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The Washington Wizards lost their second game in a row on Friday to the Philadelphia 76ers, 127-101. This game was a wire-to-wire victory for the Sixers, as the Wizards never lead. Sixers started the game out on a 27-10 run and never really looked back.
In the 2nd quarter, the Wizards got on a nice run lead by Russell Westbrook who attacked the basket often and got some timely baskets to help close the lead down to 10 before half.
Joel Embiid dominated at different parts in the 1st half as he had 19 points. It looked as though he was in for a huge night, but an injury in the 3rd knocked him out for the rest of the game. The injury did not hurt the Sixers effort, as they begin to play a more perimeter based game and ended up stretching their lead to as large as 32 in the 4th.
With the Wizards playing a game tomorrow night, midway through the 4th, Scott Brooks emptied out the bench as the game was never in doubt. Now the Wizards will look to beat the Milwaukee Bucks to stop the losing streak and get back on the same pace they were just prior to the All-Star break.
No Answers for Embiid
Wizards simply had no answers starting out the game on Joel Embiid. The Wizards decided to deploy the strategy of double teams but he still found ways to get to basket and get to the foul line. There just wasn’t much that the Wizards. Unfortunately, Joel Embiid suffered an ugly left knee injury in the middle of the 3rd Quarter. Embiid did not return. He finished with 23 points and 7 assists.
Hot 2nd Quarter
After a slow start that saw the Wizards score a season-low 15 points in the 1st quarter, the 2nd quarter was the complete opposite. The Wizards scored 38 points, on 15-21 shooting and got them within 10 points. Without the hot shooting this game would have never really ever been in reach. The Wizards were able to cut the lead to within 8, but outside the 2nd quarter, they simply could not sustain the same offense to make up for the poor defense throughout the night.
Takeaways
- Davis Bertans played 7 minutes before being taken out of the game due to a calf injury to his right leg. With the Wizards playing again tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if Bertans misses anymore time.
- Ben Simmons did not play in this game due to contact tracing. Despite Simmons being out and Embiid getting hurt, the Sixers remained in control throughout the game.