Bradley Beal 'Strongly Believes' Wizards Could've Taken Sixers to Game 7

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Washington Wizards kickstarted their first-round playoff series nearly two weeks ago. Coming into Philly as the eighth seed, the Wizards were heavy underdogs in Game 1.

Washington put up a good fight in the first outing. Bradley Beal, who scored 33 points, helped his team collect 118 points. However, Washington's defense didn't have an answer for the Sixers' firepower. Therefore, Game 1 resulted in a 125-118 victory for the Sixers.

The Wizards had a promising opening act, but the second game wasn't close. With another matchup in South Philly, Bradley Beal's repeat 33-point performance wasn't nearly enough for Washington to outscore the Sixers, who put up another 120 points.

With a 2-0 lead over the Wizards, the Sixers were ready to take the series on the road. Last Saturday, Washington hosted its first playoff game in a few years. With the home-court advantage factor in play, the Wizards wanted to finally collect a win and avoid facing elimination in their own house.

However, Philly's firepower once again allowed the Sixers to smash the Wizards in their own arena with a 132-103 result. Two out of three games weren't close, but Washington desperately needed a win during Monday's Game 4 matchup.

Fortunately for them, they got it -- but the road to evening the series wasn't an easy one. After getting the Sixers down for one game, Washington had to revisit the Wells Fargo Center. Although the Sixers didn't have Embiid for the entire Game 5 outing, the Sixers once again dominated the Wizards 129-112.

Following the series finale, which resulted in the Wizards packing it in for the year, Washington head coach Scott Brooks paid tons of respect to the Sixers.

"I just gotta give credit to Doc (Rivers) and his staff and the Philadelphia 76ers," Brooks said. "Their basketball team is talented. They are the number one seed for a reason. Great organization, their fan base is phenomenal -- except for popcorn boy. Other than that, it was a great, great experience for us."

Wizards star Bradley Beal, on the other hand, couldn't say the same.

"Nobody really put us to be in the position we're in," Beal said on Wednesday night. "Nobody expected us to be here. I don't think anybody surely thought we would take them to five. I still strongly in my heart believe we could've took them to seven. They just made more plays than we did, got more stops than we did tonight."

Beal's viewpoint on the series is an interesting one. Aside from Game 4, where the Wizards managed to defeat the Sixers, no other game was really all that close. While Washington should feel accomplished for cracking the playoffs after their rough start to the year, the first round went exactly as many expected.

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