Jan 8, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) controls the ball against the Washington Wizards during the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The hospital Sixers survived the hospital Washington Wizards in an absolute classic mess of a basketball game.
Here's what I saw.
- There were a couple of barometers to choose from when explaining how badly the Wizards stink. Shall we go with the fact that Eric Gordon was tied for the Sixers' lead in scoring by halftime, and at one point in the first quarter he had scored or assisted on more points than the entire Wizards team had? Perhaps you'd prefer to go with the fact that Nick Nurse deployed a backcourt of Reggie Jackson and Jeff Dowtin Jr. and the lineup didn't get curb-stomped into the floor. Luckily for the Sixers, even the hospital version of themselves was able to outlast the hospital version of a 6-28 team.
- We can argue about the names on the Wizards' roster and quibble about how much of a sure thing it was that even the hospital Sixers would win this game. Once it was known that Jordan Poole and Malcolm Brogdon were out, the only thing you knew to be concerned about was how the Sixers would deal with Jonas Valanciunas' size at the rim. That concern was more obvious when it was revealed that Andre Drummond would miss the game.
It was an immediate issue, the Sixers needing more than just Guerschon Yabusele to keep Valanciunas off the glass. Granted, outside of a rare stretch of coherent basketball from Kyle Kuzma, there was no obvious concern that the Wizards had anyone capable of sustaining NBA-level offense if Valanciunas dominated the offensive glass. My fear was that Valanciunas would be the one going off, towering over the Sixers for put-backs on his teammates' misses, bullying his way to the rim, or burying jumpers if Philadelphia packed the paint. The other concern was that the Sixers would be flirting with foul trouble all night because of that size disparity, and maybe that would have domino effects on defensive aggressiveness and offensive process.
Valanciunas was a force, to be sure. But, hardly the biggest storyline ailing the Sixers in this game.
- Of course, I chose my wording carefully there because it was the Wizards you didn't necessarily expect who caused the most damage. We'll start off with Corey Kispert, who scored 23 points and knocked down a barrage of threes. You felt the building getting tighter and tighter with every three he laced, the last of which gave the Wizards a two-point lead late in the fourth quarter.
But, Jared Butler - a two-way signee - was the biggest problem in a Wizards jersey. The Sixers treated him like a two-way signee early on, and he cooked immediately. He got so hot so quickly that Philadelphia was blitzing the ball out of his hands above the break. He quieted down a bit in the second half, especially compared to the first half. But, he would've been the Sixers' second best guard available in this game.
I suppose that brings up a separate point altogether - a lot of these teams are getting immediate value out of their two-way spots, while the Sixers treat them as projects. It does take some patience, sunlight and water for a beautiful flower to grow. But, maybe there is something to be said for mining more ready pieces for value down the roster instead of stashing them in the G-League until you've seen enough and are ready to cycle through some new prospects.
- Nurse disagreed with this sentiment postgame because a significant volume of Tyrese Maxey's shots were open threes, but it felt like every shot he took was difficult because of the energy he had to expense to get to it. He had no separation coming off screens, and he had to extend his gait on step-backs to turn attacks off the dribble into open threes. Philadelphia's offense really bogged down when the Wizards started blitzing Maxey on ball screens. He spent many a possession using the screen, re-screening and reversing the action. And when you burn that much time trying to navigate traffic and make a play, only to come up with nothing, you're eating the shot clock.
I think this is where there's a fundamental difference between shot-chuckers on bad teams and Maxey trying to be the top dog on an under-manned Sixers team. Maxey's shots aren't ill-advised as much as they're simply difficult. When the drop-off between him and the next best offensive player is so drastic, he's seeing two bodies every time he catches the ball in the halfcourt, seeing three defenders when he attacks the basket and taking contact on every drive. It's not an impossible ask, but it's a damn difficult one.
- Here's how hot of a ticket this game was: one fan behind the media section stated that going to the game was significantly cheaper than going to a movie. That I was able to hear him clearly tells you half of what you need to know. Another fan a few rows behind the basket was playing Tetris on his phone.
- Kuzma missed an open three off the side of the backboard. A hilarious moment befitting of this game.
The Sixers (15-20) will host the New Orleans Pelicans (7-30) on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., Eastern time. You can watch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
