Just one day after a poor showing in Orlando, the Sixers (8-51) head the the Nation's Capitol tonight for a matchup with the Wizards (28-30), a team they lost to on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center, 103-94. Over the weekend Washington topped Cleveland while the Sixers lost their eighth straight game in Orlando.
An 11-0 run to start the game for the Magic put the Sixers in a hole they wouldn't climb out of all game. Although they eventually cut a 29-point deficit to eight, the way they came out of the gates was pathetic, allowing the Magic to lead 11-0. The Sixers didn't score their first basket until around the nine-minute mark of the first quarter. Orlando dissected the Sixers defense throughout the first 24 minutes en route to 77 points at halftime. Nerlens Noel was benched for his lack of effort on the defensive end and former Sixer Nik Vucevic had his way with both of the Sixers bigs.
The 2011 Sixers first round pick, sent to Orlando in the Andrew Bynum deal, scored 28 points on 13-for-18 shooting from the floor. Richaun Holmes, Isaiah Canaan and Jerami Grant were part of the group that cut the Sixers deficit from 29 points to eight. The trio scored 26 points in the second half on 9-for-14 shooting while managing to score 18 points on nine Magic turnovers. Grant had an impressive night, scoring 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, five blocks and three steals.
Washington has gone 5-2 since the All Star break, with their most recent win coming against the Eastern Conference leading Cavaliers, 113-99. With LeBron James resting, the Wizards led by as many as 30 against Cleveland and John Wall finished 21 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds, despite sitting out for the entire final quarter. It was his 34th double-double of the season. Late in the third quarter, Wall had the same number of assists as the entire Cavs team, 12. The Wizards came out of halftime on a 9-0 run en route to a 72-54 lead in the third.
Game Information:
- John Wall notched a triple-double on February 5th in a win against the Sixers with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 106-94. He nearly got another one against them on Friday, finishing with 23 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
- Over the last three seasons, the Sixers have had seven losing streaks of eight games or more.
- In the second game of back-to-backs this season, the Sixers are 1-11 and are allowing opponents to score 106.6 points per game.
- Wall has a career average of 17.9 points, 9.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game against the Sixers.
- The Sixers would need to go 10-13 or better in their remaining games just to match last year's 18-64 record.
- Philadelphia has allowed 116.2 points per game during their current eight-game losing streak.
Projected Lineups:
Sixers
PG – Ish Smith - 11.6 ppg, 6.5 apg
SG – Nik Stauskas - 7.5 ppg, 1.8 apg
SF – Robert Covington - 11.5 ppg, 1.5 spg
PF – Jahlil Okafor - 17.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg
C – Nerlens Noel - 10.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg
Injuries: Joel Embiid (broken right foot rehab, out), Hollis Thompson, (flu-like symptoms, questionable)
Wizards
PG – John Wall - 19.8 ppg, 9.9 apg
SG – Garrett Temple - 7.7 ppg, 1.8 apg
SF – Otto Porter - 11.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg
PF – Jared Dudley - 9.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg
C – Marcin Gortat - 13.7 ppg, 10.0 rpg
Injuries - Gary Neal (thigh, game time decision)
Game Information:
Tip-off – 7:00pm
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
TV: The Comcast Network
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra, NBA League Pass
Brandon Apter is a Managing Editor for Sixerdelphia.com
