By: Kylan Watson

After falling to the Miami Heat on Monday evening, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Washington Wizards for the final time this season. Thanks to an offensive explosion from Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe Philly was able to beat Washington 153-131 to end their three-game road trip.

Despite not having Joel Embiid available in this game because of illness, Philly was able to find their offensive rhythm early and often in this contest. Paul George (39 points made 6/12 of his three-point attempts, and had 6 assists in this game), George has been the best player the Sixers have had on the floor since he returned from his suspension and has looked like a new player. Those 25 games off really helped him get his body right and if he continues playing this aggressively on both sides of the court, the Sixers will make some noise in the playoffs.

His abilities as a playmaker and a ball handler continue to unlock Philly’s offensive capabilities, multiple times in this game George was able to put his teammates in great position to score or create a scoring opportunity for himself through a dribble move or by attacking the basket. That has been a skill Philly has sorely missed when he was suspended.

Despite the offensive explosion from George the Wizards were able to erase an early Philly lead and take over the game in the second quarter. The Sixers defenders just could not stay in front of their matchup and Washington just attacked the basket and either converted the attempt, got sent to the free throw line, or found a teammate open for a high-percentage scoring opportunity. Justin Champagnie (21 points), Will Riley (18 points), and Tristin Vukcevic (17 points) combined for 56 of Washington’s 131 points. Philly had to turn up the defensive pressure on each of them to slowdown the Wizard’s offense and win this game.

Additionally, the Sixers were able to take over the third quarter of this game and that was the difference in this contest. They scored 47 points in that period and that was a margin the Wizards just could not overcome. Tyrese Maxey scored 17 of his 28 points in that period and VJ Edgecombe scored 23 points and had 10 assists in this game as well to help Philly pull ahead of Washington. Without Joel Embiid on the floor there were plenty of scoring opportunities and George, Maxey, and Edgecombe were able to do just enough to help the Sixers get a much-needed victory to end their three-game road trip.

Philly will now prepare to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, and they may have Embiid available for that game on the front end of a weekend back-to-back. They will need to limit their turnovers, win or keep the rebounding battle competitive, stay connected to their defensive assignments, and cash in on the high-percentage shooting opportunities created from their ball movement. Implementing these things into their game plan on Friday will put them in great shape to win their 43^rd game of the season.