By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers faced off with the Washington Wizards for the second time in a few days. Unlike the last match-up which was a close contest, the Sixers left no doubt tonight as they made it rain from the three-point line and blew the Wizards off the floor 146-101.

Philly left no doubt in this contest from their opening possession the ball was moving and found its way to Tyrese Maxey who hit his first of three three-pointers in the opening quarter. He has become one of the best three-point shooters in the league and it showed up in this contest he hit five/nine three-pointers tonight and scored 24-points. His reliability from the three-point line really opened the floor up for everybody else, who also got in on the three-point party because as a team the Sixers hit 20/46 threes tonight. The Wizards just could not stop them in this contest by the end of the first quarter Philly was up double-digits and Washington could never really settle into the contest. The Sixers were able to take full advantage of their inability to get organized on the offensive side and forced them into well contested shots or into turnovers which led to easy baskets for the Sixers.

This was one of the most complete games the Sixers have played all season. They dominated the contest from start to finish and did not give Washington any chance to make it a close game. So much so that Joel Embiid (34-points, grabbed 10-rebounds, had six-assists, and made 14/20 shots tonight) was able to rest throughout the fourth quarter and the cushion allowed their bench unit to play a lot longer than they usually would.  The Sixers are still working through implementing Nick Nurse’s full system but when they have it working on all cylinders, they are one of the best teams in the league. The biggest place they can improve is on the defensive side and they clearly have been working on it as they gave the Wizards no room to get a shot off on the perimeter tonight. If they can play suffocating defense, they will be a finals contender in the loaded Eastern Conference.

The Sixers will now prepare for the young Detroit Pistons, another team that gave them trouble a few weeks ago. They will need to be strong on the defensive end and cannot give Detroit’s shooters any chances to get a shot off and they also need to hold them to one possession. When playing a team like Detroit you have got to show them it won’t be there night from the opening quarter and not give them any chances to build confidence because once they get going it’s hard to stop those young legs. Additionally, Philly will need to keep the ball moving on the offensive side. When the ball moves the Sixers create high percentage shots which adds another dimension to their offense like it did tonight when those shots find the bottom of the net. It makes it hard for opposing defenses to key in on Embiid and Maxey which gives them room to operate and makes Philly one of the best offensive teams in the league.