By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers faced the Washington Wizards in their second match of the season. This had all the potential of a trap game for Philly. As this match-up with the Wizards was a pit stop, before what might be an Eastern Conference Finals preview tomorrow night against the Brooklyn Nets. However, these new look Sixers were up to the challenge as they used another hot shooting night to kill the Wizards 141-136.

Early in the first quarter it was looking great for the Sixers. They hit their first three shots and got out to an early lead. This run was led by guard/forward Ben Simmons and guard Seth Curry. Simmons hit the first three shots for Philly, and then Curry took over the rest of the quarter. As he went 4/4 from three. Curry added two more threes. He was 6/6 and had 20-points.  He and Simmons help the team score 82-points by half-time.  Curry scored 28-points and Simmons scored 15-points.

Curry has been becoming more and more comfortable with every game he plays. His growing chemistry with Embiid and Simmons is continuing to pay off. As he has helped tremendously with spacing and the passing out of double teams continues to find Curry in his spots, and he can also create his own shots. The Sixers have not had a scorer like that in a while.

Even though it was a good night. The team still needs to improve on some things, “It was ugly. I mean its early in the season, but we have to be more mature. Too many bad shots, too many fouls, too much complaining. Even though it was a tough night for us, we have to be better,” said forward/guard Danny Green.

The Sixers needed the scoring of Simmons and Curry because Wizards guard Bradley Beal had himself a night. He scored 60-points and helped the Wizards get back in the game. His scoring helped the Washington take a two-point lead early in the fourth quarter. The Sixers had no answers for him. It took some late game defense from forward Matisse Thybulle to shut him down, by using his length to force Beal into some difficult shots.  Thanks to Thybulle’s defense and some late game scoring by center Joel Embiid helped Philly win their fifth straight game. Embiid scored a season high 38-points.

On the win, “We’re not going to win them all pretty. We’ll take that win for sure,” said Head Coach Doc Rivers.

The Sixers now are on a five-game winning streak and have won their 20^th straight game in the Wells Fargo Center.  They now head into a prime-time match-up with the new-look Brooklyn Nets tomorrow night.