By: Kylan Watson

After falling to the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Washington Wizards for the third time this season. Philly used a second quarter scoring explosion from Paul George (23 points) to beat Washington 131-110 with the win they secured their 20^th victory of the season.

For the first time in two years the Sixers had every player on the roster available to play with the returns of Kelly Oubre Jr, and Trendon Watford in tonight’s contest. The Sixers were able to jump on the Wizards early in this game as Tyrese Maxey scored 13 of his 22 points in the first quarter. He got to the basket whenever he wanted to and was able to knock down 4/10 of his three-point attempts in this game. Philly was able to put this game away by the third quarter, so Maxey only had 8 assists in this contest, but he continues to show off his improved passing skills. In addition, if he can continue to average at least 10 assists per game then that will add another dimension to the Sixers offensive capabilities.

The Wizards were missing a lot of their star players because of injuries and having played last night, but they continued to fight throughout this game and were even able to go on a 14-0 scoring run to retake the lead late in the second quarter. Tre Johnson scored 20 points in this game and did all he could to keep Washington in this game. However, the Sixers were able to put a combination of Paul George and VJ Edgecombe on him. That limited his effectiveness throughout the rest of this game and Washington had no other difference makers available in this game to make Philly pay for giving him more attention on the defensive end.

When Philly needed it, most Joel Embiid stepped up in the third quarter to help put this game away he scored 28 points in this game and continues to look like his old self with more game reps. Tonight, he attacked from all three-levels (three-point line, perimeter, and paint) and got his third dunk of the season. The Sixers offense has been even more dominant since Embiid returned and for the first time since signing Paul George all three players scored 20 plus points in a game. The increase playing time for the “Big 3” has given them more time to work out their chemistry and will continue to improve as they continue to play together. That will be a wonderful thing for the Sixers, as they seek to use these last few weeks of games before the All-Star break to rocket up the standings in the loaded Eastern Conference.

Philly will now prepare for another road trip that will start in Florida as they face the Orlando Magic on Friday night. The Magic are another young and hungry team that matches up well against the Sixers. They will need to limit their turnovers, cash in on high-percentage scoring opportunities created from their ball movement, stay connected to their defensive assignments, and win the rebounding battle on both sides of the court. Implementing these things into their game plan on Friday night will put them in great shape to win their 21^st game of the season.