By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers traveled to Washington DC to face off with the Wizards for the first game of a two-game series this week. Philly played like a team that finally had some time to rest and get healthy. It took them awhile to get going but Joel Embiid led a third quarter surge that put Washington away 131-126 for their 13^th win of the season.

Philly started this game off a little sluggishly. It took them awhile to get their offense going and Washington took full advantage. They were able to use their run legs to wear Philly out early in this one and before the Sixers could even settle into this contest, they were facing an early deficit to the young Wizards. The duo of Jordan Poole (23-points) and Tyus Jones (20-points) combined for 43 of Washington’s 126-points and the Sixers could not do anything to stop them early in this game. They played very aggressively and if the Sixers were not out there to stop them, they either shot an uncontested three-pointer or attacked the basket. The Sixers had to make some second-half adjustments to slow them down mainly putting the trio of De’Anthony Melton, Nicolas Batum, and Tobias Harris on them to use their length to force them into tougher shots and that paid off for Philly in this contest.

Despite the offensive explosion from Poole and Jones the Sixers finally got their offense going in the second half. Joel Embiid made his presence felt in his first game back from a (non-Covid illness). He scored 50-points, grabbed 12-rebounds, and had seven-assists, once again his presence on the defensive end was big for Philly tonight. He altered a few shots the Wizards took and got a key block that led to a fast break bucket. Having him on the defensive end allows the Sixers to play more aggressive defense to shut down the more perimeter-oriented offenses in the league. They were able to make things more difficult for Washington and make them play perfectly in the second half and they could not do it tonight and that made all the difference in this contest. The Sixers made enough shots late in the game to put the Wizards away tonight.

The Sixers will now prepare to face the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night and they will need to improve their perimeter defense, if they want to stop one of the most explosive backcourts (Trae Young and Dejounte Murray) in the association. Additionally, they will need to continue to keep the ball moving on the offensive side to create high percentage shot opportunities from the field like they did against the Wizards tonight. When the ball is moving the Sixers have one of the best offensive attacks in the NBA. If they can implement these things I their gameplan they will get their 14^th win of the season.