The Philadelphia 76ers came into Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Wizards incredibly shorthanded. Without Joel Embiid, Paul George, Andre Drummond, Kyle Lowry, KJ, Martin, and Jared McCain, the Sixers were missing arguably half of their would-be rotation of healthy, headlined by two superstars.
For once, that lack of health could be no excuse as they were not only facing the Wizards, who possess the worst record in the NBA, but Washington was somehow even more shorthanded, missing Jordan Poole. Malcolm Brogdon, Alexandre Sarr, Saddiq Bey, Johnny Davis, and Marvin Bagley III. While none of these players is as talented as Embiid or George, it can be argued that Poole, in particular, has had an objectively better season this year than either Sixer.
For the Sixers, this game would be comfortable but not overly so for much of the game. With each passing quarter, the Sixers emerged victorious, outscoring the Wizards in each frame. That is until the fourth and final quarter approached. Philadelphia, as has not been uncommon this season, began to fall apart as crunch time rolled around.
Despite opening the final quarter with a 14-point lead, allowing a series of runs by Washington, beginning with a 9-4 run in the first three and a half minutes of the fourth, followed by another run lasting three and a half minutes, this time leading to a 12-0 advantage for Washington, which allowed them to retake the lead with just over four minutes left to play.
The back-and-forth continued the final few minutes into the last minute and a half when, after a number of admittedly questionable calls and no calls in Washington’s favor, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse, for lack of a better term, threw an absolute fit that seemed to somehow turn the tide.
Typically, a tantrum with the officiating crew would only be counterproductive, and yet it seemed that it almost checked the refs and woke them up to the game currently on the court. Make no mistake about it: The errors by the officiating crew are not why the Sixers almost lost this game; it has far more to do with their inability to defend or find their shot in the final minutes. Still, they didn’t wake up a moment too soon, as the Sixers needed some help from the whistle in order to overcome a depleted Wizards team.
On the surface, the Sixers’ performance was not all that rough. Outside of their fourth-quarter collapse and a major disparity in bench production, Tyrese Maxey paced the game with 29 points, Guerschon Yabusele supplied 21 points and two key blocks, Kelly Oubre was once again crucial with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, and four stocks (steals+ blocks), and Eric Gordon delivered an impressive throwback performance, scoring 15 points on efficient shooting.
There is encouragement to be found in this game; the near-blown game, all too reminiscent of their matchup in Sacramento, undermines it, but with the return of select Sixers and a necessary commitment to moving the ball on offense, there is the making of a successful team.
The road will certainly not be any easier from here, and while the Sixers will get reinforcements, there needs to be some semblance of consistency in terms of who is on the court for Philadelphia. Once that is set, then there must be consistency in production.
At 15-20 on the season, the Sixers are just three games back of what would be a comfortable sport in the standings, a top-six seed.
Up next for the Sixers
Philadelphia remains at home as they welcome yet another limping team, the New Orleans Pelicans. Pels star Zion Williamson recently returned to the court after two months, impressing with 22 points while on a minutes restriction. After resting Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers, Zion seems set to play against the Sixers in their upcoming matchup.
The Sixers and Pelicans will face off Friday night, Jan. 10, with a 7 p.m. tipoff. You can catch the game live on NBC Sports Philadelphia or, as always, listen live at 97.5 FM The Fanatic.
