Player Observations After Sixers Fall Short to Wizards on Wednesday

Lately, the Philadelphia 76ers have been on quite the hot streak. Last week, they started off their three-game slate with a victory against New Orleans. That made it two in a row for the Sixers. Then, they faced the Los Angeles Lakers, who they dominated for their third-straight matchup. 

Two nights later, the Sixers returned to the court in South Philly to host the Sacramento Kings. As they defeated the Kings earlier in the year, many expected the 76ers to have a cakewalk to a victory. While that’s not how the game transpired, the Sixers squeaked out of that one with a two-point victory and made it their fourth-straight win.

On Monday, the Sixers opened up the week with a matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. Considering they were missing Joel Embiid for the first time in over 20 games, many expected Memphis to take home a victory and snap Philadelphia’s win streak.

Instead, the Sixers and the Grizzlies went into overtime and Philly made it five in a row as they picked up a win over Memphis. On Wednesday, the Sixers looked to make it six in a row. With the Washington Wizards in town without Bradley Beal and on a six-game losing streak, the 76ers entered the matchup as heavy favorites.

Right out of the gate, the Wizards looked like a team on a mission to snap two different streaks as they outscored the Sixers 29-28 in the first quarter. While it was another tight battle in the second quarter, the Wizards got the edge and entered halftime with a 59-54 lead.

In the third quarter, the Sixers came alive a bit as they went back and forth changing the lead of the game. However, Philly still trailed by two points going into the final quarter. The Sixers managed to get out in front and possessed their biggest lead of the night in the fourth quarter, but it was by just five points.

With seconds left in the game, the Sixers only had a couple of opportunities to try and tie the game up. Unfortunately, a key defensive play on Joel Embiid shattered Philadelphia’s hopes of winning. With a 106-103 loss, the Sixers picked up their 20th defeat of the year, marking the first time they’ve lost in five games.

76ers vs. Wizards Player Observations

Matisse Thybulle

Coming off of a decent performance against Memphis, Thybulle didn’t have too much of an impact on Wednesday night. Checking in for 34 minutes, Thybulle took just three shots from the floor with two of them coming from beyond the arc. He wrapped up the game with three points on offense. On the defensive end, he blocked two shots.

Tobias Harris

Lately, Harris has started to look like the player he was last year, which was a borderline All-Star. He was on track to have another solid game on Wednesday as he accounted for 13 points in the first half. However, his second half performance was forgettable. Shooting just 2-6 from the field, Harris scored five points. Scoring just 18 points in 41 minutes is disappointing considering how good Harris looked earlier this week. Plus, the veteran forward missed a key pass on Philadelphia’s most critical offensive possession down the stretch.

Joel Embiid

It feels crazy to say that a player that nearly notched 30 points had a bad game, but it was clear that Joel Embiid was either shaking off rust after missing Monday’s game or was just still fatigued from playing in 21-straight games. Either way, Embiid was not the best version of himself on Wednesday. Yet, he still scored a game-high of 27 points but he did it off of 27 shots. Most of Embiid’s struggles came in the first half. He had a much better second half, but he came up just short of being Philadelphia’s hero on Wednesday.

Danny Green

Back in the starting lineup on Wednesday night in the absence of Seth Curry, Danny Green played for a little over 25 minutes. In the first half, he took just one shot from the field, which he missed. He made some big shots in the second half, but it didn’t make the difference that Philadelphia needed. After going 2-5 from the field, Green finished the night with six points. 

Tyrese Maxey

Aside from Embiid, Tyrese Maxey was the only other member of the Sixers’ starting lineup to have an impressive outing. In 37 minutes of action, Maxey went 9-16 from the field. He drained 50-percent of his threes, scoring 22 points. The young guard was on triple-double watch as he came down with eight rebounds and accounted for seven assists. 

Isaiah Joe

The second-year guard was one of two bench members to notch double-digits in scoring. The Sixers need Joe to be a reliable three-point shooter when coming off the bench and he was that on Wednesday. In 24 minutes, Joe chucked up five threes. He knocked down all but two of them. The young guard finished the night with 11 points. If he can consistently produce like that, Joe should make a case to stay in the rotation.

Georges Niang

The veteran forward was the other bench player to notch double-digits in scoring with Joe. Niang collected 12 points off of 11 shots. He knocked down two threes and went 5-11 from the field overall. Whenever Niang is producing in his limited minutes, the Sixers typically tend to have a shot to come out on top.

Andre Drummond

Coming off of possible his best performance of the season, Andre Drummond reverted back to his limited role coming off the bench against Washington. In a little under 13 minutes, Drummond didn’t have much an impact on either side of the ball. While he had a handful of assists, Drummond wrapped up the night with just four points. He also had just three rebounds, which is a very off night for him in that department.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.