starting point guard Ben Simmons has never experienced a postseason sweep firsthand. Last year, Simmons watched the Sixers fall short in four games to the Boston Celtics, but he did it while tuning in from home as he was recovering from knee surgery.

In the previous two seasons, Simmons and the Sixers avoided sweeps in the playoffs but also didn't collect any of their own. This year, Simmons and the Sixers are well on their way to quickly advancing past the first round.

As Philly faced the eighth-seeded Washington Wizards for the first three games of the playoffs, the 76ers didn't play around. At this point, Philly has a 3-0 lead over Washington. By dominating the Wizards on the road in Game 3 on Saturday night, it looked like the series could very well end on Monday when Washington and Philly will meet once more for a rematch. 

While there is no guarantee the Sixers wrap the series up that early, Ben Simmons mentioned the obvious that the 76ers indeed want to sweep the Wizards. And the All-Star guard explained the benefits of ending their first-round run early following the dominant victory on Saturday night.

“It would be incredible [to sweep them]," Simmons said during his postgame press conference. "Obviously, we want to do that — we want to get the sweep so we can get some rest. This is a tough team. You never know what they’re going to do every night, especially with Beal and Westbrook. You know, they’re relentless. You have to keep attacking and keep going, so we gotta come prepared on Monday.” 

If the Sixers take care of business on Monday night, they'll get nearly a week off before playing in their next game. While too much rest could cause the team to develop some rust with so many consecutive days without games, rest and health are much more important. And so far this postseason, the Sixers have been almost fully healthy and completely refreshed after a long regular season.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.