3 observations after Sixers reach 50 losses with defeat to cellar-dwelling Wizards originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers reached the 50-loss mark and dropped their sixth consecutive game Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.
They fell to 23-50 on the season with a 119-114 defeat to the Wizards. Washington moved to 16-56. Both teams will obviously be hoping for the best on NBA draft lottery night.
The Sixers’ top scorers were Quentin Grimes (22 points) and Guerschon Yabusele (21 points).
Justin Edwards had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
Alex Sarr led the Wizards with 24 points. Justin Champagnie tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Both the Sixers and Wizards had a long list of sidelined players. Nine Sixers were out with injuries and Jalen Hood-Schifino missed the game because of an illness.
Tyrese Maxey (right finger sprain) and Kyle Lowry (right hip injury) worked out on the floor pregame. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said that he expects a decision will come soon on the path forward with Joel Embiid’s season-ending left knee injury.
The Sixers will host the Heat on Saturday night. Here are observations on their loss to the Wizards:
Wizards pile up the points
Yabusele scored the night’s first hoop with a post-up bucket on fellow Frenchman Sarr. He continued getting up shots every time he could and posted the Sixers’ first nine points.
Defensively, the Sixers were highly ineffective early in both half court and transition.
Washington began 8 for 10 from three-point range. Even when Adem Bona rejected Jordan Poole’s layup attempt, the ball found Sarr’s shooting pocket and the No. 2 overall pick nailed a top-of-the-key jumper. Though the Sixers only committed one first-half turnover, the Wizards had almost no trouble generating good shots.
Nurse burned his second timeout after a fast-break Champagnie layup put the Wizards up 16 points. The Sixers’ defense did not dramatically improve from there. Colby Jones capped the first quarter with a buzzer-beating three that gave Washington a 45-29 lead.
Another NBA debut
The Sixers used four men off the bench Wednesday in Jared Butler, Bona, Marcus Bagley and Phillip Wheeler.
That second unit was certainly not veteran-heavy. Butler is the eldest of the group at 24 years old. Bona’s a rookie center. Bagley now has two games of NBA experience.
Wheeler, a 6-foot-8 forward on a 10-day contract, made his NBA debut. He got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter when he grabbed a defensive rebound and converted a coast-to-coast layup.
Wheeler finished with four points on 2-for-9 shooting, four rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes. The New Jersey native played a part in one of the night’s better highlights, connecting with Ricky Council IV on a third-quarter alley-oop.
Not a winning formula
Grimes started cold but got cooking late in the second quarter. He fell just short of his ninth consecutive game with 25 or more points.
Edwards recorded his sixth straight game with at least 18 points. The rookie was sharp and decisive as a driver, recognizing when he could attack the rim and often doing so in no-nonsense fashion.
Of course, even with those individual performances, it’s awfully difficult to wipe out big deficits without high-level defense and hot shooting. Poole hit back-to-back threes in the third quarter to extend the Wizards’ lead to 89-71.
Washington never had any serious scoring droughts and the Sixers’ outside shooting was subpar. They went 14 for 46 from three-point range (30.4 percent) in their 50th defeat of this sour season.
The Sixers did compete until the final buzzer and, with assistance from some youthful Washington mistakes, made the Wizards sweat down the stretch. A Jeff Dowtin Jr. layup cut Washington’s advantage to 117-113 with 38.3 seconds left.
However, Sarr quieted the crowd by sinking a runner and the Wizards ultimately managed to snap their five-game losing skid.
