By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Orlando Magic last night in Philly, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Washington Wizards in DC tonight to wrap up their first back-to-back of the season. Thanks to a fourth quarter and overtime scoring explosion from Tyrese Maxey, a pivotal putback dunk and multiple game winning blocks from Adem Bona. Philly was able to beat Washington 139-134 to win their fourth game of the season.

The Sixers did not have it throughout the first three quarters tonight on the defensive end. They allowed the Wizards to get whatever they wanted from the paint and did not offer much resistance. That allowed the Wizards to get a 19-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The duo of Alex Sarr (31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in this contest) and Kyshawn George (20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had seven assists in this game) combined for 51 of Washington’s 134 points and Philly had no answers for either player. Sarr’s length and shot making killed the Sixers on both sides of the ball he was able to end multiple Sixers possessions with a block or affect the shot with his presence. Sarr will be a player to watch as his game continues to grow throughout his career.

Despite the offensive explosion from Sarr and George the Sixers were able to battle back in this contest thanks to Joel Embiid (25 points grabbed seven rebounds and had five assists) and Tyrese Maxey (39 points and had 11 assists) keeping their team afloat in this game. Embiid had his playing time increased in this game he played 23 minutes instead of 20. Philly needed all he could give them tonight as they outscored the Wizards by 12 points when he was on the court and the Wizards outscored them by 16 points when he was not on the court in this game.

The Sixers did play the Magic last night, but their defensive effort has been lacking in every game they have played so far this season and that must improve if they want to contend for a championship this season. They should be getting Paul George back on the court in the next few weeks but until then the Sixers have to communicate and stay connected to their man especially in the third quarter which has led to the Sixers needing to come back from at least a 10-point deficit in three out of four of the games that they have played so far this season.

However, when they needed to turn up the defensive pressure they were able to do it, they forced the Wizards into bad shots and turnovers. This allowed Tyrese Maxey to close the game out for Philly by scoring 23 points in the fourth quarter and eight points in the overtime period to seal this game for Philly. He was able to find Quentin Grimes (23 points) at the top of the key for the game tying three-point opportunity which he made, and he partially altered a lay-up attempt that led to a Bona block, which helped the Sixers take this game to overtime. Maxey’s improvement as a passer and defender were on full display against the Wizards tonight. In addition, if he can continue to create high-percentage scoring opportunities for his teammates and be a defensive menace the Sixers will be able to be a top three team in the Eastern Conference and contend for a title this season.

The Sixers will now have a few days off as they prepare to face the Boston Celtics on Friday night for their first game of the 2025-26 NBA Cup Tournament. They will need to continue to use their ball movement to create high-percentage scoring opportunities on the offensive end. The Celtics are an aggressive defensive team, and the Sixers will need to make them pay by creating easy scoring opportunities to put points on the board. Additionally, the Sixers will need to stay connected to their man and communicate on the defensive end against Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, and Derrick White who have no problem putting the ball in the hoop if given a chance. Implementing these things into their game plan on Friday night should put the Sixers in great shape to win their fifth game of the season and win their first game in group play of this season’s NBA Cup Tournament.